Ram and Cache optimizers

Whats the best program to freeup the unused ram on my computer? I want it to be running in the background and cleanup my RAM while I play online.
I have Win98 256RAM.
Also, does optimizing the cache/page file help anything?

 

one thats free and really works:
http://www.simtel.net/pub/pd/56220.html

 

Win95 would often not release RAM from the cache when needed. There were two types of programs designed to solve the problem. One type introduced a high priority RAM call (as if a program needed the RAM) whenever the RAM went below a certain point. Cacheman limited the vcache . It also had vcache settings supposedly set to optimize certain types of tasks. Most people preferred to just set it manually.

Win98 made vast improvements in RAM management and either type of program is counterproductive. They both slow your computer in their own way.

The programs that keep ram “free” are usually just dumping the cache. That serves no purpose other than slow the computer a little as the cache is there because it speeds things up. Open a program that takes a few seconds to open and that hasn’t been opened since you booted. Close it and now any time you want to open that program again it will open about three times as fast because some code is in the cache. RAM is faster than the hard drive and Windows tries to maximize its use. There is no reason to dump that cache in Win98 and later. The optimum available RAM is zero.

If you are actually using all of your RAM for a program like Photoshop the ram recovery programs can actually butt heads with Photoshop or whatever is using the RAM.

Cacheman’s primary use is to limit your vcache. You don’t want to do that as it just slows the computer. If you have OVER 512 Mb RAM on a Win98/ME computer it is a good idea to limit the max vcache to 512Mb or a little less. It is easier to just do that yourself and it doesn’t apply to your situation at all.

When you set your computer use from desktop to server it increases a couple of caches other than vcache. Some people report speed improvements by setting those numbers higher and Cacheman will do that. It is the only thing Cacheman does to actually improve performance rather than degrade it, and that can be done with a simple registry tweak.

So if you are determined to out-think the good folks at M$ and want the complete program to screw up your computer I would recommend Cacheman. It will not only screw up your vcache directly it will also now make the artificial calls to “free” RAM.

 

slipe......

I've had cacheman sitting there in my tray since before I doubled my ram months ago.....since doubling the ram seemed to "mostly" solve the lag problems I was having, I never really thought about cacheman again....except to hover over the icon every once in a while to give me that warm fuzzy feeling that my available ram wasn't down in the mud again.

After your enlightening explanation of vcache, I think I'll just ditch it....running winME and don't need anything conflicting with that....it struggles to be a real OS all on it's own.

...also changed pc usage to "server" from "desktop" setting

...thanks....

 

phoneguy55: Be sure to set your minimum vcache at zero and your max at your full amount of RAM before dumping Cacheman or the existing entries will be left in your system.

If you are interested there is a registry tweak you can do that will increase your Name and Directory/Path cache to a level higher than the server setting. Another choice of “Powerful PC” will be added to the list, and many people show improvement with large amounts of RAM. I honestly didn’t notice the difference, but a lot of people love it. The instructions worked fine.

These are the instructions I copied from a lady who went by vv:

Many of you are aware that performance can be increased by changing the typical role of the machine from Desktop Computer to Network Server in Control Panel>System>Performance>File System>Hard Disk>Typical Role of this Machine. Powerful Pc sets the name cache at 4000 files and the Directory cache/Path cache at 128 directories.
To setup this tip, you can either enter the info manually, or create a regfile which can be saved and reused after each 9x reinstall.
1. open notepad and save a new file as Powerful.reg. [When you are in the save as window, type powerful.reg in the "filename" rectangle, and change to "all files" in the "save as type" rectangle.]
2. Copy the info between dotted lines below (starting with Regedit4)and paste it to your file.
3. Close your file and double-click on it.
4. Go to Control Panel>System>
Performance>File System>Hard Disk>Typical Role and select Powerful Pc. Reboot.
- - - -
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\FS Templates\Powerful]
@="Powerful PC"
"NameCache"=hex:a0,0f,00,00
"PathCache"=hex:80,00,00,00
- - - -

 

I wanted to check what settings I was left with after removing cacheman ( I ditched it before reading your suggestion) so I opened msconfig from the run prompt and looked under system.ini....I scrolled down to vcache and I don't see any entry at all ? ( see screenshot)

what's up with that....?

(edit added 10 minutes later)

....went to right click on my computer...properties....performance tab....virtual memory...."let windows manage settings" was checked.....that must be why no absolute settings showed in system.ini / vcache setting.

hey,....you got me looking in two places I never looked before ....thanks for the exercise....( whew...time for a beer)

 

I’m surprised it wasn’t in the system.ini. Have you gone Start>Run>sysedit>System.ini? That is how you would manually set the vcache.

You have a different OS than I do as the msconfig tabs are in a different order.