keep running out of ram

[Red Squirrel]

Ii've noticed recently, I'll start getting weird issues, like a program wont open, or an option wont show up. I close a program, then it works. Seems I'm running out of ram yet I have 3.5GB, and I don't really have much open.

Right now I have a picture in photoshop open but the save box wont come up because there's not enough ram for it. If I close a few programs, it comes up. In task manager the program using the most ram is svchost, at 584MB. At most I have 1.8GB used right now.

 

[rudder]

You can set preferences within photoshop to use more RAM. But with any 32 bit program there is a maximum amount of ram that a program can access.

 

[lxskllr]

Page file?

 

[mbshinde78]

As lxskllr suggested, you should try increasing page file size from "Virtual memory settings".

Regarding svchost : this service is used by several programs and services so it is difficult to identify why svchost is using so much RAM. You can try disabling services which you won't need.

Check whether it is really svchost. There are some trojans and viruses with similar name.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Actually how can I find out how much actual ram is in use. Not user, not system, not page file, but ram. Task manager is unclear, as it could be using swap or other type of ram and not specifying the actual ram usage itself.

I just don't get why I keep running out, when my system was running ok with only 1gig for the longest time, now I have 3.5.

I'll try increasing the page file though and see what happens.

It was at 2-4GB I set it to 2-32.

 

[Nothinman]

Actually how can I find out how much actual ram is in use. Not user, not system, not page file, but ram. Task manager is unclear, as it could be using swap or other type of ram and not specifying the actual ram usage itself.

Taskmgr has a Physical Memory section that will tell you how much is available, just do the math to see how much is free. You likely don't need to worry about memory though, it's probably some other resource problem. Windows has a bunch of different resource types with their own limitations but I believe most of them are per-process these days so it's pretty difficult to run out of them.

 

[Red Squirrel]

actually is there a way to tweak the per process limit? that may be my culpit. I'm testing an app on my local machine and in some cases it will use as much as 1GB of ram. It seems to die out at around 1.5GB even though I have more memory left, or so I think. (Basing on physical memory).

 

[Ken g6]

Have you checked your event logs?

 

[Nothinman]

actually is there a way to tweak the per process limit? that may be my culpit. I'm testing an app on my local machine and in some cases it will use as much as 1GB of ram. It seems to die out at around 1.5GB even though I have more memory left, or so I think. (Basing on physical memory).

Doubtful but you don't even know what resource you're having problems with yet if that's even the problem.

From a pure memory standpoint every 32-bit process is limited to 2G of VM so you'll never be able to use more than that. And then there's overhead for the process itself, shared libraries, mmap'd files, etc so it's less than 2G.

 

[episodic]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=251078

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

actually is there a way to tweak the per process limit? that may be my culpit. I'm testing an app on my local machine and in some cases it will use as much as 1GB of ram. It seems to die out at around 1.5GB even though I have more memory left, or so I think. (Basing on physical memory).

Doubtful but you don't even know what resource you're having problems with yet if that's even the problem.

From a pure memory standpoint every 32-bit process is limited to 2G of VM so you'll never be able to use more than that. And then there's overhead for the process itself, shared libraries, mmap'd files, etc so it's less than 2G.

That's my problem then, the app was hitting near 1.5GB. It has to buffer data into a StringBuilder then put it in a SQL query and some of these are very big. (data definition for entire custom homes in a game are the ones that get real long).

Is this an issue that's limited to XP, or would windows 2003 have this limit too? What about x64? This app runs on a server OS in production, though I test it on my local machine before it gets synced up to the sandbox or to live.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

You would have to run a 64-bit version of the app on a 64-bit OS.

A 32-bit application can use up to 4GB of RAM if it is largeaddressaware, but I don't know how to enable that for this app.

 

[Nothinman]

Is this an issue that's limited to XP, or would windows 2003 have this limit too? What about x64? This app runs on a server OS in production, though I test it on my local machine before it gets synced up to the sandbox or to live.

It's a problem with 32-bit systems in general. There's only 4G of VM to go around so it has to split it up between the kernel and userland. By default that split is 2G/2G. You can change it to 3G/1G but you'd have to set your process LargeAddressAware to actually get 3G of VM.

