genesispop-ga...
Though you've received some excellent responses in the comments,
I thought I'd speak to your queries from the viewpoint of one
with experience both with RAM programs and especially with
Windows 2K Pro.
1. This has been addressed quite thoroughly by Idavinci-ga.
I would only add that the Windows 2K operating system is
a different animal than Windows 98. Windows 98 was infamous
for crashing due to limitations in the operating system
which made it susceptible to software which did not release
memory when it was closed. I used it for a long time, and
was one of the masses of users who became accustomed to
expecting a crash on almost a daily basis. Windows 2K, on
the other hand, is considerably more stable, and does not
need to be shut down in order to regain system resources
(GDI and USER) or RAM. It can run with little difficulty
for days at a time, but I have found it wise to reboot
after a few days, which precludes any potential problems.
2. Once again, the software programs which reclaim RAM
were essentially designed to address the peculiarities
of Windows 98. The one I used was RamBooster, and it
worked well in 98. When I switched to 2K, I found that
the operating system didn't need any help. RamBooster
was written by J.Pajula, and is still freeware, so if
you want to give it a try, here's his website:
http://www.sci.fi/~borg/rambooster/index.htm
Some other programs pitch their ability to monitor
(not reclaim) system resources, CPU usage, etc.,
in addition to your RAM. Windows 2K has these features
built in. Just hit Ctrl-Alt-Delete and up comes the
WIN2K Task Manager, which lists all running processes
on the 'processes' tab, all the applications on the
(yep, you guessed it) 'applications' tab, and, on the
'performance' tab, it shows and graphs both CPU usage
and memory usage, as well as a slew of other data.
See this page on Adrian's Rojak Pot [?] for options:
http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Other_Articles/Win2K_Tips/Task_Manager_View/Task_Manager_View.htm
I have 512MB DDR RAM, and I seldom see a usage of more
than 200MB. Right now, I'm using 208MB with 39 processes
open, inclucing Adobe Photoshop - a notable RAM hog.
When I close Photoshop, I can see the memory being
reclaimed by Windows.
3. If your motherboard supports DDR RAM (Dual Data Rate),
then this will give you better performance. Whether or not
you can use DDR RAM, you could increase to 512MB, and you
may see some improvement.
Go to Black Viper's page on optimizing Windows XP. This
page tells you the Services which normally run by default
with Windows XP, many of which are unneeded. Realize that
XP is essentially 2K with a fancy graphics interface and
a few services that are not found in 2K. Just ignore those
and find the ones that exist in both XP and 2K. He details
the 'safe' settings for all of them, and many can be
disabled:
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Go to this page on FBInternet.com and download MSconfig.
If you were used to having it on Windows 98, you may have
missed it in WIN 2K, since they did away with it. The
version on this page is for XP, but is completely compatible
with WIN2K (basically the same operating system, remember?).
If you're not familiar with it, it allows you to view all
the programs that have (without asking you) decided that
you want them to start when Windows boots up. You can
uncheck the ones that you don't really want, which will
improve performance. Just go to the 'Startup' tab and
review what is loaded:
http://www.fbinternet.org/resources/utilities.htm
Consider upgrading to the latest Service Pack from Windows Update.
Defrag on a regular basis.
All of the above will contribute to improved performance.
Please do not rate this answer until you are satisfied that
the answer cannot be improved upon by means of a dialog
established through the "Request for Clarification" process.
sublime1-ga
My research strategy was bookmarks and memory. |
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
03 Oct 2003 08:34 PDT
Good morning, genesispop...
In regard to turning the PC off at night, I would suggest, instead,
that you utilize this time of inactivity to schedule routine tasks,
such as defragmenting the hard drives and running a thorough system
virus check. The main reason I shut mine down on a daily basis is
the fact that I turn my thermostat up to 86F when I leave for work.
Leaving the PC on in that heat would be an invitation for trouble.
The Task Scheduler in W2K is available in the Control Panel.
As I said, I would recommend rebooting every 3 to 7 days, just
to freshen the entire system. Also, if you're aware that there
may be electrical storms on a particular evening, I would suggest
shutting it down for the night if you're not in the vicinity
to do so on a timely basis.
Temp files and internet cache are both written to designated folders
on your hard drive, and have no effect on available RAM. You can
verify this by using the Windows Task Manager to monitor your
RAM while you clear you internet cache. You'll see a slight increase
in use as the dialog windows open during the process, and a drop
when you close these windows upon completion, but no change when
you clear the cache.
Best regards...
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Answer by
sublime1-ga
on
03 Oct 2003 15:54 PDT
Good afternoon, genesispop...
Clearing the cache is just part of 'good housekeeping'.
It's not that it speeds up the PC, itself, so much as
the fact that it will speed up the browser, assuming
you have enough junk in the cache that it will take
awhile for the browser to search through the cache
before realizing that the page you want isn't there,
at which point it will download it from the site you're
visiting. Since many people equate browsing with using
their computer, when they say it "speeds up the PC",
they mean it improves their browsing speed.
Setting your cache too low causes the browser to load
every page anew, which can slow it down. Setting it too
high can bog it down in searching for the requested page
on your hard drive, where it's stored. A good compromise
is to set it between 10 and 20MB, unless you're downloading
large files on a regular basis, in which case the cache
should be larger than the file you're downloading. If the
download is interrupted, it will pick up where it left off,
since the partially downloaded file still exists in your
cache. Otherwise, 10-20MB is fine.
The thing is, Internet Explorer sets the default cache size
as a percentage of your available hard drive space. Now that
everyone's using huge hard drives, this often results in an
incredibly huge cache, which isn't necessary. Mozilla sets
its cache to 20MB, period.
Thanks for the great rating...
sublime1-ga
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