Windows 7 Physical Memory High?

Discussion in 'Software' started by dustoff99, Apr 23, 2011.

  1. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    Dell XPS 720 (around 3 years old)

    Q6600 @ 2.40 GHz
    4.00 GB (2.50 GB usable)
    32-bit Operating System

    Just upgraded OS from Vista to Windows 7 Home Premium

    After upgrading to Windows 7, I just noticed my Physical Memory is high and when I jump into an online game, it will max out and my game will be very unplayable.

    Sitting here typing this with no other windows open except Windows Task Manager and my Windows sidebar:

    Processes: 70
    CPU Usage 0%
    Physical Memory: 43%

    I am not sure how to post my actuall processes, but any ideas on how I can reduce this so my game will be enjoyable?
     
    dustoff99, Apr 23, 2011
    #1
  2. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Welcome aboard!

    Howto: Create Screenshots and Attach items to your Post

    What's the spec on your graphics card? Can you find the Dell Serial number and supply it, it should be on a sticker on the machine. What game are you playing and at what resolution?



    EDIT: Was the 'upgrade' a format/install or just a straight upgrade from Vista?
     
    satrow, Apr 23, 2011
    #2
  3. Mimsy

    Mimsy Superior Imperial Queen of the MG Games Forum

    In addition to what Satrow asked for, which game is it, and do you have a link to its system requirements?
     
    Mimsy, Apr 23, 2011
    #3
  4. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    - NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT in SLI (disabled)
    - Service Tag: BQGFXF1
    - World of Warcraft and Black Ops
    - 1920 x 1200 (Dell 2408 WFP)
     
    dustoff99, Apr 23, 2011
    #4
  5. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    -Upgrade from Vista
     
    dustoff99, Apr 23, 2011
    #5
  6. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I'd consider a clean install of 64-bit W7 if I were you, it should make almost all of your 4GB of RAM available for Windows.
     
    satrow, Apr 23, 2011
    #6
  7. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    I am under the impression that I cannot install a 64-bit on top of a 32-bit system?
     
    dustoff99, Apr 24, 2011
    #7
  8. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    That's correct.

    You need to do a clean install. A major problem with updating one version of Windows to the next is that if the original Windows had a few bugs, bad or corrupted settings, etc., these are often carried over into the upgraded version. You could also be carrying over some, or all of, the pre-installed software from the original maker; this alone might double the number of processes running compared to a clean install.
     
    satrow, Apr 24, 2011
    #8
  9. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #9
  10. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    This HERE may answer your question.

    Could you also post a screenshot from Resource Monitor and just type in the Start Search box resmon and hit enter to quickly open that page.

    But with a 32bit OS and 4GB or ram or more the mileage can be different for usable ram, has a lot to do with memory addresses and other hardware that use these addresses like if you have a 1GB graphic card the ram on that could be reported by the system as total ram.
     
    DavidGP, Apr 27, 2011
    #10
  11. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    I have 4 GB memory installed (1 GB per DIMM slot), my video card(s) NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT (SLI is disabled at this time due to COD Black Ops and WoW wasn't taking advantage of it).
    http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o188/dustoff99/Windows7/resmon.png
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #11
  12. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    If you physically remove the unused 8800GT from the computer, Windows will have more of the RAM to use.
     
    satrow, Apr 27, 2011
    #12
  13. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    Thanks, next question: does everything seem allright besides removing the unused video card?
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #13
  14. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Yes as satrow mentioned remove the extra card, reboot and see what your ram looks like then but resmon has listed all your 4GB so thats fine, the extra card I suspect is adding to the hardware reserved total.

    Don't worry about the standby ram and the screen saying 11mb free as thats normal, Windows 7 uses a newer memory manager and the standby allocated and waiting to be used, the old doctrine in tech circles i s unused ram is wasted ram, you want the OS to use as much as it can but have some spare for apps that need it, Windows 7 will release ram if you load up an app that needs more.

    Do also look at that link I posted as some settings can be changed if you have them to release ram to the OS.
     
