Regular "Out of Memory" errors.. -_-

[Teilyr]

For the life of me, I can't figure out what I'm doing to drain my memory to the point that I have to reboot at least 3 times per day. All I really do on my comp is play ZC, surf the net, play music, and talk to folks.

My mother has 128mb, and doesn't ever run into this problem, so I'm thinking there's something wrong with my comp. Under normal circumstances, I'd take it down to the local computer store, but I'm kind of lack in the money dept at the moment..

Anyone have an idea what the problem could be? I've checked Microsoft's website for solutions, but no dice there. I've even gone as far as disabling all non-vital programs from my startup, but I still get errors after a few hours of light comp use.

Here's my sys specs. (try not to laugh too hard)
K62 450mhz proc.
320 mb ram
Win98

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Verman]

Maybe you ran out of harddrive space :P or the swap wont fit on it anymore....

Go to microsoft.com/technet and type the error in and it might help you out (I told someone this already today ;))

Anyhow...FORMAT FORMAT if that doesnt work.

[Teilyr]

formatting is bad. I have no way to backup my info. I also have about 6 gigs left on this drive, but it could be the swap file... How do I go about checking that?

[fatcatfan]

No need to format.

First, make sure to move/backup any files containing your personal stuff that may for whatever reason be currently located in the Windows or Program Files directories. Common ones are Address Book, Outlook Express EMail database (containing all your saved emails).

Make sure you have a bootable floppy, and the necessary files to reinstall your OS. If you ahve the HD space, you can just copy the windows setup files to a directory on the HD, say C:\INSTALL

Once that's done, boot to DOS, deltree windows, deltree progra~1 (most likely, but the one could be another number, you'll have to check).

unless you have some strange need to repartition, formatting c:\ is totally unnecessary. The only benefit is that the drive would be empty, and thus defragmented. You can easily defrag after reinstalling.

You will have to reinstall any programs you use, like MS Office, etc. So if you don't have installation CDs for them, they will be lost. There's no practical way to keep them. The important thing in reinstalling is that the windows registry gets wiped.

If you're using XP (which I doubt, given the problem you describe) the process would be quite different (and I've never done it, so I don't know).

[Teilyr]

Great. I get to reinstall windows again. Ah well.. If it'll fix the problem, I'll do it. Thanks fcf. *begins making backups of his desktop shortcuts*

[Yoshiman]

Sometimes I get messages saying that my computer is low on resources. What does that mean? I restart my computer, and everthing's fine.

[Teilyr]

Well this is just fucking peachy. I deltreed the 2 dirs, and reinstalled, and guess what? I can't find my product key. >_<

Now I have a metal box that will collect dust for the rest of time, as my d:\ drive doesn't work, and I can't install 98SE from my mother's cd. *sigh*

[Isotope]

Well, sometimes there's something called a memory leak. It's when a program is written with minor, unintentional bugs so it will continually requisition bits of memory and sort of drop them between the slats, so to speak, and they can be difficult to retrieve without simply resetting the whole RAM seat. Those can gradually take away enough memory that even windows suddenly can't perform all of it's function, and things sort of flip. Of course, you could get so many programs open that you run out or memory leaks or no..

I'm open to correction, guys, if anybody can help give the guy a more complete answer. I'm gradually becomming competant with computers. I haven't read up on memory yet.

EDIT: And I think I mispelled 'competent'. Sad, sad, sad.

[ZeldaFan001]

In Windows 98, as you run programs, they use RAM. However, when you close out of a program, not all parts of the program are removed from RAM, so it goes unused. Only way to get it back is power off or restart.

In Windows XP, you will VERY RARELY get a low RAM error. Why? Because XP is designed to detect what parts of RAM have programs that are no longer in use. If it finds some, it will free it.

System resources are also a part of RAM in Windows 98. Unfortunately, it can't be freed at all unless restart. Best way to not have system resources is getting XP. (XP doesn't have system resources in it due to it not being freed when finished.)

If you get low RAM errors, make sure Windows manages your Virtual Memory settings automatically. If, for some reason, Windows slows down because of RAM problems, set virtual memory settings as manual and have both min and max the same. Don't touch free space, as it automatically is refreshed.

Hope this helps some.

