Windows says it's
"Dangerously Low on System Resources"
| Intended For |
 Windows
Me
Windows
98
Windows
95 |
|
The way Windows 9x/Me handles a small area of memory called System
Resources is one of the biggest shortcomings of the Windows 9x/Me architecture.
Understanding the concept of System Resources is key to reducing system
crashes and helping to maintain your sanity in an average workday.
Every time you open an application, it loads all of its visual components,
such as windows, menus, text boxes, buttons, checkboxes, and lists, into
memory. Windows keeps track of the visual components of all the applications
so that, for example, when you drag a window across the screen, it knows
what was behind the window and is able to redraw it. These visual components
are stored in System Resources. Regardless of the amount of physical memory
installed in your computer and regardless of the number of open windows,
the amount of memory allotted to System Resources never increases.
What’s more, not all of the System Resources an application uses are
released when the application is closed. So, you could open and close
an application several times and actually run out of System Resources.
That’s why Windows may complain that you’re out of memory, even when you
have only two or three applications open.
The symptoms of low System Resources include slow performance, error
messages when starting programs, application windows not updating properly,
applications hanging, and the entire system crashing. The fix, at least
as far as we lowly users are concerned, is to restart Windows. When Windows
is restarted, the System Resources are cleared, and everything returns
to normal.
To change the size of the virtual memory paging file
You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators
group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer is connected
to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from completing
this procedure.
| 1. |
Open System in Control Panel. |
| 2. |
On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click
Settings. |
| 3. |
On the Advanced tab, under Virtual memory, click
Change. |
| 4. |
Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains
the paging file you want to change. |
| 5. |
Under Paging file size for selected drive, click Custom
size, and type a new paging file size in megabytes in the Initial
size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
If you decrease the size of either the initial or maximum page
file settings, you must restart your computer to see the effects of
those changes. Increases typically do not require a restart.
|
Note
| • |
To open System, click Start, click
Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then
click System. |
| • |
To have Windows choose the best paging file size,
click System managed size. |
| • |
For best performance, do not set the initial
size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging
file size for all drives. The recommended size is equivalent to
1.5 times the amount of RAM on your system. Usually, you should leave
the paging file at its recommended size, although you might increase
its size if you routinely use programs that require a lot of memory.
|
| • |
To delete a paging file, set both initial size
and maximum size to zero, or click No paging file. Microsoft
strongly recommends that you do not disable or delete the paging file.
|
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