Added memory, still not enough?

[berserker]

I recently went to 256 MBs from 128 MBs. A couple of days ago i recieved a message that Powerstrip was shutting down because of insufficient resources. I checked the memory usage, and available memory was under 2%!

Since then I have checked often and seen available memory to be less than 30% repeatedly. This is with maybe 10 windows open, inlcuding Gamespy, mIRC, Winamp, and about 8 copies of IE5.5.

Now, with 128 MBs, I never recieved such an error message. I went into the startup config and did not see anything unusual there. However, even with no windows open, available memory right after a reboot is about 75%!

What the heck is taking all the memory? Is Powerstrip that hungry?

specs:
P3 450 @ 500
128 MB PC133
128 MB PC100
Both sticks at cas2
Geforce DDR
SB Live
Soyo 6BA Slot 1 mobo

 

[Feisters]

Windows is a memory hog. You added more, and it took it. 75% resources at boot is not that uncommon. What is the size of your swap file, and is it static or dynamic? There's a line you can place in the [386enh] section of your System.ini file (I think) that prevents Windows from taking more memory than it needs. But I'll be darned if I can remember what it is. I know I added it to mine, but I looked in my System.ini file and the only thing that stands out is: ConservativeSwapFileUsage=1 (although, that would seem to me to indicate to tell Windows to use MORE ram and LESS virtual memory). Now I'm confused.

I'll look around, 'cause I'm almost certain there is a way to tell Windows to share the ram. I'll check back with you. In the mean time, check your swap file settings. Your swap file could be corrupt too. Just disable it, delete it, and reenable it. It won't hurt anything, and is a good first step in the process of elimination.