Warning 0 % FREE RAM ....?( help please )

[star]

Hi to all,

could any forum members help me please, I am new to the world of computers and have just purchased my first ( second hand ) computer , its running on Windows 98 SE,I think that due to the fact that its only got 78 MB of RAM, I keep getting a Warning pop up from the FreeRam Pro 1.40 monitoring programme ive installed ...saying, WARNING " MEMORY OVER LOAD " ...99%. and some times 0% RAM Free ....

As i do not want to spend any money on up grading the RAM, could any forum members tell me if there's a way I can reduce the memory loading..? and stop the warning pop up.

Thanks ................. star

[glc]

Uninstall FreeRam Pro. You can't create ram that doesn't exist.

[rjfvillarosa]

Click, Start>Run then in the little box that opens up type msconfig and click OK. A window will open up and one of the tabs at the top will read "Start Up" click on that tab. make a list of the processes that have a check mark next to them and post the list back here, do not uncheck anything, do not click OK just close the window using the X in the top right hand corner.

[HAL9000]

Lets not forget the obvious too... do a spyware and virus scan... those things can eat up memory in seconds.

I agree with ditching the program too... programs can't create memory... let Windows handle it and your swap file and things will run fine.

[star]

Hi rjfvillavosa, thanks for the advice.... heres the list----

FreeRam XP
TclockEX
Scan Registary
Task Monitor
System Tray
Load Power Profile
ccApp
ccRegVfy
internat.exe
Zone Labs Client
Load Power Profile
ccEvtmgr
Script Blocker
True Vector
Scheduling Agent
ePrompter
run=


I hope this will help,

THANKS ......

[rjfvillarosa]

Hi rjfvillavosa, thanks for the advice.... heres the list----
FreeRam XP
TclockEX
internat.exe
Zone Labs Client
True Vector
ePrompter
I hope this will help,
THANKS ......
With only 78mb of Ram you really need to be mercenary with that system to get it to run a little better. From your list I would personaly get rid of all of these.
FreeRam...you all ready know you dont have much ram, you don't need this to tell you.
TclockEX... this is just an enhancement to the tool bar clock, its taking resources and not needed.
internat.exe...The internat.exe file is located in the c:\windows\System32 folder. In other cases, internat.exe is a virus, spyware, trojan or worm! Either check the location of this file to make sure it is in the system folder or some virus/malware scans should identify it.
ZoneLabs... I have always found this one a bit of a resource hog, I think you could do better with an antivirus program and Adaware 1.05.
True Vector... this is part of ZoneLab and will go if you get rid of Zonelab.
ePrompter... is a utility for accessing different email accounts without logging in to the accounts, I think this would be heading for the uninstall bin as well.
Don't just take my word for it Gary Routh will be along sometime and I am sure he will have some advice for you.
In your situation I would download and install the following.
MyUninstaller (www.nirsoft.net) this will help you get rid of the above programs
AVG antivirus (www.grisoft.com) a free antivirus program
Adaware 1.05 (www.lavasoft.de) a free spyware/malware scanner

[star]

Hi rjfvillavosa,

again thanks for the advice, On this computer are several things I don't use ...which are....

( LIST A )
outlook express
paint
address book
iPhoto
windows media Player
SIS Multimedia V1.1 4B
..........................................................

also running are these programms....
( LIST B )
Home Everest
SpyBot search
Norton anti virus
CFSC chris Free soft ware cleaner
Ad-Aware SE
............................................................

would it be of any benefit to delete all of the LIST ( A ) programs....?
and could you please comment on the programs shown on ( LIST B ) ....?

may be I could do with out some of the above programs ...?

THANKS

[rjfvillarosa]

( LIST A )
outlook express
paint
address book
iPhoto
windows media Player
SIS Multimedia V1.1 4B
..........................................................

also running are these programms....
( LIST B )
Home Everest
SpyBot search
Norton anti virus
CFSC chris Free soft ware cleaner
Ad-Aware SE
............................................................

Leave list A alone those are programs that are not running and you may want them for something in the future.
As regards to list B I would download and install AVG antivirus and adaware 1.05 ("Ad-Aware SE" this is obsolete and out of date) and then I would uninstall all of the programs in list B.
Hal mentioned earlier about running antivirus and spyware scans, if you download AVG and adaware you will be prompted to run these scanners during and after installation.

[glc]

No, Ad-Aware SE *is* the current version, currently at 1.05 - it's Ad-Aware 6 that's obsolete.