A 32-bit application can use up to 4GB of RAM if it is largeaddressaware, but I don't know how to enable that for this app.

It's only 3G and it's VM, not physical memory.

 

[BlueAcolyte]

Originally posted by: Nothinman

Is this an issue that's limited to XP, or would windows 2003 have this limit too? What about x64? This app runs on a server OS in production, though I test it on my local machine before it gets synced up to the sandbox or to live.

It's a problem with 32-bit systems in general. There's only 4G of VM to go around so it has to split it up between the kernel and userland. By default that split is 2G/2G. You can change it to 3G/1G but you'd have to set your process LargeAddressAware to actually get 3G of VM.

A 32-bit application can use up to 4GB of RAM if it is largeaddressaware, but I don't know how to enable that for this app.

It's only 3G and it's VM, not physical memory.

Oops... Anyway, is that possible? I mean, for this application.

 

[Nothinman]

Oops... Anyway, is that possible? I mean, for this application.

Sure, you can set it for any binary.

 

[techmanc]

Try using msconfig setting minimal process and see if that helps.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Weird I've tried all sort of stuff, it's still happening. I'm not even using that much ram. If it matters, commit charge says 1729M/5463M. The rest of the details wont show up, and the dialog makes my whole screen move every time it refreshes. Windows explorer folders stop showing the side bar, and I can't double click icons.

I close one program, then everything starts working again. It's messed. How can I be this low on ram with 3.5Gigs when it's not even all used? In task manager the biggest ram user is svchost.exe using 556MB, then F@H at 236MB, VMware at 221MB, firefox at 145MB then rest are all under 70.

I don't have any viruses or anything like that, I use caution online and have AV etc...

Now, I did overclock a while back, could an unstable overclock cause problems like this? Maybe I should go back to stock?

CPU temp is at 55-60 average, mobo is at 40. Is that too high? It does seem a bit high but not sure if it's high enough to cause problems.

 

[techmanc]

I would guess its not a ram problem but something interfering with performance like a virus/spyware. Try running Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware in safe mode and see if any problems. Also check the task manager and see if any processes are using a lot of ram or cpu. What happened around the time the problem started? Have you install any new hardware or software?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Nothing new was installed. I have antivir which comes clean, and I've already ran malwarebytes as well. I'll run it again to be extra sure though, but I watch what I download etc so should not have any spyware.

I just clocked my cpu back to normal to see if it was that.

Basically if I open a memory intense app like a VM, the problem starts, but I've done these things before on 1 gig of ram and no issues.

I'll report back tomorrow on if it does it again after having done this scan + underclocked. I'm hoping it's just the overclock because that will be an easy fix.

 

[techmanc]

Any new hardware? Also check your hardware power and device cables to make sure they all connected tightly and of coulse remove any overclocking until problem is fixed.

 

[Nothinman]

You're running out of some global Windows resource, not memory. I've actually got an app here that does that if you let it run long enough, closing it releases those resources and everything goes back to normal again.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Hmm like GDI resources? Any way I can somehow increase that or something? I want to actually be able to take advantage of all my ram.

 

[techmanc]

You can Autoruns and see how many process are running and you can disable item if you want here a link............

http://technet.microsoft.com/e...nternals/bb963902.aspx

recommend you disable items first then delete after your sure item not needed. You can also right click an item in list and auto goggle search it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: techmanc
You can Autoruns and see how many process are running and you can disable item if you want here a link............

http://technet.microsoft.com/e...nternals/bb963902.aspx

recommend you disable items first then delete after your sure item not needed. You can also right click an item in list and auto goggle search it.

I doubt startup programs are my issue as I keep a close enough eye on that, though that is a useful program, it's more extensive the the one I use.

There's lot of DLLs and stuff but I'm guessing most of those are needed? Like the drivers and stuff. I'll keep this program handy for when cleaning viruses off people's computers.

I'll test again in a bit to see if I can startup a few VMs without having windows UI act up on me.

 

[MrChad]

How many VMs are you opening and how much RAM are you allocating to them?