Memory leak problem? Please help

[KahunaHube]

Hello,
I've got a Gateway 6400 from 1.5 years ago, which was running just fine with its original hardware. I upgraded to a second 933mhz processor and swapped out the 128megs of ram with 512 ECC registered from crucial.

The problem is that after a while (it varies, days, hours), when i right click the menu does not appear, I cannot open anymore programs, when i alt-cntrl-delete, the task manager does not pop up. THe only way to open new programs is by closing one i had previously had open. The situation degrades into eventually not being able to have any programs open.

I've tried reformatting and reinstalling Windows2000. I've installed all the updates but still have the same problems. It was working just fine before with the 128megs of ram and 2nd processor. I know nothing is getting too hot; the temperaature inside the case is normal.

Is this my ram? It only happens every so often, but it's very annyoing as i have to reboot to fix it.
Any suggestions?

Thanks!
-Hubert

 

[WW]

try running memtest86 to check the memory just in case it is faulty...

http://www.memtest86.com/

maybe try running again with 1 processor and see if it still happens...were the two processors the same stepping,etc? what's the motherboard in that system? any bios updates needed for smooth 2 processor operation?

 

[d3vil]

I have the same exact problem.. (look for my post on winxp/win2k memory leak???)
Same exact symptoms.. and i have no idea why windows does it.. I'm not sure if it's a memory leak or what, but i know that running memtest for me, I didn't have any problems with bad memory.

One question.. Did you ever play around with the services in win2k to try to optimize the system? like turning off "unneeded services" (I'm trying to formulate a hypothesis about how this "memory leak" happens, but i'm not sure, and your input would help greatly)

Thanks
d3vil

 

[MARMADUKE]

everybody is having problems with that ram, take a look in the motherboard section on any forum!

 

[Smilin]

Ok, I'm just gonna throw out brainstorm stuff...some ideas might be useless or not apply (or be downright stupid...I'll admit it)

Memory leaks are pretty easy to track down. Just use performance monitor (perfmon.exe) and track your individual processes. Set an alarm on your memory use and when it goes off go jump over to perfmon and see what the trouble is.

Something to try: when you notice things getting a bit sluggish, do whatever it is you do to temporarily fix it and then go to task manager and kill explorer.exe, then in task manager start a new task and specify explorer.exe to get your desktop back.

Both your processors have the same stepping?
Did you switch your HAL over to dual processor when you did the install?
Try running your memory as non-ecc (complete shot in the dark here)

Usually physical problems with ram manifest themselves as bsod's and general lockups. A problem "creeping up" like yours doesn't sound like a physical ram problem...you might be right on that memory leak though.

good luck sir!