First of all, let me thank all who helped me a few months back with my PC problems. You are a great bunch of people!

And I didn't expect to be back here so soon, but.....

Of late I've been getting an occasional message box that reads 'Your memory is low. Please close some programs'...etc. etc. Which is weird, given that normally, I've only got four or five Windows open, nothing more, no significant bk programs running.

According to my system resources, I have 255MB of RAM; 19% Free Memory; File & Virtual Memory 32-bit; Disk Compresson not installed.

I'm not sure to make of this, and I don't remember how much RAM was originally installed in my PC(which is my first for home, BTW; have been using one at work for many years, but never gave thought to such things).

Is this simply a matter of adding more memory, and if so, what should I do? Don't really feel like replacing the hard drive(though adding might be an option?). Is it also possible that something within the PC is either not running properly, or not at all?

Again, thanks in advance for any help and advice. Yikes! Got the beast (Dell Dimension L1000R)completely debugged, defragged, and then it starts messin' with me!

One more thing: when things seem to labor, I see that at the toolbar on bottom, there is a flickering, most obvious with the Start button, which suggests to me some kind of instability...


ED

If you've only got 19% free memory thats drastically low. I run ME and the worst it gets to is 55%. You need to hold down ctrl+alt+del keys and see what is running in the background. Write them down and post here so we can see whats hogging all the memory.

Thanks for the quick reply! Here's the list:

MSN Messenger
Explorer
Ccapp
Browser
Spysweeper
Systray
Webshots
Scheduler
Qttask
Monitor
Rundll
Msnappau
Loadqm
Em_exec
Winpppoverthenet


ED

Well theres nothing stand out in that list. Maybe you should download hijack this from my signature and post the log to make sure you're clean.

Tassie,

Have that program already and here's what it reads:

--------------------------------------------
Logfile of HijackThis v1.97.7
Scan saved at 10:01:32 PM, on 9/24/2004
Platform: Windows ME (Win9x 4.90.3000)
MSIE: Internet Explorer v6.00 SP1 (6.00.2800.1106)

Running processes:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\KERNEL32.DLL
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSGSRV32.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\mmtask.tsk
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSTASK.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SSDPSRV.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCEVTMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCSETMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\ALWIL SOFTWARE\AVAST4\ASHSERV.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RPCSS.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RESTORE\STMGR.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCPD-LC\SYMLCSVC.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\TASKMON.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\SYSTRAY.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\LOADQM.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\WMIEXE.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\VERIZON ONLINE\WINPOET\WINPPPOVERETHERNET.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\LOGITECH\MOUSEWARE\SYSTEM\EM_EXEC.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN APPS\UPDATER\01.02.3000.1001\EN-US\MSNAPPAU.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\COMMON FILES\SYMANTEC SHARED\CCAPP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\WEBROOT\SPY SWEEPER\SPYSWEEPER.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\RunDLL.exe
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN MESSENGER\MSNMSGR.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\RNAAPP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\REGISTRY CLEAN PRO\MONITOR.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\TAPISRV.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\WEBSHOTS.SCR
C:\PROGRAM FILES\NETSCAPE\NETSCAPE\NETSCP.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\OPERA7\OPERA.EXE
C:\PROGRAM FILES\MOZILLA FIREFOX\FIREFOX.EXE
C:\WINDOWS\APPLICATION DATA\MICROSOFT\INTERNET EXPLORER\QUICK LAUNCH\HIJACKTHIS.EXE

R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust...ch/search.html
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust.../www.yahoo.com
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://bmxt.com/?requestPage=mail
R0 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Start Page = http://EMB@bmxt.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Bar = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust...ch/search.html
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Search Page = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust.../www.yahoo.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Page_URL = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust...//my.yahoo.com
R1 - HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Default_Search_URL = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust.../www.yahoo.com
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main,Window Title = Microsoft Internet Explorer provided by Verizon Online
R1 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\SearchURL,(Default) = http://red.clientapps.yahoo.com/cust.../www.yahoo.com
R0 - HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar,LinksFolderName =
F1 - win.ini: run=hpfsched
N3 - Netscape 7: user_pref("browser.startup.homepage", "http://www.johnlennonforum.com/board/index.php"); (C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\2on69zg3.slt\prefs.j s)
N3 - Netscape 7: user_pref("browser.search.defaultengine", "engine://C%3A%5CPROGRAM%20FILES%5CMOZILLA.ORG%5CMOZILLA%5Cs earchplugins%5CNetscapeSearch.src"); (C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Mozilla\Profiles\default\2on69zg3.slt\prefs.j s)
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {02478D38-C3F9-4efb-9B51-7695ECA05670} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\COMPANION\INSTALLS\CPN\YCOMP5_3_12_0. DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {E3215F20-3212-11D6-9F8B-00D0B743919D} - (no file)
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {BDBD1DAD-C946-4A17-ADC1-64B5B4FF55D0} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN APPS\MSN TOOLBAR\01.02.3000.1001\EN-US\MSNTB.DLL
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {9394EDE7-C8B5-483E-8773-474BF36AF6E4} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN APPS\ST\01.02.3000.1001\EN-XU\STMAIN.DLL
O2 - BHO: NAV Helper - {BDF3E430-B101-42AD-A544-FADC6B084872} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O2 - BHO: (no name) - {53707962-6F74-2D53-2644-206D7942484F} - C:\Program Files\Spybot - Search & Destroy\SDHelper.dll
O3 - Toolbar: &Radio - {8E718888-423F-11D2-876E-00A0C9082467} - C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MSDXM.OCX
O3 - Toolbar: &Yahoo! Companion - {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\YAHOO!\COMPANION\INSTALLS\CPN\YCOMP5_3_12_0. DLL
O3 - Toolbar: MSN - {BDAD1DAD-C946-4A17-ADC1-64B5B4FF55D0} - C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN APPS\MSN TOOLBAR\01.02.3000.1001\EN-US\MSNTB.DLL
O3 - Toolbar: Norton AntiVirus - {42CDD1BF-3FFB-4238-8AD1-7859DF00B1D6} - C:\Program Files\Norton AntiVirus\NavShExt.dll
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Symantec Core LC] C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\CCPD-LC\symlcsvc.exe start
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ScanRegistry] C:\WINDOWS\scanregw.exe /autorun
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [TaskMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\taskmon.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [SystemTray] SysTray.Exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [LoadQM] loadqm.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [Logitech Utility] Logi_MwX.Exe
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [a-winpoet-service] "C:\Program Files\Verizon Online\WinPoET\winpppoverethernet.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [msnappau] "C:\Program Files\MSN Apps\Updater\01.02.3000.1001\en-us\msnappau.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [ccApp] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccApp.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [LoadPowerProfile] Rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,LoadCurrentPwrScheme
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SchedulingAgent] mstask.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [SSDPSRV] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ssdpsrv.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [*StateMgr] C:\WINDOWS\System\Restore\StateMgr.exe
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [StillImageMonitor] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\STIMON.EXE
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ScriptBlocking] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\Script Blocking\SBServ.exe" -reg
