LonelyPixel Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Hi,My computer has 2 GB physical RAM, the swap file is disabled for performance and security reasons. I'm running Windows XP SP2 with one instance of Visual Studio 2005, Thunderbird, a .NET application and a bit other stuff. Then I start Adobe Lightroom - and Windows starts to cry about low memory. (You know, the yellow balloon tooltip in the tray area with the yellow warning sign on it.) Then I look in my Process Explorer info and it says "commit charge: 48%" and "available physical memory: 1 GB".Now, obviously half of my memory is still available. How can it be that Windows cries because it sees too little of it remaining?Is Windows wrong and I should rather ignore that message? Or is Process Explorer wrong and actually all my memory is used up? Or is again Windows wrong and it missed its task to free some of the cache memory because it's required for user stuff now? Can anybody explain to me what's wrong and how I can say how much memory *really* is free and used in Windows or how much memory one process *really* uses? (What's private size, virtual size, working set, etc...? I mean, I know the operating systems theory basics, but what number does count here? And how can it be that Windows scratches the disk all the time although the swapfile is officially entirely disabled?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y2khardtop Posted July 21, 2008 Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Microsofts Sysinternals Process Explorer can be useful for seeing actual memory usage by programs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 21, 2008 Microsofts Sysinternals Process Explorer can be useful for seeing actual memory usage by programs.With "Process Explorer" I was already refering to "Microsoft Sysinternals Process Explorer". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 What does the Task Manager say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 What does the Task Manager say?Not much, but basically the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 In that case, I think you should just accept it.What I would do in your situation - to eliminate the Windows warnings - is to define a swap file anyway. It won't be used if not needed, and Windows will feel "more secure" because there is a swap file it could use in case it's needed.P.S. could you elaborate on the "security reasons" for disabling the swap file? Just curious B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanmaya Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Hi,I will suggest you to check following Microsoft URL for system utilities, It will surely help you with some solution.Windows Sysinternals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 In that case, I think you should just accept it.Accept what?What I would do in your situation - to eliminate the Windows warnings - is to define a swap file anyway. It won't be used if not needed, and Windows will feel "more secure" because there is a swap file it could use in case it's needed.Hm, at least when I have a swap file enabled and return from hibernate, some applications (especially Firefox/Thunderbird) take a *lot* longer to wake up than with no swap file. So I assume it does have an effect even if there's plenty of memory available. And I still don't know why Windows shows that warning in the first place when it has absolutely no reason, according to the system information that is available to me.P.S. could you elaborate on the "security reasons" for disabling the swap file? Just curious B)http://www.truecrypt.org/docs/?s=paging-file Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Now, obviously half of my memory is still available. How can it be that Windows cries because it sees too little of it remaining?Maybe the half that is not being used is incapable of being used??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Now, obviously half of my memory is still available. How can it be that Windows cries because it sees too little of it remaining?Maybe the half that is not being used is incapable of being used???I can run virtual machines with 1.2 GB with the host system still alive and no swap file. So I guess my memory is intact. It may also happen that I have 2 or 3 instances of Visual Studio open, an image editor, some Office documents and other memory-consuming stuff. That all works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 It looks as though the old saying about having your cake and eating it may well be true then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 Meaning, please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 You have obviously never heard the old adage " You can not have your cake and eat it too". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LonelyPixel Posted July 22, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 You have obviously never heard the old adage " You can not have your cake and eat it too".I did look it up (I'm not a native English speaker), but I still cannot transfer it to this context. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted July 22, 2008 Report Share Posted July 22, 2008 You have obviously never heard the old adage " You can not have your cake and eat it too".I did look it up (I'm not a native English speaker), but I still cannot transfer it to this context.Do not worry about it. It would not have helped you. It was merely a semi jocular platitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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