If you want to run any current software and get any kind of enjoyment out of that system, start looking for a ram upgrade. It's not that expensive and it's easy to put in. 128mb is a nice number for Win98 without spending a fortune.

[GaryRouth]

. . . lots of good tips for you to check. A few more things:

1) Sounds like your purchase was fairly recent: if the software was already installed, be sure to up your antivirus scan to "thorough" and to "scan within archives" and try a full system scan (to make sure there aren't any infections leftover from the previous owner). Try double-checking with a visit to an online scan website, too. I like to recommend HouseCall - http://housecall.trendmicro.com

2) Since you are familiar with Everest (formerly Aida32), you should be familiar with your make/model motherboard, chipset info, and whatever Everest detected for your system memory capabilities. If you decide to purchase a little bit more memory [you might be surprised at how well Win98se does with a little more headroom (like rjfvillarosa and glc mentioned)], you might find the best bang-for-your-buck with a single 128mb module = but you'll have to check a manual for your motherboard to see what the maximum module for each slot is, as well as the maximum total system memory (Google usually will find one if you have an ID of any sort from the Everest screens). Of course, make sure to match the timings. If slots are limited, you may have to sacrifice your smallest module to make room for a newer larger module (but it might be worth it).

3) I'm not familiar with the "Chris...soft ware cleaner" item in your list. What exactly is this process?

4) Firewall safety.... like rjfvillarosa mentions, it can be difficult to run a lot of programs (at the same time) on a Win9x machine --- and some firewalls can slow system performance noticeably. If you connect to the Internet from an always-on cable/dsl/satellite provider, make sure that the equipment they provided includes a hardware firewall [that's an easy question for their techs - they'll be happy to let you know]. If so, you might be able to do without Zone Alarm. If not, you can either try purchasing a router that has a robust firewall built-in (most recent models do, and simple wired routers can be had for $20 USD), or you can try adding a little memory and keeping Zone Alarm. My preference is to be able to run both a hardware and a software firewall [mostly because the varieties of trojans and worms have increased lately, and some have been all-too-successful at spreading].

5) If your Norton is a recent version, it's true that AVG would be easier for your system to run (it's less demanding as far as hardware requirements).

6) Make sure to visit Windows Update, if you haven't recently, in case the previous owner didn't keep the computer up-to-date with the latest Security Updates.

7) Enjoy your new computer.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[star]

Hi Gary,

Thanks for the advice and info, ive now removed what I can from the start up, The Norton anti virus I am running ( came with the machine) is 2003 version. I have the following still running on this computer..

(1) Zone alarm

(2) spybot Search

(3) Ad-aware SE

(4) Norton 2003

could you please advise/comment if running all the above programs at the same time is Ok, or may be there's some duplication and I can delet one /some of the above and run less programs

........... Thanks .... STAR

[GaryRouth]

I run a similiar group of programs on most of my computers, but then most of them are running either Win2000 or WinXP. Those four might not be a problem with a little extra memory (won't help your "system resources" Win9x issues, but will improve performance, which might get unacceptable if the machine runs for more than a day or two without a shutdown or restart --- [restarting the computer once a day can help a Win9x machine that carries a heavy load, since many programs from that era were sloppy about restoring resources on exit])

If you haven't visited there before, you can check out the whole Win9x resource usage situation from pacs-portal's excellent Startup Tips pages - http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm . . . There's another excellent series of articles at the http://www.aumha.org site, but I don't have the specific page link handy.

If the virus definitions subscription has run out for the Norton 2003, you may want to consider trying rjfvillarosa's recommendation of AVG, which has a free-for-personal-use edition available at its website http://www.grisoft.com . . . if the virus definitions have been out-of-date for a while, you want to get something up to date as soon as you can. The online scan will let you know if an infection is already present (and will clean it if possible), while if Norton is out-of-date it may well miss it.

I still haven't found any identification for the "Chris...cleaner" background process: do you know for sure what program that is?

Do you connect via broadband or dial-up? And are you on a local network? If so, definitely keep a firewall running, and consider the hardware firewall idea.

Did the low-memory error messages disappear for now?

