Topic 'Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?' in forum 'Microsoft Help' - dslreports.com

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 11:46:50 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : Apparently you missed the memo on the worms, just by being connected to the internet not on a firewalled connection a worm was elevated in windows 2k/xp, no user interaction at all. Those with dial-up connections, and those with broadband, however had not bought a router for the one computer they had. This was happening, it was not a paranoid dream even if you wanted it to be one, and you assume way too much about how Microsoft operates, along with your own skills. There are people to this day with only a modem directly connected to their computers, and if the windows firewall wasn't enabled their windows services would able to be interacted with on the internet.

I was running a software firewall before the worms came, and yes they came. I've been using firewalls since before ZA came out, and people scrambled for firewalls after the worms came. Later, much later Microsoft decided to include a basic inbound firewall in xp sp2 since they knew their services were leaking out, and interacting with the internet, however this didn't stop the problem with their computers being infected just by being connected to the internet currently until they turned off the service that was being exploited, then dealt with the infection. To install windows safely you had to either be behind a router, or disconnect from the internet, then disable the exploitable service, and/or install a software firewall before connecting your xp to the internet.

Whatever it is between your two ears won't save you when they exploit the os.
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 10:57:49 EDT

robman50 posted :

said by eddiebbb :

I wrote in my other answer that I run ready boost on a fast 4 gig flash stick. I cannot for the life of me see if there is any difference.
From what I have read about it, it seems to be beneficial if only one gig of ram is present.

Oh ok, now I saw it. I must of misunderstood it or over looked it. :)

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 10:02:12 EDT

anon posted : Update : I have been reading up on other peoples experience who have trod this "Readyboost" path.
I then experimented with Readyboost sans Superfetch and with Superfetch.
I cold booted and using the Task manager performance tag noted the total boot time till the CPU's registered zero. It took seven minutes. With and without Superfetch.
I then booted Firefox and a UK daily newspaper containig large amounts of photos .
Firefox before SP 9 seconds after 3 seconds. Newspaper before 9 seconds after 3 to 4 seconds.
The question begs as to whether the reduction in time is because of Readyboost or simply because I enable Superfetch, something I have always had turned off ( because of the lengthy boot time ).

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 06:57:05 EDT

anon posted : I wrote in my other answer that I run ready boost on a fast 4 gig flash stick. I cannot for the life of me see if there is any difference.
From what I have read about it, it seems to be beneficial if only one gig of ram is present.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 06:48:35 EDT

Shootist posted : Security is between your 2 ears.
If you don't have that then you are never secure, no matter how many updates you do.

Never used the built in firewall as it is a waste of resources. Never used any firewall system, other then my router.

IMHO you are way to paranoid.
--
Shooter Ready--Stand By BEEP ********

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 06:22:39 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : So you actually think a os is magically secure after years of updates? It's still mostly the same nt core, and I know they sweep issues under the rug until the day they have to fix them.

Before the firewall in xp sp2 you couldn't install xp without xp instantly being infected by an internet worm if you didn't have a hardware firewall for a period of time. This bug carried over from Win2k!
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 05:10:34 EDT

Shootist posted :

said by BlitzenZeus:

All updates end for XP in 2014 while Vista will still get support until 2017 so it's not a great idea at this point.

Wouldn't you think after 11+ years XP has gotten enough updates? I would.
Actually I've run XP on most of my computers, and still do on 3 of them, since 2002 and only update occasionally and have never been infected with anything. And I have stopped doing any updates on my XP boxes.
Now I only update Win 7 occasionally.
--
Shooter Ready--Stand By BEEP ********

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 22:42:04 EDT

robman50 posted : A service pack might improve performance right and maybe some other updates?

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 22:12:10 EDT

OZO posted : There is no such thing as Windows OS, that doesn't require a stream of patches. Never was and perhaps never will be. It's the way of its life. And after 400-500 security patches XP cold be in a better shape, than the newest Windows OS, which should be tested in real life for the next couple of years before we will know how it's secure (or not).
--
Keep it simple, it'll become complex by itself...

