Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.help_and_support (
More info?)
Thanks. Your thoughtful reply to my simplistic question is much appreciated.
This information is most helpful in understanding what is at issue now and
in the future.
"Ron Martell" wrote:
> "Brian Cryer" <brianc@127.0.0.1.activesol.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >
> >Just because one application is using more memory doesn't necessarily make
> >it the culprit.
> >
> >How much physical RAM do you have and how much memory is being used in the
> >system?
> >
> >You can get both these bits of information from task-manager:
> > Physical Memory - Total
> >and PF Usage
> >
> >if the total memory usage (PF Usage) is significantly higher than your
> >physical memory, and the disk light is frequently on and task manager
> >doesn't show the cpu as 100% busy then its probably spending most of its
> >time swapping - which from your posting is what I think you suspect. If this
> >is the case then the obvious remedy would be to add more RAM. Alternately
> >you could try reducing the number of applications you have running.
> >
>
> PF Usage reported by task manager is not the total memory usage.
>
> It is the amount of the paging file that Windows has mapped for usage.
> It consists of two distinct components:
> - Actual paging file usage, which is active memory content that has
> been relocated from RAM to the paging file so as to allow that RAM to
> be used for other, currently more important tasks.
> - Phantom paging file usage, which is memory address space allocated
> to the unused portions of memory allocation requests. All items -
> application programs, Windows components, and device drivers - always
> ask for memory allocations that are larger than what they need under
> normal circumstances. By design Windows must identify memory address
> space to satisfy all of the memory allocation requests that are
> issued. Windows does this by only allocating RAM addresses to those
> portions of the requests that are actually used, and by mapping the
> unused portions to locations in the paging file. Note that this
> mapping of unused portions requires no hard drive activity, unless the
> total items mapped to the paging file exceed the current maximum
> setting. All that is needed is notations in the memory mapping tables
> maintained by the CPU. And if a previously unused portion of a
> request is subsequently required to be used then at that time it can
> be remapped to an available location in RAM.
>
> Hope this explains the situation.
>
> Good luck
>
>
> Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
> --
> Microsoft MVP
> On-Line Help Computer Service
>
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
>
> In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
>
http://aumha.org/alex.htm
>