ElkRP software and WindowsME

J

jrooks

Member
Hi:
Yes, I know, I should use one of my newer computers, but I would sure like to use this one. The problem is that the rules of the RP software gobble up all of the available resources. If I turn off ALL of the other applications and processes in ME the system works, but just barely.

I believe that there are ways to re-allocate resources within Me that may be able to make this problem less severe. Does anyone remember Me well enough to know how to improve the situation?

Elk no longer tests their software on Me so they can't offer much help. This machine is maxed out with RAM so that isn't a solution. A last ditch solution may be to do the rule changes to the ElkRp in the safe mode and then update the M1G in the normal mode after the drivers are back on the air. This solution seems really messy ugly and I would sure rather make some changes within Me if they are beneficial.

Any WinME experts out there? I have made registry changes in the past but hopefully that isn't necessary (too spooky).

So far the Elk seems like a pretty good product.
Any help is appreciated
Thanks, John
 
Dan (electron) said:
How much memory do you have, and how much memory is the process using? What kind of CPU are we talking about here?

As for reallocating the resources, the link below is the only thing I can think of right now:

http://www.aumha.org/win4/a/memmgmt.php
Click to expand...

Hi Dan: Thanks for the quick answer. THe computer is maxed out at 512Meg of RAM (no more slots available) and it is a PentiumIII (866MHz if I remember correctly).

With everything else turned off the system resources available for the RP are about 82% (after a fresh restart), and after starting RP and using the rules for awhile the system resources drop down to about 10% and things get real scarey. I hope this answers your questions.

I have looked at Process Explorer (as well using good old fashioned "cnt-alt-del") and nothing unknown is running. I had to shut down all of the unnecessary stuff in order to get to the 82% value.

I have the computer set to "let windows manage my virtual memory settings", and this is the adjustment I was actually asking about. A very geekly ex-friend of mine (lost touch with him) once told me that operation can be improved if you don't use the recommended setting here. I was wondering if I could give RP more resources if I allocated virtual memory manually. I followed the link you sent me and it brought back memories of places I visited long ago and have since forgotten (i.e I realized I was in over my head unless I did a lot of refreshing).

Anyway, I hope this gives you further detail, and I guess my basic question is now, "can things be helped by manually assigning virtual memory?" If so, what do I do?

Thanks, John
 
Back in the days, the recommendation was that you manually set the swapfile to double the size of your memory. I guess you could try that, as having a static swap file can improve performance in certain situations.

However, Windows 9x/Me isn't that great with that much memory, so I am not sure if you can fix this. With that said, I would strongly consider installing XP on that machine. It will run extremely well (I run it on machines with less memory/cpu), and allow you to do much more (Just a suggestion, I am sure you already knew this, but wanted to make sure).
 
x2 on using XP and it royally sucks you can't have more then 512MB RAM.

You might look at a Little Valley as a replacement, cheap (~$70 with CPU included), low power consumption and loads more processing capability.

I have been buying them in bulk, if you are interested I can hook you up. If our HDD is IDE all you need is $20 for RAM (1GB single sided DDR2). So you should get out for <$100 and the power savings if you run this alot will pay that back eventually.
 
Windows ME is notorious for memory management issues. I'd recommend backing-up your data, reformatting and reinstalling the OS. Then only install the minimum amount of software you need. Almost all anti-virus/anti-spyware/etc products out there are not going to run well on ME. Ditto for any software product that was designed recently. Most of them are compatible with the windows 95 APIs, but ME is a one-off butcher of those interfaces. If you can't go to XP, go to 95, many modern software packages will run better.

For the same amount of time you are spending troubleshooting, just upgrade to windows 2000 or XP. Both can be obtained online extremely cheaply. You may be better off with 2000, less activation issues if you are buying a used version, although usually you can call about XP if you bought someone else's copy and Microsoft can help. In fact, for $100 dollars you can probably get a used PC with a more powerful processor, larger drive, more memory AND XP already installed.
 
CollinR said:
x2 on using XP and it royally sucks you can't have more then 512MB RAM.

You might look at a Little Valley as a replacement, cheap (~$70 with CPU included), low power consumption and loads more processing capability.

I have been buying them in bulk, if you are interested I can hook you up. If our HDD is IDE all you need is $20 for RAM (1GB single sided DDR2). So you should get out for <$100 and the power savings if you run this alot will pay that back eventually.
Click to expand...


Please fill me in on the details for Little Valley. With the exception of this little problem, this machine has performed flawlessly (considering its rather limited uses) and I haven't upgraded it because of the old "don't mess with it if it ain't broke" addage. I have an unused upgrade version of XP, but prior to this I have not found it necessary to install it (concern about driver compatibility etc.) It seems like every project like that has all sorts of unforseen problems.
Thanks, John
 
Dan (electron) said:
Back in the days, the recommendation was that you manually set the swapfile to double the size of your memory. I guess you could try that, as having a static swap file can improve performance in certain situations.

However, Windows 9x/Me isn't that great with that much memory, so I am not sure if you can fix this. With that said, I would strongly consider installing XP on that machine. It will run extremely well (I run it on machines with less memory/cpu), and allow you to do much more (Just a suggestion, I am sure you already knew this, but wanted to make sure).
Click to expand...

Hi Dan (again): Now the basic question is; "Does this sound like a problem that is posibly resolved by mandating a paricular amount of virtual memory(e.g.1 GB)? Or does virtual memory have absolutely nothing to do with it and John is barking up the wrong tree by even considering it?"
Thanks, John
 
It's hard to say, Windows Me was one of the worst operating systems in 'recent history' (eventho I had pretty good luck with it). I suggest you try that change, if it doesn't help, change it back to what it was. I definitely do recommend that XP upgrade, you will fall in love with that machine all over again :)
 
If you have not given up on ME you should. ELK does not even try to support it anymore. Too many problems.
 
@WayneW:

LoL! Along with my work-related sites that I hit every morning, Userfriendly and XKCD are my two personal daily must-visits.

@john r:

Run! Run screaming from MS M.E.! As you have found out, it has particularly bad memory management. XP with > service pack 2 (SP2) has gained a reputation for being as solid as they come in the Windows world.

If you really must try tuning ME, take a gander at this article.

Good luck!

-Chris
 
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