Memory Problem

bbb_uk

James240 wrote:

hi bbb_uk total page size at the moment is 287mb its on custom at the moment (how it came with computer i have not changed this) maximum paging file size for drive is marked as 896mb...

How much space is left on your harddrive out of how many. Eg, my capacity for C: drive is 100GB and have 82GB free space (therefore i've used about 18GB)

James240

hi bbb_uk

turned off alot of the process that u said about but am a bit puzzled about this one: PCMservice.exe You said this had something to do with Dell computers but mine is a Packard Bell any ideas??

The rest i have turned off as follows:

jusched.exe: Turned this off and will update when and if i need it

slserv.exe - part of SmartLink?! (While turning the other stuff off i found out that smartlink is the internal 56k modem is there any way of turning this off as well or do i need it?? i run broadband so i cant see why it has to be running)

realsched.exe - Turned Realnetwork update off as well as i really dont use it think i used it once to view a file windowsmedia wouldnt open

Aolacsd.exe - This was part of Packard Bell introduction bit to introduce the user to the computer AOL was part of there introduction. So ive uninstalled this.

Ctfmon.exe - part of MS Office - apparently the Language bar in which case I can't see why it is needed. (any ideas how u turn the language bar off?? lol bit stuck on that)

In regards to PCMservice.exe any help would be greatly appreciated

Very grateful forthe help so far thank u

james :j

James240

Total size of harddrive is 33.2gb and free is 23.0gb so ive used 10gb so far hope this helps

James

bbb_uk

Hi James,

PCMservice.exe

A google search reveals that this process is part of Dell Media Experience software and/or PowerDVD. I use PowerDVD and this process isn't running therefore assuming you do use PowerDVD I can only assume that your version of PowerDVD was made in conjunction with Dell.

slserv.exe

You can turn off internal modems within BIOS but unless you're familar with using the BIOS I wouldn't recommend touching it. You could therefore try uninstalling the driver/software or alternatively see paragraph under ctfmon.exe on how to stop a process(service) and/or programme from starting during boot-up.

Ctfmon.exe

To stop a process (service) and/or programme from starting during boot-up then click <Start> then click <Run> and type in msconfig. The System Configuration Utility will then start. At this point, just click on 'Services' tab (near top right-hand side of window) and untick the one for ctfmon.exe (and slserv.exe if needed) in the long list then apply/ok and this service then shouldn't start at next boot-up.

I would only recommend unticking one service at a time then re-booting to see if it affects any software like Office from working (just in case). If it does appear to affect software you use then simply go back in and tick it again.

You can also tick the box titled 'Hide All Microsoft services' and this will hide microsoft's services and leave just the non MS (microsoft) services running (obviously ctfmon may not appear when selecting this as it is part of MS).

In addition to services (processes), it could be listed under 'Startup' tab (next to 'Services' tab) where you can untick/tick programmes that also start during boot-up.

UPDATE: You could also try unticking the service for this Dell service, PCMservice.exe and seeing if this affects any programmes at all.

solly_2

smam21 wrote:

speaking of this, ages ago someone posted a link to a site where you could go through the list and check if you needed particular applications to keep running - anyone remember what it was?

Was it Hijack This

If so read tutorial here.

And run your results through The Online Scanner.

Please be very careful when using and ask for further advice if unsure.

James240

Thanks guys espcially u BBB_UK will try what u have suggested tommorow as im feeling kinda tired and need to be in work for seven tommorow, thanks guys and will let u know what happens tomorrow

James

timread

James240 wrote:

hi bbb_uk total page size at the moment is 287mb its on custom at the moment (how it came with computer i have not changed this) maximum paging file size for drive is marked as 896mb. Does this help at all?

Most guides recommend at least 1.5 x physical RAM as the size of your pagefile. So in your case, you could set it to 1.5 x 256 = 384 MB inital size and 512MB maximum size (as long as you have enough free disk space to do this).

Follow the link in bbb_UK's previous post on this, to see how to change it from its current settings.

Also - does your XP desktop look like the standard XP blue/green 'bubble' screen? Since laptops generally have lower spec built in graphics, you could try turning off some of the visual effects to improve performance. Here's a guide: http://www.tomhowells.co.uk/tips.php?name=visual

Good luck in fixing up your laptop! PS What speed is the Processor? Right-click My Computer, choose Properties, and on the General tab look at the Computer section. This should say the speed in MHz/GHz.

bbb_uk

timread wrote:

Most guides recommend at least 1.5 x physical RAM as the size of your pagefile. So in your case, you could set it to 1.5 x 256 = 384 MB inital size and 512MB maximum size (as long as you have enough free disk space to do this)...

I personally, would set the minimum pagefile size to 1000MB (1GB) and the maximum to 2000MB (2GB) depending on usage and assuming you have enough free space capacity. If the pagefile is set at 1000MB it ensures that windows never (well almost never depending on usage) have to worry about pagefile size and more importingly because it is high windows never has to try and lower and increase the pagefile size itself which may increase speed as then windows wouldn't have to spend time increasing/decreasing this file which obviously is time consuming and can be noticable on a slow system with slow disc access. A pagefile that is low that requires windows to increase/decrease according to usage all the time will slow the system down not to mention cause more defragmentation of the harddrive.

James240

Hi guys i believe my processor speed is 1.7ghz and the processor is and AMD Sempron i will double check the speed of the processor when i get home tongiht as im at work now, but im 99.9% sure its 1.7ghz.

In regards to pagefile size what exactly does this do? Is it like a cache for Windows XP?

James

bbb_uk

James240 wrote:

...In regards to pagefile size what exactly does this do? Is it like a cache for Windows XP?

A pagefile acts like extra memory for Windows. It has existed on all Windows OS's since Windows 95 and was known as virtual memory back then. Windows is memory hungry and then you have some programmes that are memory hungry. Due to this, when you run out of (or start to run out of) normal/physical memory Windows then proceeds to use virtual memory (aka your pagefile). Windows will swap data in main/physical memory to the pagefile and back again depending on what is being used at that time. Obviously virtual memory (pagefile) is slower to access than normal/physical memory and windows tries it best to store in main memory programmes that you are currently using at this moment in time and anything that is running but is in the background not doing much is moved to virtual memory.

For example, if you have IE up and running as well as Word but are actually only using IE then windows stores IE in main memory and moves the memory used by Word to the virtual memory as it is currently not being used.

I have 512MB of memory and with just IE up and running I have used nearly 300MB of main memory. My pagefile is 2000MB (2GB) and windows reports that I need at least 700MB of pagefile but as my pagefile's minimum size is 2000MB I know its ok and doesn't have to spend time increasing/decreasing the size of the pagefile thereby reducing disc access time.