Memory issues

Intel Celeron 2.93; 496MB RAM. XP Home. emachines.

I have been reading the forum for about a week trying to overcome my memory issues using threads previously posted to no avail.

I typically keep my machine clean: I dump programs little used. Get rid of Docs I no longer need, Scan with adaware, and reg scrub every couple of days and dc from the Internet disable sys-restore if having any difficulty getting cleaned.

I use free RAM XP, Avant Browser, antivir and windows firewall.

What is occuring that is most noticeable is a simple photo I scanned into my pics. I wanted greater detail, so I changed my scanners settings and ended up with a photo that is 7.25mb. When i open it, It rarely opens without causing Free Ram to begin its cycle of freeing. Also the file actually rarely completely opens. If I manage to get it open, I cannot even turn it 90 degrees without a system freeze of sorts. I can escape all this and recover, but cannot seem to find my problem.

1. I want to begin doing digital photo work soon so obviously my memory problems are going to prevent this.

2. Clues:
a. I had the darndest time trying to rid my comp. of Quicktime and only managed to today after a week of trying.
b. I can't seem to keep Flash working more than a couple of days at a time.


I checked my sys info and it says I am using 30gb and have 40 gb free.
I performed all the malware things in the malware forum incl.: bitdefender (found 0), HJT, CCC'r, etc.

I did the Internet speed tests and it is supposedly good at 30 or 40 MBPS, 12 at idle. I also reset the virtual mem to 788 (recommended).

Unfortunately there may be more than two things wrong with my sys. I am aware of this and I can imagine that that makes this harder to overcome. If anyone has ideas or an order for me to begin looking deeper into this, I'd truly appreciate the help.

Thanks for the help, in advance. If I did something st00pid here, I am sure I haven't set precedence. Thanx again~tom

 

I will address the first issue, scanning a large photo file, the simple answer is increase your RAM, if you are going into Digital Photo work you will need considerably more than what you have. 4GB and larger is not unheard of by those doing photo work. Your "Temp Files" are first stored to RAM, then dumped to the HD, as the RAM page filing fills, which you are experiencing with a relatively small 7.25Mb file already..................This might pose a problem with your eMachine as I believe it is limited to either 1GB or 2GB of usable memory by the MB. Hope that Helps

 

Yes. It does help tremendously by setting me on a course of action. What is obvoius is: I don't know the first thing about "how" computers utilize their design. I'd really like to understand more about that aspect to help me decide about better ways to purchase and use. Many Thanks~~t

 

Followed this up with a 2GB replacement via two sticks from tigerdirect. Amazing the difference in phtot files that are large. Also interesting is now computer is using about 400mb just to hang out~~~??~~

 

Yup. The more room Windows has, the more room it uses.

 

I can now watch FreeRamXps' meter and see that opening a 5-7mb photo file for adjusting does use about a Gb of RAM. Nice to actually watch these gages while performing a procedure. I can easily see why my 512 was stunting the performance. Thanks again to MG and posters.