Out of Memory

agathodaimon · September 18th, 2002, 11:13 AM

Why is it that when I only have a few programs going such as: Motherboard Monitor, Norton Virus Protection & Age of Empires II, I get messages from the mobo monitor saying that I'm low on memory after playing a game for a while. (1-2 hrs.)

So, I quit some programs to try to free up some memory, but the amount of memory still doesn't increase unless I restart the computer...
I tried to play with the Virtual Memory settings, but I figured by just letting windows configure it's own amount, it should be fine...

Those few programs shouldn't be taking up 512M of memory, should they? What's the deal?

I have 512Megs PC2700 running with Windows ME

Planetspectre · September 18th, 2002, 11:35 AM

You might have too many programs running. Try disabling some of the programs you dont use. Also, run MSCONFIG and see if there are things that start up on boot that you can do without and remove the checkmark from the boxes and reboot.

Spectre

agathodaimon · September 18th, 2002, 11:49 AM

So... I go to the start menu and to "run", then type MSCONFIG ?

I'll give it a try when I get off work tonight...

PresterJohn · September 19th, 2002, 12:22 AM

the low memory warning you are seeing is a by-product of the way the win9x kernel manages system resources.

there is a fixed amount of memory allocated to the gdi pool (i believe it is only 64kb...jeez, it's has been awhile since i;ve had to delve into my win9x knowledge) and this amount cannot be increased even if you have plenty of system ram available. the gdi pool remains 64k whether you have 128mb ram or 512mb.

anyways as you open and close programs, the memory is not released properly and that meager 64kb starts shrinking little by little until you get the warning msg. the more graphics objects the program uses, the faster the gdi pool gets exhausted. after that, the only option is to reboot the machine.

this limitation is one of the most compelling reasons why you should ditch win9x and go with nt, w2k, or xp.

paramufay · September 19th, 2002, 08:53 AM

this limitation is one of the most compelling reasons why you should ditch win9x and go with nt, w2k, or xp.

HORSE FEATHERS

win 2k does not support gaming at all

from the virutal memory settings screen choose "let me set my own memory"

set the mim. at 512
set the max at 512

after reboot using control alt delete

end task on ALL programs except explorer.

run the defrag program

now play your game

PresterJohn · September 19th, 2002, 10:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by paramufay
this limitation is one of the most compelling reasons why you should ditch win9x and go with nt, w2k, or xp.

HORSE FEATHERS

win 2k does not support gaming at all

from the virutal memory settings screen choose "let me set my own memory"

set the mim. at 512
set the max at 512

after reboot using control alt delete

end task on ALL programs except explorer.

run the defrag program

now play your game

paramufay,

the problem he is having has nothing to do with his VM settings. when i was still running win98, i would get similar messages after using my machine heavily. back then i was using aol dialup and that proggie was a real memory leaker.

also, w2k is compatible w/a large majority of games from recent threads posted here.

horse feathers indeed...

bwcc · September 19th, 2002, 10:38 AM

I don't know where paramufay got the idea "win 2k does not support gaming at all ". Completely the opposite - It plays most games better than 9x systems (smoother, faster).

AOK works great on win2K.

As to agathodaimon's problem - this is the motherboard utility throwing this error message, not Windows - correct? Shut off the monitor.

agathodaimon · September 19th, 2002, 10:46 AM

.

agathodaimon · September 19th, 2002, 10:46 AM

I keep going to this "virtual memory" everyone tells me about, but WinME must be different than every OS out there because, there is no way I can make my minimum VM at 512 and max at 512. It uses the HD space and i have to choose an amount of HD space to use... which i don't want to try to figure out.
Virtual memory is an easy thing to do... just not on my OS apparently.

Is there someone who can tell me exactly how to change my virtual memory settings in WindowsME, and not another OS?

And yes, it is the Mobo utility giving me the error message, not windows...

After startup, I only ever have about 300-350 Megs of ram available, but I don't know what I should be able to close in order to free up the memory....
Is it okay if I just end task on EVERYTHING, except for explorer?

Ashentep · September 19th, 2002, 11:29 AM

explorer and systray