thanatoid wrote:
| Hi gang.
|
| Something a little strange is happening.
|
| I am running 98SELite on a 2GHz machine with 1GB of RAM. I have
| the following lines in system.ini and everything runs fine
| (but... see later):
|
| [vcache]
| MinFileCache=0
| MaxFileCache=524288

That should be fine.

| (another section)
| MinPagingFileSize=204800
| MaxPagingFileSize=204800

Setting a max size for the swap file could get you in deep trouble with
certain MVPs! Better not let Harper see this in particular! However, I
doubt it affects resources.

| (I haven't used ANY of the swap file since I put in the 1GB RAM

If the swap file isn't being used very often, consider...

"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
....in System.ini, [386.Enh] Section.

But I'm not sure it has anything to do with resources. And I can't quite
recall what it is supposed to do! Maybe it reverts swap file handling
back to Win95 methods, which I think spent less time anticipating the
size to make the swap file. This is probably what you want to do--
instead of setting the max/min to the same number!

| :-)
|
| Here's the weirdness:
|
| I seem to be running out of system resources all the time and
| quite rapidly - much more so than when I still had just 256 MB
| of RAM. After about ½ hr on the web, I get to about 20% on the
| 1st and 3rd resource and sometimes I have to reboot a few
| minutes later.

Does it happen just by connecting to the WEB (i.e., you've clicked your
connectoid, thanatoid)-- or do you have to do something like NG
activity, browsing, or downloading? Maybe...

Do you have "System Monitor" in START... System Tools? If not, get it
from "START, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Windows Setup
tab, D-Clk System Tools, check System Monitor, OK, Apply, OK". May as
well take "Resource Meter", too. Now, go through the menus and at least
have it display

(a) Swap file in use.
(b) Swap file size.
(c) Swappable memory.
(d) Unused physical memory.
(e) Allocated memory.
(f) Disk cache size.
(g) Locked memory
(h) Other memory
(i) Kernel Processor Usage
(j) Kernel Threads

Keep an eye especially on Swap File in Use & Disk Cache Size
before/after the problem begins.

| I use Opera and I have started using FireFox 2.0.0.18 because
| Opera crashes a lot with the stupid SWF plugin, although I still
| prefer its features and I am very accustomed to it.
|
| If I stay off the web, no problem with sys resources.
|
| Does anyone have any idea WHY this has started happening and
| what I can do to fix it?
| Any help would be most appreciated, as usual.

Here is what I always post about resources...

Generally, if you've got any Resources at all, you've got enough (said
Harper or Martell). This is because it won't blow, until Resources are
zero. Then, you get an out of memory error (no matter how much RAM
you've got).

Perhaps put Resource Meter in your Tray, to see how low they get. A
reboot would clear it, but, obviously, it's better to cleanup your
Startup Group. Do you have "Resource Meter" in START... System Tools?
If not, get it from "START, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove
Programs, Windows Setup tab, D-Clk System Tools, check System
Resource Meter, OK, Apply, OK". May as well take "System Monitor", too.

The meter will show three figures: System, User & GDI. System is set
to the lower of the others. GDI, I take to be the province of one's
Display Adapter & out of one's control, except by prayer maybe. I know
my GDI resources went up after switching to an LSD monitor. User
Resources can be controlled by limiting the number of programs running.

http://www.pcmag.com/ 's StartUpCop has "undo", and it is more than a
combination of "START, Run, MSInfo32, Software Environment, Startup
Programs" and "START, Run, MSConfig, Startup tab". It can even do a
permanent delete from the Startup Group. This is configurable, and one
may maintain multiple configurations of items to include in the Group.

Resources are starting to make me as crazy as TIFs now. I don't fully
understand it, my book ("Windows 98 Secrets" [Livingston/Straub]),
pp.1126-1127, says, Resources are lists (aka heaps). "The lists point
to areas of memory where user interface elements (and other items)
are stored -- things like dialog boxes, windows, and so on." From that,
I divine these are lists of POINTERS to locations in RAM. These lists
have a maximum size, and when they are used up, your resources are gone.
Windows generates an out of memory message upon the next request that
needs space in a list. Even if you have plenty of RAM, the list won't
get any longer. Even though each entry in the 32-bit heap can address
an area of RAM 2 GB away, that also doesn't make the list any longer. I
just don't know how long that list is; the book didn't say. And that's
as close as I've come to understanding Resources.

Windows 3.1x had four 16-bit heaps, three for the User resource & one
for the GDI (Graphic Device Interface). These could only address 64K
each or 256K in total, "to store the objects used in the user interface
and displayed on your screen". In Windows 95/98 the three User heaps
have been combined to one 32-bit heap, capable of addressing 2GB of
RAM. Because some 3.1x applications managed resources lists directly,
instead of through APIs (application program interfaces), Microsoft
retained the 16-bit GDI heap. But some of the elements in it were moved
to the 32-bit heap. Then follows a table of ten Resources elements and
the limits to them in Windows 3.1x compared to Windows 95/98. I see
no contradiction to Livingston/Straub in the article "Core System
Components", on the Windows 98 Resource Kit.

| t.

--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
Should things get worse after this,
PCR