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Ask Judy Question #25
Dear Judy: I'm standing on my head trying to clear it. I hear so many different views about memory management programs. I'm sure I need one, because I'm the Crash King of Madison (computer crashes, that is!).
Signed...Memory Muddled in Madison
Response from Claudia Slate
When a user calls or writes my tech help list serv to ask me about one of the memory management programs like MemTurbo or MemoryBoost, I assume they are asking about these products because they are having some problems with computer freezes or crashes or simply believe the machine is running too slowly.
Here is my personal opinion, backed by just one of several good articles I have read on the subject.
Don’t install any kind of “memory manager.” It will not help and it may hurt.
If your computer is crashing, slow, etc because of memory, well then you may need to load fewer programs at start up, adjust virtual memory or page file set ups, check for updated drivers or problems with your video card, or you may need to replace or add more memory to your system. But it helps to have some idea of why you are having problems. Luckily there are many ways to get help or information, most for free, via the Internet.
As I do a good bit of on-site tech support for individuals and businesses, one of the things I commonly see are people with older systems, the original 64MB of RAM that came with their computers, every available chat program installed, fancy desktops themes and beautiful screen savers running. There may or may not be an anti-virus program running and it may or may not have been updated in the last year. Oh and I will generally find a game or music CD in the CD drive when I open it. And the user wants to know why they can’t have their desktop covered with shortcuts and files, 2 Excel programs and 4 word processing documents open and still surf the net. They used to be able to do that and their neighbor in the next cubical can. And their neighbor has a slightly newer computer with 128 MB of RAM and a faster processor. And a larger hard drive.
I could start writing a book about these issues, and I have, and then again, there are already a lot of good books out there. I look at this situation and begin to wonder where to even start with that user. I know she really does not want to know anything at all about how her computer works, she just wants it to work. If I ask when she last ran Scan disk or defragmented the drives she wants to know what those are If I start discussing memory and drive space, and system resources, the eyes begin to glaze over before I can even get to updating anti-virus definitions.
But let’s assume that this user asking about memory management programs knows a little and is willing to learn or she/he would not be a subscriber to my list serv.
Using msconfig (Windows users), to remove programs from starting when you start your computer is one of the first and easiest steps to try in tracking down where a problem may lie. The following site contains good information about programs that run at startup:
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm
You may want to test that memory to make sure the memory you have is functioning properly.
There are a number of sites and programs that offer computer diagnostic programs. Many folks have come to know and rely on utilities packaged in Symantec’s SystemWorks (Norton Utilities).
I use an inexpensive program called TuffTEST-Pro which is still a “light” program in the testing game, but meets most of my needs and comes with a much smaller price tag than the programs used by “good” PC shops. TuffTest has a lighter version that runs for about $10.00 that will suit the needs of most PC owners and an even lighter version that is free but has some real testing limitations.
You can find TuffTest products at:
http://www.tufftest.com/products.htm
Or try the free memory tester from docmemory.com. You install the small program on a floppy and then reboot your computer and run the tests from there.
http://www.docmemory.com/default.asp?
If you want to understand a little more about how all the different types of memory are used by your computer, start with this site:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/computer-memory.htm It is written in quite easy to understand terms and will give you a basic understanding of the differences in say, physical memory and caching and video memory.
You can find more good information and links to other sites with diagnostic information and products at:
http://dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Diagnostics/
And if you want to read more about why you should not use products like MemTurbo or MemoryBoost, then read this one and do your own search for other opinions:
http://www.radsoft.net/resources/software/reviews/redux/
Claudia Slate
Dakota Technics
http://dakotatechnics.com
mailto:clslate@dakotatechnics.com
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