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ccEvtMgr] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccEvtMgr.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [ccSetMgr] "C:\Program Files\Common Files\Symantec Shared\ccSetMgr.exe"
O4 - HKLM\..\RunServices: [avast!] C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashServ.exe
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [SpySweeper] "C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SPYSWEEPER.EXE" /0
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [Taskbar Display Controls] RunDLL deskcp16.dll,QUICKRES_RUNDLLENTRY
O4 - HKCU\..\Run: [msnmsgr] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN MESSENGER\MSNMSGR.EXE" /background
O4 - HKCU\..\RunServices: [SpySweeper] "C:\Program Files\Webroot\Spy Sweeper\SPYSWEEPER.EXE" /0
O4 - HKCU\..\RunServices: [Taskbar Display Controls] RunDLL deskcp16.dll,QUICKRES_RUNDLLENTRY
O4 - HKCU\..\RunServices: [msnmsgr] "C:\PROGRAM FILES\MSN MESSENGER\MSNMSGR.EXE" /background
O4 - Startup: Adobe Gamma Loader.lnk = C:\Program Files\Common Files\Adobe\Calibration\Adobe Gamma Loader.exe
O4 - Startup: Webshots.lnk = C:\Program Files\Webshots\Launcher.exe
O4 - Startup: Monitor.lnk = C:\Program Files\Registry Clean Pro\Monitor.exe
O4 - Global Startup: Verizon Online Dialer.lnk = C:\Program Files\Verizon Online\WinPoET\Verizon Online.exe
O8 - Extra context menu item: Yahoo! Search - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycsrch.htm
O8 - Extra context menu item: Yahoo! Dictionary - file:///C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common/ycdict.htm
O9 - Extra button: AIM (HKLM)
O9 - Extra button: ICQ Lite (HKLM)
O9 - Extra 'Tools' menuitem: ICQ Lite (HKLM)
O9 - Extra button: Dell Home (HKCU)
O14 - IERESET.INF: START_PAGE_URL=http://www.dellnet.com/
O16 - DPF: {02BF25D5-8C17-4B23-BC80-D3488ABDDC6B} (QuickTime Object) - http://www.apple.com/qtactivex/qtplugin.cab
O16 - DPF: {7CF052DE-C74F-421B-B04A-3B3037EF5887} (CCMPGui Class) - http://64.124.45.181/chaincast/proxy/CCMP.cab
O16 - DPF: {E49D9ED2-653B-4611-8ADD-909E9EC05C5C} - http://130.94.70.13/player/ach.cab
O16 - DPF: {D27CDB6E-AE6D-11CF-96B8-444553540000} (Shockwave Flash Object) - http://download.macromedia.com/pub/s...sh/swflash.cab
O16 - DPF: {41F17733-B041-4099-A042-B518BB6A408C} - http://a1540.g.akamai.net/7/1540/52/...eInstaller.exe
O16 - DPF: {90A29DA5-D020-4B18-8660-6689520C7CD7} (DmiReader Class) - http://ftp.us.dell.com/fixes/PROFILER.CAB
O16 - DPF: {6B4788E2-BAE8-11D2-A1B4-00400512739B} (PWMediaSendControl Class) - http://216.249.24.140/code/PWActiveXImgCtl.CAB
O16 - DPF: {9F1C11AA-197B-4942-BA54-47A8489BB47F} (Update Class) - http://v4.windowsupdate.microsoft.co...976.7643518519
O16 - DPF: {A48D0309-8DA3-41AA-98E4-89194D471890} (Pulse V5 ActiveX Control) - http://www.pulse3d.com/players/engli...er5.2AxWin.cab
O16 - DPF: {4A3CF76B-EC7A-405D-A67D-8DC6B52AB35B} (QDiagAOLCCUpdateObj Class) - http://aolcc.aol.com/computercheckup/qdiagcc.cab
O16 - DPF: {F58E1CEF-A068-4C15-BA5E-587CAF3EE8C6} (MSN Chat Control 4.5) - http://fdl.msn.com/public/chat/msnchat45.cab
O16 - DPF: {EF99BD32-C1FB-11D2-892F-0090271D4F88} (&Yahoo! Companion) - http://us.dl1.yimg.com/download.yaho...bio5_1_5_0.cab
O16 - DPF: {2BC66F54-93A8-11D3-BEB6-00105AA9B6AE} (Symantec AntiVirus scanner) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S...in/AvSniff.cab
O16 - DPF: {644E432F-49D3-41A1-8DD5-E099162EEEC5} (Symantec RuFSI Utility Class) - http://security.symantec.com/sscv6/S.../bin/cabsa.cab
O16 - DPF: {C3DFA998-A486-11D4-AA25-00C04F72DAEB} (MSN Photo Upload Tool) - http://sc.groups.msn.com/controls/PhotoUC/MsnPUpld.cab
O16 - DPF: {30528230-99F7-4BB4-88D8-FA1D4F56A2AB} (YInstStarter Class) - http://download.yahoo.com/dl/installs/yinst0401.cab
O16 - DPF: {E87F6C8E-16C0-11D3-BEF7-009027438003} (Persits Software XUpload) - http://upload.smugmug.com/photos/activex/XUpload.ocx
O16 - DPF: {5D9E4B6D-CD17-4D85-99D4-6A52B394EC3B} (WSDownloader Control) - http://www.webshots.com/samplers/WSDownloader.ocx
O16 - DPF: {B8F2846E-CE36-11D0-AC83-00C04FD97575} - http://www.talkingbuddy.com/talkingbuddyinstall.exe
O16 - DPF: {74D05D43-3236-11D4-BDCD-00C04F9A3B61} (HouseCall Control) - http://a840.g.akamai.net/7/840/537/2...ll/xscan53.cab
O16 - DPF: {80DD2229-B8E4-4C77-B72F-F22972D723EA} (AvxScanOnline Control) - http://www.bitdefender.com/scan/Msie/bitdefender.cab
O16 - DPF: {CC05BC12-2AA2-4AC7-AC81-0E40F83B1ADF} (Live365Player Class) - http://www.live365.com/players/play365.cab
O16 - DPF: {B8BE5E93-A60C-4D26-A2DC-220313175592} (ZoneIntro Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...o.cab28578.cab
O16 - DPF: {14B87622-7E19-4EA8-93B3-97215F77A6BC} (MessengerStatsClient Class) - http://messenger.zone.msn.com/binary...t.cab28578.cab
O16 - DPF: {D06A22B4-6087-4D3D-B7AF-82B113E9ABD4} (CPostLaunch Object) - http://www2.verizon.net/update/msnwe...s/vzWebIns.CAB
O16 - DPF: {A17E30C4-A9BA-11D4-8673-60DB54C10000} (YahooYMailTo Class) - http://us.dl1.yimg.com/download.yaho...ymmapi_416.dll