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:41:33 EDT

thinkpad posted : If you have a SD card slot you could get a 4gb or 8gb sd-card and try using readyboost. It was made to help computers running Vista with 1gb of ram, I think. I got a class 10 Sandisk 8gb sd card that has 30mb/s read/write speed at Bestbuy for $15, so you could try that.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:58:19 EDT

CylonRed posted : As Win 8 takes over and there is less and less of XP machines - the exploits for XP will stop. Of course by 2014/15 - MS will make it that you won't be able to use XP.
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 18:30:31 EDT

robman50 posted : Does ReadyBoost actually do any thing?

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:44:23 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : The wise also say don't sail the seas with a ship with holes in it, as in security holes, and that sea being the internet. That's all we need, another botnet army on the outdated xp.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:38:26 EDT

OZO posted : If it's working ... well, it's working. Why do you need updates in this case. The wise say - don't fix what is not broken...
--
Keep it simple, it'll become complex by itself...

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:24:55 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : All updates end for XP in 2014 while Vista will still get support until 2017 so it's not a great idea at this point.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 15:46:57 EDT

robman50 posted : Yes I do agree with you there.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:47:40 EDT

Shootist posted : The simplest and best thing to do is Get Rid Of Vista and Install XP. It uses way less HDD space and much less RAM.
--
Shooter Ready--Stand By BEEP ********

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:42:35 EDT

robman50 posted : odd, it seems to be running quicker with out superfetch.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 14:39:44 EDT

robman50 posted : I did some reading and disabled a few services and here is how it's running.

memory 563mb

total 1917mb
cached 1531mb
free 52mb
physical memory 29%
page file 577mb/4830mb
kernel
total 113mb
paged 70mb
nonpaged 42mb

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 08:26:46 EDT

anon posted : Another thing , Vista uses something called memory preselect/predict.
Which means ram is taken at boot up. If you play a game and a lot of ram is used when you reboot that memory is still being taken . To get around this prob boot twice. i.e boot and then reboot again.
Probably used the wrong names for this prob. Sorry!

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 05:00:25 EDT

anon posted : I run Vista on a P4 HT 3.6, 2 gig ram, 128 ATI card. And it screams. Several people who have used this comp are amazed at the speed.
I set my Windows as this:

Click: Start, control panel, System,advanced system settings,advanced,settings, adjust for best performance.

Start,computer, R/click C/: drive select properties, deselect indexing.

Start,control panel, administritive tools,services, superfetch disabled.

Readyboost I also use a 4 gig ( fast ) flash stick , although I'm not to certain of the benefits of it.

Several other tweaks that I cannot remember at present.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 20:06:09 EDT

robman50 posted : I accidentally disabled the program that uses the webcam in the laptop. *face palm* LOL.
Who knew that hp Quickplay was a Cyber Link program.
But with msconfig on 'normal' startup and everything is enabled it is running good with that extra 1gb. Even the Start menu is coming up quicker since I increased the VRAM setting from 64mb to 128mb.
I ran the laptop idle for a few hours to let windows do what ever is needed.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 19:01:56 EDT

chachazz posted : Use Black Viper's Guide to decide what services to change - been around for years - very reliable advice.
Windows loads a lot of services that just aren't needed on a home pc.
»www.blackviper.com/service-confi···rations/

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:53:53 EDT

robman50 posted : I'll leave it on. I only use Firefox and Thunderbird. Doubt I will play any games on this thing.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:40:43 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : Doesn't really matter. Gamers with less than 4GB of ram tend to shut it off so it's not trying to preload their large games, but the memory it uses to precache is released when needed, otherwise it just makes programs like your browser start faster by preloading it into memory. It's based on the programs you use the most.
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:17:27 EDT

robman50 posted : Shutting down Aero freed up some RAM and I also disabled the Windows Search service. It seems to be running a bit more smoothly now.
About the Superfetch service, would disabling it be a smart thing to do?