(Hope so!)
. . . Gary

[Late edit - Hmmm, haven't been to the Grisoft website lately, but I just looked over there, and it seems they are coming out with a new version. The older AVG's support will be discontinued Dec.31, 2004 ... I haven't heard yet how much overhead the newer version has. Norton 2003 is easier on Win98 than the 2004 version (at least in the cases I've seen) - it's an option simply to re-subscribe for definitions for the Norton, too. ]

[rjfvillarosa]

[Late edit - Hmmm, haven't been to the Grisoft website lately, but I just looked over there, and it seems they are coming out with a new version. The older AVG's support will be discontinued Dec.31, 2004 ... I haven't heard yet how much overhead the newer version has. Norton 2003 is easier on Win98 than the 2004 version (at least in the cases I've seen) - it's an option simply to re-subscribe for definitions for the Norton, too. ]
The new AVG 7 is running really well on one of my ME machines and it doesn't appear to take much in the way of resources. It is taking about a minute and a half to download the setup file via DSL.

[glc]

Running both Norton 2003 and Zone Alarm with that amount of ram is gonna be very rough. You need at least 128mb of ram, 256 preferred - even with Win98. What is the processor speed and hard drive size - and how much free space does the hard drive have?

[star]

Hi Gary, Thanks for the info
here's the Chris free info....

Chris Free Software Cleaner....................................
Is it time to sweep away the dusty, unused software eating up your valuable hard drive space? Chris Free Software Cleaner displays the amount of space that each type of file is using on your hard disk, so that you can figure out what to do with them. You can view your files as a pie graph or list, and you can sort them by name, installation date, directory size, and the like. This application can also uninstall programs.
from here
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download.asp?fid=17780&fileidx=1


Thanks again .......

[glc]

Star, I'd be happy to do a system analysis for you. Go to www.belarc.com and download the free Advisor application. Install and run it. It will open your web browser with a full system report. Save the HTML file, and you may e-mail it to me as an attachment (glc (at) pcmech.com) and I'll look at it. Please post back here when it's sent so I can check that mailbox. Please put "PCMech" in the subject line of the e-mail.

[star]

Hi glc, Thanks again

would this info help ....?

Motherboard:
CPU Type Cyrix 6x86MX/MII, 233 MHz PR300
Motherboard Name PCChips M571
Motherboard Chipset SiS 5597
System Memory 77 MB (EDO)
BIOS Type AMI (07/15/95)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter SiS 5597/5598

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter C-Media CMI8330 Audio Adapter

Storage:
IDE Controller Primary IDE controller (dual fifo)
IDE Controller Secondary IDE controller (dual fifo)
IDE Controller SiS 5513 Dual PCI IDE Controller
Floppy Drive GENERIC NEC FLOPPY DISK
Disk Drive GENERIC IDE DISK TYPE47
Optical Drive E-IDE CD-ROM CR-850E
SMART Hard Disks Status OK

Partitions:
C: (FAT32) 19088 MB (17691 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural Keyboard

Network:
Network Adapter PPP Adapter.
Network Adapter PPP Adapter.
Modem SoftK56 Data Fax

Peripherals:
Printer Lexmark 3200 Series ColorFine


--------[ Overclock ]---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CPU Properties:
CPU Type Cyrix 6x86MX/MII PR300
CPUID Revision 00000600h

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 233.77 MHz

CPU Cache:
L1 Cache 64 KB
L2 Cache 0

Motherboard Properties:
Motherboard ID 51-0831-001437-00101111-071595-M571$00766M571_Release 08/31/1998 S
Motherboard Name PCChips M571

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset SiS 5597

BIOS Properties:
System BIOS Date 07/15/95
Video BIOS Date Unknown

Graphics Processor Properties:
DirectX 4.09.00.0902 (DirectX 9.0b)


CPU Utilization:
CPU #1 100 %

20015382528 bytes Total Disk Space
1276805120 bytes in 10347 User Files
34275328 bytes in 1045 Directories
42958848 bytes in 221 Hidden Files
10578 file fragments (1% fragmentation)
18661343232 bytes Available on the Disk

Physical Memory:
Total 77 MB
Used 76 MB
Free 0 MB
Utilization 99 %

Swap Space:
Total 1970 MB
Used 106 MB
Free 1864 MB
Utilization 5 %

Virtual Memory:
Total 2047 MB
Used 182 MB
Free 1865 MB
Utilization 9 %

...............STAR

[glc]

Yes, that helps a lot. That is a VERY slow computer, and you definitely need more ram and less demanding applications. Just look at your CPU utilization - it's maxed out at 100%. You are using a software controlled modem and the graphics chip is using shared system memory. Uninstall Zone Alarm and Norton 2003, you don't have the horsepower to run either without bringing the computer to a crawl. You also don't have the horsepower to go online and maintain a decent connection with that software modem.

