problem with vista

i just reformatted my dell inspiron 1520, following step by step flemenko's instructions on a "dell clean install". however i knew i would run into trouble when downloading the drivers. i think i got everything, everything that was checked, what else am i missing?

im asking this because, even though it runs pretty fast, my computer always seems busy, typing this right now, i only have 17 mbs of free physical memory with 1590mbs cached (i have 2gbs of ram total) and mozilla is the only program open.

also with my network, whenever i move my mouse over to the bottom right of the screen to the internet icon, it says that i am not connected to the internet, it says "connection status: unknown" when i am currently connected to the internet, and also it says below it, "server execution failed". and when i goto control panel, the network folder lags like crazy. i've been to device manager, and it correctly identifies my network card and drivers.

 

Vista uses memory differently than previous versions of windows. It is not uncommon for it to show lower memory than XP, but the memory amount you are outlining seems low even for Vista.

Phil

 

if it's a brand spankin' new install, then vista will take a while to index everything.

regarding your internet connection weirdness, did you install AIM ?

oh, also i'm running vista ultimate with 2 GBs and right now vista is using 711 MBs of memory with utorrent, FF, trillian, samurize, and a/v running.

 

im using the laptop right now, i have internet connection, AIM works fine too, but its the icon says that its not working, and control panel lags like CRAZY, it crashes with a white screen and everything when i go into network related folders

 

I remember havint this, it's due to a bad driver or something

My desktop on vista 32 is suing 750mb and 950mb page file most of the time.

My laptop has 1300mb page file and 850mb of memory used usually, although this drop in the 600's if i leave it alone for some hours.

I'd try uninstalling AIM though

 

Start Windows Defender and then go to Tools > Software Explorer. Click Show for all users at the bottom. Disable Startup Programs you don't need. This should definitely give you more memory and all improve startup time.

 

i'm asking you specifically if you have installed AIM on your fresh os install? there is a widely known problem with the newest AIM and Vista the solution for which i can only find is a full reinstall.

 

i have installed AIM on my fresh OS, ill try reinstalling it

what if it's a driver problem? which driver do i download to fix it?

edit: i just deleted AIM and restarted comp, no change! help plz

 

I have disabled many unwanted services in my Vista and when idling it uses up around 450 to 500 MB of physical RAM when running around 40 processes or so.... I can even reduce this but I would not be able to access any Network Connections then....