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



ED

MSN Messenger
Explorer
Ccapp
Browser
Spysweeper
Systray
Webshots
Scheduler
Qttask
Monitor
Rundll
Msnappau
Loadqm
Em_exec
Winpppoverthenet

Maybe you could get some resources back if you limited the amount of programs starting with Windows. The red ones can be eliminated IMHO and there are probably others you could start manualy, just my 2 ¢

Bear,

Took your advice and did so.

I've been out most of the day, but this morning, after restarting and adjusting in MSCONFIG, I got up to an optimum of 52% resources.

When I got him not long agok, opened a few browsers--Opera, Firefox, Advanced--and, suddenly, was down to 14%!

This is what is baffling me: I don't have a lot of windows open, but it seems only a few are draining the PC, and I wonder if this is a power management problem, still too much in startup...

Could you advise me on the bare minimum of startup items? I'd like to find some way to keep the available memory consistent. I've dumped as many old graphics files I had kicking around that were no longer of use, along with some old programs that either duplicate what I have or aren't being used at all, but can be reinstalled at a later time if needed.


Hope someone can read my Hijackthis printout and perhaps see if there is a problem listed.


Thanx,

ED

Hello Ed, I'll leave the reading of the HJT log to one of the mods I'm still working on interpting the logs myself. But as for trimming down what starts with Windows try these two websites. Pacs Portal and Startup Aps list. Good luck and you might also want to post your Hijack This log in the Spyware, Adware and Viruses forum. HTH

One thing you could check: in TASK MANAGER>PROCESSES each process will have memory usage beside it. Do a check and see if theres anything that grabs your attention. Explorer.exe and perhaps svchost will be high usage, but this is normal. One thing that baffles me is why you would want three browsers open. You seem to have alot of backgroudn tasks running and so if you then go and open three browsers (especially including IE) its inevitable that your memory usage will begin to near its limit. Try starting with as few apps as possible, then open them one by one and monitor the memory usage. Look for unusual jumps in usage.
One other thing, if you have the space, you can increase your virtual memory capacity.

Just found this: http://www.informationweek.com/story...cleID=17200581 made quite good reading
and this??? http://aroundcny.com/technofile/texts/tec041501.html i wouldnt be put off by it, but it might help determine your action when all else fails :-)