Hi All,

I just bought a new computer and it doesnt seem to support concurrent programs well, specially with graphics and audio program. Everytime i opened more than 2 windows, the system resource went down really quick, to only 10% free once. SOme toolbar buttons disappear, and some program doesnt function correctly.
I'm running a PIII 866Mhz, 256 SDRAM, win 98. i didnt think i should have a problem.
Should i be looking at virtual memory, or something else?
I appreciate any help i have. Please help me out. Thanks in advance.

Welcome Trammi to this forum!

If you could post some more information on your system.
This will help us to help you with the problem.


Computer Model if store bought.
Any software that you have running besides windows.

Info like Motherboard, Sound Card, Video card etc if built.

Blazer http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

You shouldnt have ANY resource problems with 256 MB RAM !! There MUST be a TON of programs running in the background!!! There are a nember of ways to tell...
1. Look to see how many icons you have next to the clock in the lower rt hand corner of desktop...these can be disabled or reset to NOT come on at startup of computer and save resources (you may have a lot of "maintenence" things coming on like defrag, scandisk etc and they are hogging resources)
2. Go to start......run.......type msconfig and hit enter......then arrow over to "StartUp" and report back what all shows up there....you can probably stop a number of progs from coming on at startup and save resources......

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

Good advice Randy, except the amount of Windows resources isn't proportional to the amount of RAM. 16mb or 256mb, resources are the same.

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sleddog
[sleddog.f2s.com] (http://www.sleddog.f2s.com)

Sounds like it wasnt very good advice I gave him Sleddog http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif....I could use more information too ....wonder what IS happening to his computer to have resources that low???

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

Here's a bit of information on the subject:
Windows Resources
Every open window uses some system resources (data areas used by Microsoft Windows). If you run out of system resources, the run-time error "Windows is running low on available resources" occurs. You can check the percentage of system resources remaining by choosing About in the Windows Explorer Help menu in Windows 95/98 and Windows NT 4.0 or later. Applications can also call the Windows API GetFreeSystemResources to reclaim system resources, close windows (such as open forms and Code windows, as well as windows in other applications), and exit running applications.

It DOESNT have anything to do with RAM, but it DOES have to do with #'s of things running........I got lucky!



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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

Thank you all for replying to my question.
I can tell you that i didnt have that many programs running. I remember exactly that i only had like 3 or 4 IE windows open, Flash program and maybe sonique, but that was it. Then suddenly the font changed and thats when i found out system resource only got 10% left.I never experience this sort of problem at work, where i normally open many other heavy programs like photoshop, ultradev....
Also, i only have a few icons in the system tray, namely icq, sonique, DUN, CD creator, but some r not running. Do they still consume resource?
Just to give u some more info about my system. I didnt build it myself but i went to a store and this is what they claimed to have built it for me:
PIII 866, GA 6VX7-4X
256SDRAM PC133
Geforce MX tv out video card
16bit sound card

It's a new computer so i havent installed that many programs yet. Only some normal programs like cuteftp, icq, flash. And as i said i dont have many heavy programs running at the same time.

Any more solutions for me please!!!

Thanks Randy_tx. I checked my startup progs and found that i might have many progs running. But most of them sound like they do need to run at startup, i'm not quite sure if i should disable them. Please help me to choose which one:
ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile
AOTray
mdac_runonce
LoadPowerProfile (again?)
SchedulingAgent

Thanks for ne help. u guys r great.

First check the options for the programs that are running, it's usually best to turn them off from there so they don't run at start up. Any that don't have that option you can remove from msconfig, and also remove shortcuts from the Start Up folder. I usually create a temporary folder somewhere else and move them there rather than deleting them, so I can put them back if needed for some reason.

In msconfig keep:

ScanRegistry
TaskMonitor
SystemTray
LoadPowerProfile

and your virus scanner. Scroll to the right and look at the path, that will tell you what program the link goes to. Why Load Power Profile is there twice is a mystery to me, mine does the same thing, but it doesn't cause any problems to leave both running.

Anything running in your taskbar is still using a certain amount of resources, even if it just sits there unused. They're called TSR's for Terminate Stay Resident and memory is still allocated to those programs from start up and therefore not available to other programs. That was an even bigger problem with DOS, since it can only use the first 640K of memory. Two or three TSR's using 100K or so each, and there went most of your first 640K, and nothing would run.



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Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines!
Note: Please post your questions on the forums, not in my email.

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ok, i've removed those unnecessary stuff from msconfig but the problem's still there. Basically, i cant have more than 3 programs running at the same time, say flash, photoshop and something else.
Please tell me what i should do now.

Make SURE "Task Scheduler" is turned off......If it is running Scandisk or Defrag in the background........those eat resources like crazy. Otherwise, your Photo or Flash programs are resource hogs and I imagine you will have to live with it.

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"As hard as a rock & dumb as a brick"...Windows CEMeNT

Hello,

If your computer is still new and under warranty, I would take it back and have them fix it. You should not have to put up with that problem.
Just a wild guess, but since the other solutions (all great answers)did not seem to work, is it possible that your RAM module is screwy?

Steve

yep i think so, something must be wrong with the RAM chips so i'm taking it back to the shop.
but i'll try formatting and reinstalling windows 1st and see if that helps.
thanks for all ur replies.

I have the same problem, with a similar computer. Gateway PIII (E-3400) 866Mhz with 512Mb RAM and twin 40Gb harddrives. It's new and I've had several techs look at it, drop all the unnecessary background programs, and still have problems running more than 3 programs without running out of resources.

Did you get a solution?

You should limit your vcache to say 200MB.
Either set it as fixed, ie. same min/max., or set the limit.
Windows has a problem if you have more than 512MB memory, it lets vcache grow and suck up almost all available memory.

If you not sure how to set vcache ( in system.ini file ), post back - will advise.

Cheers,

hell out

hey there Montag,
I'm not too sure what actually fixed it, but i dont seem to have the problems anymore.
There are 2 things that i did
1. took out the RAM chips, then put them back. There wasnt anything wrong with them, however, RAM increased from 256 to 261.616, still a mystery to me
2. reformatted windows, install win2000, which is better at sytem resource management

Hope u can come up with a better solution

HellDiver,
I don't know how to set the vcache. I'd appreciate a tutorial.
.....
Nevermind, and thanks. I looked it up on this website and the instructions are all there. Also a very nice explanation of what's going on.

Many Thanks for the tip.

[This message has been edited by Montag (edited 03-29-2001).]