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:08:35 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : Early amd dual core, but the video isn't good for gaming, especially these days. Older games might be ok, but looks like it will be fine for video, and browsing. On newer games the cpu, and gpu will both be inadequate.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 17:02:48 EDT

robman50 posted : Actually yeah it is and I am quite surprised. As for gaming it would be nice but I highly doubt the system can keep up with it.
Here is what chips this laptop has. NVIDIA GeForce 6150 GPU and NVIDIA nForce 430 MCP featuring HD video.
I really do not know what it is even capable of.
CPU is AMD Turion 64x2 TL-50 1.6Ghz.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:41:41 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : Is aero even enabled with that video card? A very little bit, but with 2GB now you don't need to free up tons of ram. You're not gaming on this are you?

»www.lancelhoff.com/how-to-disabl···n-vista/

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 16:29:42 EDT

robman50 posted : Would shutting down Aero free up any RAM?

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:55:36 EDT

robman50 posted : For 3rd party there is a bunch of 'preloaded' stuff from Cyberlink, Adobe, Java, and a lot of unnecessary laptop stuff.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:52:30 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : With the exception of 3rd party software installed as services do not mess with the windows services unless you like things to stop working for no apparent reason. You have 2GB now, you should be fine for basic software, leave it alone.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:48:44 EDT

robman50 posted : I just found an pair of sticks from an similar laptop that I had in the scrap pile. It is now 2GB (2x1GB) and seems to be running a bit smoother. Windows is even giving me an 5.3 for the RAM rating.
Can't be any malware in there because I just did a fresh recovery from the recovery disks.
The process 'svchost.exe' it taking about 100+ MB. How do you shrink that one down?

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:15:49 EDT

PeteC2 posted : I agree with CylonRed, but also consider this:

Vista does not run ideally on 1GB Ram. That is the number one reason that it got panned so harshly when released. The average computer at that time only averaged 512mb - 1gb. MS was looking for a wide base of acceptance and mistakenly set hardware requirements too low. IMHO, Vista's biggest failing was in its marketing. Several years later, Win 7 was pretty much an over night success, because most of the existing hardware by then began at a minimum of 2gb ram and dual core processors.

Adding 1 gb of ram should provide a decent improvement.
--
Deeds, not words

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:03:34 EDT

BlitzenZeus posted : Windows with 1GB of memory is a joke these days when running any kind of newer software, and a onboard video so old this machine might not even run HD videos well. So what you likely have is a machine that can watch a few youtube videos, and browse the web at best.

If you're down to services, and drivers with most of the memory used anything you run will be in the pagefile. This machine might be better maximized with a smaller os like nix, which ubuntu is a popular variation, and can run from a live os cd, however browsers these days will use upwards of 100's of MB of memory alone.
--
I distrust those people who know so well what god wants them to do because I notice it always coincides with their own desires- Susan B. Anthony
Yesterday we obeyed kings, and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth- Kahlil G.

Re: [Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 13:03:43 EDT

CylonRed posted : You need to pull up Task Manager and see what process is using up the ram and go from there. The only reason I can think of is a poorly written program OR malware.
--
Brian

"It drops into your stomach like a Abrams's tank.... driven by Rosanne Barr..." A. Bourdain

[Vista] How should I tweak Vista so it hogs less RAM?

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 12:39:24 EDT

robman50 posted : I have an older laptop here with 1GB of RAM (2x512MB) and 64MB on board VRAM. How can I tweak Vista so it uses less RAM?
Are there any steps that I can take? I used msconfig to take all of the stuff out of startup but still its using the pagefile like crazy and task manager says 0MB free. Is there any services that I can safely disable?
Services to leave on would be for networking and internet support.