Out of memory...

[paladin52]

I sure hope someone can help me. I guess I should start out with my computer:
Gateway Essential 500
500mhz Pentium III
10GB HDD
256MB SDRAM
56Kbps modem
Windows 98 SE
Programs running: IE 5.01 SP2; Anti-Virus; ZoneAlarm; Explorer; AT&T Worldnet ISP.
Problem: After being on-line 80 - 100 minutes, my computer slows to a crawl, and then just freezes. If I try to open anything,
a message pops up to declare that I do not have enough memory...or system resources, even though I have more than enough! For the first 80 minutes, I can open a dozen applications and everything is fine. But after that time - nothing works. I've tried everything I can think of: memory managers, Cacheman, etc. I now let Windows manage my memory - still no luck.
I defrag religiously, run Scandisk, delete temp files, update all drivers, anti-virus definitions, my HDD is 72% unused, I have no hardware/software conflicts, no viruses, trojans, and System File Checker says that all is O.K. What am I doing wrong?
Thank you all for listening,
paladin52

[Guru_God]

okay some ideas,
have you monitered your system resources during that time.... does it slowly increase?
does it matter whats running? for example have you just let your computer sit and it freezes up without anything running...?

if your memory slowly decreases i would suggest one program your using has a memory leak which you can't do nothing about.. except look for updates for that program...

if your computer freezes without anything running it could be a system or hardware problem...

hopefully some others will give some ideas =)

[paladin52]

Guru_God,

Thanks for the ideas. I tried some/all of them at one time or another. The results are consistent: 80-100 minutes and everything
seems to stop functioning; even when I do nothing, and just let the computer stay connected (idle)! Very frustrating. I thought
it might be the cooling fan starting to die, but this does not occur off-line.
Thanks again,
paladin52

[MishY]

This may be caused by having too many programs loading at startup.

Could you pls do this ....

Click Start / Run and type MSCONFIG in the box and hit enter.

Then click on the Startup tab of the window that pops up.

Please list ALL you see in the startup section and post it here.

Most importantly please let us know what the last program you installed was.

If you can remember did this error start occuring after installing any software ?

MishY

[paladin52]

MishY,

Thank you for responding. I have tried the
msconfig utility a number of times. All that I ever have running is:
C:\PROGRA~1\ATT\WNCLIENT\ARUPLD32.EXE
" \WNCONN~1.EXE
" \WNCSMS~1.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ZONELABS\MINILOG.EXE
" \VSMON.EXE
D:\PROGRA~1\ZONELA~1\ZONEAL~1.EXE
C:\PROGRA~1\INTERN~1\IEXPLORE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
D:\PROGRA~1\TREND PC-cillin2000\webtrap.exe
" \PCCIOMON.EXE
" \pop3trap.exe
And then some that are not listed in "msconfig", but Windows98SE sees fit to run:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
" \MMTASK.TSK
" \MPREXE.EXE
" \MSGSRV32.EXE
" \RNAAPP.EXE
" \TAPISRV.EXE
That is the extent of it. Gateway couldn't believe that's all I had running...(they also
couldn't help me).
As far as I know, the last program that I installed was "Norton Ghost 2001". (I am trying to get prepared, in case I have to format/re-install). This problem has been occurring for about 4 months! The last program that I installed around that time was
"Partition Magic 6.0"; but I believe that the
install was done 3-4 weeks after I started to
have this problem.
You guys are great already; I'll be very grateful, indeed, if you can help me solve this dilema.
paladin52

[jmatt]

Could be overheating , try an external fan .

-----------------------------------------

Free up Conventional Memory http://www.geocities.com/thegorx/Windows/Help/Cmem.htm

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http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/resources1.html
Windows Resources vs. Memory

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http://windows.about.com/compute/windows/library/weekly/aa081100a.htm

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http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2000/2000-06-08.htm
More Resource Leak-Tweaks

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http://www.pcforrest.freeserve.co.uk/resources.htm
System Resources
GDI and User Resources explained

[paladin52]

jmatt,

Thanks for all the pertinent URL's. I checked out a few and saved the rest. I must say that they might do some good, by the looks of them.
I'm still leaning toward the fan, though I have checked it, and found it to be operating
as I think it should. Never the less I will purchase another, to be sure. Thank you again,
paladin52

[Junky]

To make sure the extra fan will do some good try this:

Take the case off the computer. Place a table top or floor fan near it and point it toward the computer. See if that helps. If so, the computer could use some extra cooling with an internal fan.

BTW, how much free space is there left on the hard drive? Sometimes people overlook the fact that the disk is full. Windows needs at least 50 megs of free disk space to do the simplest things.

[paladin52]

Junky,

Thanks for the input. I'm sure that a table fan would be more than enough cooling, even for an "over-clocked" Athlon Thunderbird! I intend to give it a try.
My HDD at present is 72% free space, if that's not enough for Windows, I guess I'll have to try Linux. But, seriously, I think that 7GB free should be enough. It makes me wonder, however, if my HDD isn't starting to die? They are fairly inexpensive right now, maybe I ought to pick one up, along with a new fan.
Thanks again...you are all impressing me.

paladin52

[w1che]

Just for the fun of it do a reboot when it gets that way next... That will clean everything out.. Does your mouse get slugish when it's that way or just the web? Is it swapping to your hard drive when it gets slow?? Let us know about what the reboot does..Will ya?

[paladin52]

w4che,

Thank you for answering. Yes, rebooting is the only way to get back on the web...and accomplish anything, that is. One of the many
things I don't understand is that when my 90 minute session forces me to go off-line, and I close the few programs I have running, I can do most anything in Windows...quickly! But if I were to try to go back on-line without a reboot - no way. I've almost come to accept this as the way things must be, but
then I think: "no way!", 5 months ago I could stay on-line for as long as I could remain awake! Gosh this is frustrating! Sorry
about the tangent; yes, there is some swapping going on to the tune of 192MB, so sayeth "SwapMon" (a pretty neat little utility). And yes, after a re-boot, I'm back starting out with 94-98% system resources.
Fact sure is stranger than Fiction.
There's only one thing that I'm sure of: I refuse to give up, quit, rush out and buy a new PC, et. al. It may take awhile, but somehow I'll figure it out; and with the kind
of support you all have shown me, it may not be too long. Thank you all,
paladin52