[fatcatfan]

Originally posted by Teilyr
Well this is just fucking peachy. I deltreed the 2 dirs, and reinstalled, and guess what? I can't find my product key. >_<

Now I have a metal box that will collect dust for the rest of time, as my d:\ drive doesn't work, and I can't install 98SE from my mother's cd. *sigh*

*sigh* win98 serials are available all over the net. look at bit.

what did you install from? and you obviously have some kind of connection to the internet. I can email/post you a boot disk with CD drivers if you need that. Then you can use the 98SE disc.

I'll be glad to help you out. We're just going to need to communicate a bit. Pick the IM agent of your choice, and we'll use that.

[gdorf]

Oh my, I was about to post today about the very same problem. It's like my memory goes away, and doesn't come back. I have:

100gig hd. (80 assigned to windows)
win98SE
196mb ram
533 celeron.

It seems that the problem is with windows :shrugs:

Teilyr: check your Pm's.. I got something for you.

[Cloral]

Simple question: Do you have virtual memory enabled? Windows uses a lot of ram, so you really need it enabled.

[gdorf]

1.) VM.. never heard of it.
2.) Even when I close all my applications, the ammount of free ram doesn't increase.

[ZZGundam]

Maybe your having problems with your ROM and it thinks your hard drive is smaller then it is.

[AlexMax]

Best way to not have system resources is getting XP.

A contradiction? XP may handle resources better, but it uses a nice chunk of it as well. I say WIN2000, while you still can.

Or...

www.linuxiso.org

[MottZilla]

Windows 98SE I find will run fine for quite awhile so long as you don't play music for along time. That's probably why you kept having to reboot. That happens to me too sometimes. ;) Best solution besides crazy OS installing and uninstalling is getting a program for windows like RAMBOOST or Release RAM. They can help. You might want to try that if the problems ever arise again.

[Teilyr]

Actually, I use MaxMem from AnalogX. It's freeware, and it works quite well. As for virtual ram, yes.. I have it turned on, and set to automatic.

Once I get the money, I'm gonna buy a new HD and create a dual boot with windows and linux. But for now, all I can hope is that my mother allows me to use her cd-rom drive later today.

Wish me luck.. she lost her faith in me when I esd'd her floppy drive 2 years ago. :sweat:

Edit - Way the by.. If anyone knows where I can get dos cd-rom drivers, reply to this post, or send me an IM. I'll be on for awhile. AdamD248

[obi]

If you run windows 98 (and maybe 95) and find that Defragging takes a while, then I suggest a program called Vopt ME I used it when I had 98 SE all the time and I suffered no problems that you would usuall get when you havent defragged.

here is an Info page (http://pikacompute.xoasis.com/vopt/)

here is the homepage (http://www.vopt.com/)

I recommend it. :)

Dos CD drivers eh?

This page may be helpful - http://www.panasonic.com/support/software/cdrom.html

This may also help -
http://www.powerload.fsnet.co.uk/cdrom.htm

look for this part -


Some CD-ROM Drivers you can try:
http://www.adaptec.com/support/faqs/dosdrvraccess.html part of the Adaptec Support Site. Or available here as the
Adaptec SCSI Driver Kit for DOS and Windows (588Kb Download) which includes DOSDRVR.EXE (540Kb Download) from the above web page, with a HTML extract of the above web page, plus a copy of MSCDEX.EXE (30Kb Download)


Adaptec SCSI Driver Kit for DOS and Windows (http://www.powerload.fsnet.co.uk/download/scsi_kit.exe)<- That is the only one from that quote that seems to work but it has all the files mentioned.

Hope that helps but if it doesn't, then try to go to the homepage of the make of your CD ROM drive.

[Teilyr]

I'm back on my own comp. :)

Now I just have to download 97 programs.
Yay.

Thanks all for the help. :D Hope this fixes my memory issue.

Oh yes, I upgraded to 98SE, as my mom let me borrow her cd-rom drive. ^_^

[obi]

Originally posted by Teilyr
I'm back on my own comp. :)

Now I just have to download 97 programs.
Yay.

Thanks all for the help. :D Hope this fixes my memory issue.

Oh yes, I upgraded to 98SE, as my mom let me borrow her cd-rom drive. ^_^

Nice to hear that :)

I look forward to the same thing when i get a new HD :sweat: