How to improve RAM

I was noticing on my PC that I have 2GB of RAM but only 1.01GB available... it also says that my Allocated Memory Load is 49%

anyway to get it down
and why is it so high?

 

You need to provide more specs and details.

 

you are running vista? vista (and XP) try to learn how you use programs, and then load them into ram before you use them. vista uses superfetch, i think it's called- and it loads up ram more than XP, aside from the fact that vista takes up more resources. it is really not a bad thing to be using your ram. it may be better to be using all of it, in fact. this leads to less hard drive access = faster computer.

if you want to use less ram, you could;
use services.msc to disable some services, including superfetch.
use msconfig to turn off superflous startup programs.



i would not suggest turning off superfetch. it is a good thing in the long run.

you should get rid of unnecessary startup programs with msconfig. you don't need to preload adobe reader, for instance.

messing around with disabling services can be dicey if you don't know what you are doing, so i wouldn't go playing around in there unless you have read up on what each of those services really does!

 

Yes I am using Vista... 32bit... I tried turning off some programs and it seemed to cause an increase in my RAM usage

 

hahaa. vista is a fickle mistress. have you reinstalled vista or are you using the dell preinstall?

ram usage will vary while the computer is doing things in the background, like setting system restore points and the like...

when i had my 1520, i consistently used 37-50% of 2 gigs of memory with vista. as long as your performance is good- it shouldn't be a problem. vista will open up the necessary ram if you open a ginormous program that needs some of the memory that superfetch has loaded.

note that after saying all this, i will not run vista if i can help it. XP will be faster than vista hands down. there are a zillion tips and tweaks to speed up vista- but the old adage applies here. you can't polish a turd. try as you might, vista (at least for now) is slower than XP. period. this may improve with vista sp1. i hope it does.

 

Good post, and I agree with you. FWIW, though, I always turned off System Restore (I don't use Windows anymore). Not only saved RAM usage, saved lots of drive space, as well. Indexing and Messenger were two other services which I always shut down.

 

I shut down indexing and messenger already... I'll keep running system restore for now... I'm not going to go through the trouble of installing XP.. I'm fine iwth Vista for now... and yes I am still running the dell installed... I've gone through and gotten rid of a bunch of their bloatware...

 

This may help you. Look under "Latest Guides."

 

thanks for that link bmwrob

 

Honestly, I'm not sure. I only ran Vista for a few days on an eMachines desktop before basically rebuilding it, and installing XP. While Vista was running, I used Windows firewall, Spybot and Adaware. Defender was disabled. Nothing was terribly wrong with Vista as-is from the box other than what you noted above, IMO.

@OP: you're welcome. BV is great - the man knows his stuff.

 

As has been said many times on these boards. What is the point of not using RAM? And Vista uses more? What exactly is the problem? Why do you want to have free RAM? It is like an empty water bottle. It serves no purpose.

 

I think people get it confused, yes vista uses more ram for prefetch but when you need it it frees up all the cached ram. Check your ram usage after an intense game and you will see that alot more is free.

 

oops. deleted a post - there should be a post before #10- i asked rob if it was wise to disable windows' security services (firewall, defender) and use 3rd party software (zonealarm, spybot search and destroy). thanks for the reply, yo.

speaking of ram- do you guys disable your pagefile? i did with 2 gigs...

 

powerpack... I'm not to tech savvy so things like this are something I know little about... I figure it can't hurt to ask and rather than ask those over on the playstation forum I thought I'd ask here where people are probably know more on the subject...

 

I have 2GB RAM and my pagefile is not disabled...left it at the default 3066MB...I occasionally use a 2GB USB flash drive with the ReadyBoost feature, allocating 1GB, just to see how the performance varies...I've been doing this more on battery lately...I think its a mixed bag of results...some will say its beneficial and some will say its almost useless...but bottom line is that its faster (and arguably better) to access a flash drive than the HDD...

However, I tested ReadyBoost lately running on battery. While using normal load I was able to get about 4 hours and 10 minutes on battery, with Aero disabled for about 3.5 hours of the total time, and ReadyBoost on the entire time. Sidebar was off. Thats the best battery life I've had so far...I usually get around 3.5 hours under normal load, and thats with Aero enabled. Sony cites the battery life of my laptop to vary between 2-4 hours.

 

I am not critical of your question. It is a valid and good question. I say what I said maybe less for you but to spark an angle in conversation and get good answers/discussion, what is the point of more free RAM? I do see both sides but am starting to wonder, what is the point of free RAM? Thats all.