Your board will accept standard PC100 SDRAM, I'd recommend a pair of 128mb low density modules and remove any EDO simms it may have in there now.

You can also upgrade the processor with just about any AMD K6/2 processor, up to 550 MHz (but cannot be run at its rated 100 FSB, the board only supports up to 83 FSB). That Cyrix you have in there now is, frankly, a dog.

Bottom line - if you want any kind of useful use with your computer, you need to do some upgrades. The onboard video also kills the overall system performance, and putting a PCI video card in will perk it right up. Toss that softmodem and look around for an old ISA bus hardware controlled modem. If you are not willing to throw some money into it to upgrade hardware, your only choice is to uninstall the modern software and find alternatives that don't require more powerful computers. Your hardware technology is about 6 years old and you cannot expect to be able to run a 2003 version of a known high footprint antivirus application or a current firewall. My laptop has similar specs (233 MHz) and has 128mb ram - and I can't run Norton 2003 on it and haven't even tried to install a firewall.

Here's a site dedicated to the care and feeding of that motherboard.

http://m571.com/m571/

That's one of the few PC Chips motherboards out there that has been reliable over the years.

[GaryRouth]

. . . just looked through a few old parts boxes, and I found a K6-III 333 and a 128mb PC100 module. The K6-III is a known-good part. The 128mb module was good, but hasn't been tested in quite a while. If you want to give them a try, you're welcome to them. Just drop your address in a PM (PC Mech "private message") & I'll drop them in the mail - if you're somewhere on the N. American continent. I've been in the process of giving these away, and helping to fix and donate computers to the local schools -- even the elementary schools won't take the Socket 7 systems anymore (it's PIII and up nowadays for donations). If you decide to try the K6-III, be sure to look at the "Upgrades" link on the page that glc posted: it will help you set the jumpers on the motherboard to get the most stable setting. You'll learn a lot in a hurry upgrading that system. If I find another PC100 module in the meantime, I'll send it along too.

Just curious, is your EDO memory in four Simm slots, or might you have some of the rarer EDO DIMM modules in DIMM slots? . . . and does the board have four SIMM slots (the standard M571) or just two DIMM slots only (the M571 LMR - which often has the "Win-modem" in the tiny AMR slot). My wife had an old M571 LMR system years ago - it's still going, running Barney and Sesame Street "edutainment" titles at a local preschool.
. . . Gary

[star]

Hi Gary ,
Thanks for the information, as a new commer to the world of computers some of the advice I will have to learn about , and lookforward to sorting out if possible my problems, As for your kind offer to send me the 128mb module, one of my problems in getting things / advice for my computer is that I am staying on the ....Thai / Burma border , so getting help from all the kind people like your self on this forum is a great help to me, so many thanks to all ......Would deleting any of my programms , like the Norton Anti virus , ( to free up some memory ) help my problem..? and may be down another programe that does not use up so much memory...? help in any way...?
again Thanks.... star

[rjfvillarosa]

Hi Star...getting rid of Norton is a good idea because it will be eating up a lot of resources. Go here and download AVG 7 it is free, after that install it, update it, then uninstall norton. If you find that you run out of memory and the install fails either, turn Norton off or, switch off your internet connection uninstall Norton, install AVG recconect to the internet and then carry out the updates.

[GaryRouth]

I've never mailed to SouthEast Asia before, but I suppose there can always be a first time. It looks like for Thailand, mail can be sent just about anywhere, even to the refugee camps. For Burma, on the other hand, it looks like you'd have to have an "import license" (believe it or not!) to receive anything "dutiable" - the Post Office note said "even gifts" were included in that category. Whether a memory module is subject to duties or import licenses on the receiving end is something I'm not sure about. Since the processor and memory module together weigh far less than the 16 oz. cap for letter postage, if you're on the Thailand side of postal delivery, it could reach you in about two weeks [week and a-half if lucky].

So you can still PM if you want to give the local post office a job to do.
. . . Gary

[star]

Hi rjfvillarosa,

is it possible to turn off my Norton programe , ( not delete it ) and see how the memory run's ..? if so what's the best way to just turn off the Norton...?

thanks ..... star

[star]

Hi Gary,

many thanks for the info and offer, could you please e.m me at star2u44@hotmail.com


................ star