    DavidGP, Apr 27, 2011
    #14
  15. usafveteran

    usafveteran MajorGeek

    I'm running Win 7 Ultimate on a P4, so it's 32 bit. I have 4GB RAM installed but Windows shows 3.5GB usable. David's comments about "memory addresses and other hardware that use these addresses" seem to me to be the best clue here. I've attached a screen shot of my resmon screen for comparison; note the dfference in Hardware Reserved (the gray area on the bar graph). Can you pull a video card and run your system with one card as a test?

    http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y256/farmpond/forums/resmon27Apr11.png
     
    usafveteran, Apr 27, 2011
    #15
  16. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    There's a lot more you can do, depending on the amount of time you want to spend doing it, your computer usage and whether on not you use things like file sharing over your own network, use a printer, etc.

    Start by uninstalling any software that you don't use regularly and post up a screenshot of MSConfig showing the Startup tab and we can advise what you can cut back on there.

    To give you another visual comparison, I'm attaching a screenshot of my TaskMan - note the number of Threads, Processes and Handles compared to yours - my PC (W7/64) is running harder than yours CPU/RAM wise but using fewer other resources. It boots with about 23 Processes and 800MB RAM in use.
     

    Attached Files:

    satrow, Apr 27, 2011
    #16
  17. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    Thanks David, I followed that link and everything looks fine there.
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #17
  18. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    I will try removing a card this weekend and test that theory.
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #18
  19. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    I just did a clean install, here is a ss of my MSConfig:
    http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o188/dustoff99/Windows7/msconfig.png
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #19
  20. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    While I wouldn't ever use msconfig (read HERE for spot on advice as to why) to manage start-ups as it can cause issues with uninstall apps, use StartupCPL to manage start-ups, I would untick the following

    iTunes
    MobileME
    C-Major Audio (can find the audio properties in Control Panel anyway's doesn't need to be in the sys tray)
    HP Software Update (can run manually but not really many updates past a few months of a model being released)
    Steam (can run when needed)
     
    DavidGP, Apr 27, 2011
    #20
  21. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    Before I untick MobileMe, will that affect my sync'ing with my PC and mobileME?
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #21
  22. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    It will just not run at boot automatically that's all but you can test it out and if you don't like the setting re-tick that option (of-hand don't think MobileME uses much resources anyways), I tend to keep the start-up list to crucial apps only, backup and security, I don't have my Windows Mobile Device Centre, which is like MobileME in part running, run and sync it as and when, but you just need to measure out what you want vs ram and PC resources used, get a balance your happy with.

    We can only advise, what we would do, your choice is the last one, so try the opinions out and if they don't work resort back on a few settings.
     
    DavidGP, Apr 27, 2011
    #22
  23. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #23
  24. DavidGP

    DavidGP MajorGeeks Forum Administrator - Grand Pooh-Bah Staff Member

    Hi

    Have you made sure they are all ticked in msconfig first and rebooted?

    then my bad sorry, should have said right click the StartupCPL and choose Run as Administrator, can right click and delete the unticked duplicates (should know better as I use this app myself in Win7 x64)

    can use Autoruns if thats easier for you HERE
     
    DavidGP, Apr 27, 2011
    #24
  25. dustoff99

    dustoff99 Private E-2

    Run as administrator worked. Rebooting now....

    And thank you very much. :cool
     
    dustoff99, Apr 27, 2011
    #25

MajorGeeks.Com Menu

Downloads All In One Tweaks \ Android \ Anti-Malware \ Anti-Virus \ Appearance \ Backup \ Browsers \ CD\DVD\Blu-Ray \ Covert Ops \ Drive Utilities \ Drivers \ Graphics \ Internet Tools \ Multimedia \ Networking \ Office Tools \ PC Games \ System Tools \ Mac/Apple/Ipad Downloads

Other News: Top Downloads \ News (Tech) \ Off Base (Other Websites News) \ Way Off Base (Offbeat Stories and Pics)

Social: Facebook \ YouTube \ Twitter \ Tumblr \ Pintrest \ RSS Feeds