"Insufficient Memory" errors in Windows 3.1
David Godshall
We are having some memory problems in Windows in which I am having a
bit of difficulty in isolating the cause. Symptoms are that after
running several programs, I get an "Insufficient Memory" error trying
to run *ANY* program, including small ones like Clock. The order I
load the programs makes a difference -- sometimes I can load 20
programs without a glitch, sometimes it complains after two. The
main program that seems to exasperate this problem is the Client
Access/400 program I most recently have been working with -- after
running it, it is somewhat likely this problem will begin -- though
I've been having similar problems to a lesser degree for quite some
time, prior to working with CA/400.
Anyway, I am trying to figure out exactly what "memory" is being filled
up. This is a 16meg Pentium computer with a 10meg swap file. I ran
WinProbe 3.0 and, at the time the problem is manifesting itself,
WinProbe is reporting various available memory sizes (maximum locked,
maximum unlocked, total free memory, available physical memory, largest
free block of global memory, etc.), with all values being 3.7meg or
larger -- well enough to run the 9k clock. System resources are 70%
for USER and 72% for GDI, also plenty to run clock. I compared other
WinProbe numbers between pre- and post-problem conditions without
noticing anything that could account for this, and I'm stumped as to
what to try next. The answer is probably staring me in my face, which
is why I decided to write this message. If you can see what I can't or
have ideas of other things to try, I would appreciate a reply! Please
CC my dav...@hesston.edu address, since I don't have very easy access
to newsgroups at this time. Thanks!
David Godshall, Network Manager
Hesston College, dav...@hesston.edu
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
Al Hall
David Godshall <dav...@hesston.edu> wrote:
Hello,
I have 1 PC (out of 35) that does the same exact thing. I have
no idea what it is and no one has given any suggestions. Mine
is just a bit stranger. I have a small program that won't run
but it will run big ones. If I find an answer I'll let you know.
Al
Robert Nowell
David Godshall <dav...@hesston.edu> wrote:
>We are having some memory problems in Windows in which I am having a
>bit of difficulty in isolating the cause. Symptoms are that after
>running several programs, I get an "Insufficient Memory" error trying
>to run *ANY* program, including small ones like Clock. The order I
>load the programs makes a difference -- sometimes I can load 20
>programs without a glitch, sometimes it complains after two.
< snip >
> Please CC my dav...@hesston.edu address. Thanks!
>
>David Godshall, Network Manager
>Hesston College, dav...@hesston.edu
>
Below is an article from PC Magazine which you might find helpful.
Good luck.
Living with the Products We Review
Bill Machrone with Tin Albano
November 21, 1995
Creative Ways to Help Jog Windows Memory
As Windows' last days approach, its memory management deficiencies are really
coming to the fore, but so
are the solutions. Windows 3.1 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11 are amazingly
inconsistent in their abilities
to run multiple programs. They sometimes run out of system resources or low DOS
memory and may run as
few as two programs, even if you have 32MB of RAM. Programs that open multiple
windows and track many
objects gobble system resources.
Most programs need memory in the DOS 640K area to communicate with the operating
system and with one
another. Some programs and many drivers hog this space and prevent other
programs from running. Not
every system exhibits the problem, but it can be intractable on those that do.
I've been living with three different
systems, each showing some limits in the number of Windows programs it could
run.
RAM Doubler (see First looks, August 1995) was the first commercial product to
address the memory
problem. Most people look at RAM Doubler strictly as a way to deal with
insufficient space for system
resources. It compresses the system-resources area effectively, but it does
more. It grabs the entire
low-memory area and yields it only to GlobalDosAlloc calls, forcing applications
to use extended memory.
RAM Doubler was far and away the most effective of the programs I tested and is
highly touted by readers who
have tried it. It utterly eliminated memory constraints on the machines I
tested, allowing me to load as many
as eight or nine programs. A few users have reported conflicts with video
drivers that hot-switch resolutions,
but I would rather have more apps than variable resolution.
MoreMem is a shareware product that fragments the lower 640K into small pieces
and comes with
comprehensive memory-management utilities. If you're a tuner and tweaker, this
program is a delight. Taking
the default settings, however, it didn't do all that much. It brought one system
up to six apps, another to four
apps, and had no positive or negative effect on a system that didn't exhibit
memory-constraint problems.
A PC Magazine utility, 1MBFORT, which also fragments low memory, is available
for free from CompuServe
and the Internet. It got one system from two to four apps and another from three
to four.
SoftRAM looks great on paper, claiming to compress not only the system resources
memory but also the low
DOS memory. I tested it on one system, and it raised the number of programs I
could run from two to three.
On another system it decreased the number from four to three. On a third system
it had no discernible effect.
SoftRAM is selling like hotcakes; I'm having trouble understanding why.
Apart from the freebie, all of these products are expensive for what they do.
You're really paying for the authors'
arcane knowledge of Windows bugs and design flaws.--BM
David Godshall
In article <589i3m$e...@news.i-d.com>,
ah...@aqua-star-seafood.com (Al Hall) wrote:
> >bit of difficulty in isolating the cause. Symptoms are that after
> >running several programs, I get an "Insufficient Memory" error trying
> >to run *ANY* program, including small ones like Clock. The order I
> I have 1 PC (out of 35) that does the same exact thing. I have
> no idea what it is and no one has given any suggestions. Mine
> is just a bit stranger. I have a small program that won't run
> but it will run big ones. If I find an answer I'll let you know.
Thanks for the offer, though perhaps I can reciprocate first. :-)
In searching around for technical support of the Client Access 400,
I found reference to a utility from PC Magazine, March 28, 1995,
page 283: "1MBFORT Protects Low Memory". This article explains the
problem and how to use the 1MBFORT.EXE utility to fix it.
In a nutshell, every time you run a program, Windows has to allocate
512 bytes of low (=conventional+upper) memory for a "Program Segment
Prefix" (PSP). If there is not enough low memory to create a PSP,
you can start any new programs. Just about everything else should
be put in extended/expanded memory to leave low memory clear for the
PSPs, but at least one of Windows' memory allocation routines used by
some programs (especially communication-type programs) allocates the
memory from the *FIRST* spot it finds that is largest enough to hold
it -- since low memory is first, this eats up low memory unnecessarily.
What 1MBFORT does is split conventional memory into 10k pieces by
stealing 32 bytes every 10k. When a program tries to allocate a
large piece of memory (larger than 10k), Windows won't be able to
find a spot in conventional memory and will end up allocating it
from extended memory like it should have to begin with, leaving
the conventional memory free for the PSPs. Equally nice, this
utility includes a companion utility called VIEW1MB, which lets
you see exactly what size memory blocks are in use and available
in the low memory area.
1MBFORT is available from PC Magazine's FTP site or Simtel, for
example: ftp://ftp.cdrom.com/pub/simtelnet/msdos/pcmag/v14n06.zip
Thanks also to Robert Nowell, who clued me into another PC Magazine
article (November 21, 1995, page 85, "Second Looks: Creative ways
to Help Jog Windows Memory") that addressed this topic, listing
several commercial and shareware (including 1MBFORT) solutions.
Hope this helps! It helped our situation considerably (though not
a 100% solution), so you might give it a try.
David Godshall, Network Manager
Hesston College, dav...@hesston.edu
-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
Al Hall
The Raven
Just wanted to give you some input. I have been using the 1MBFORT
program for quite some time on multiple machines and I haven't seen an
Insufficient Memory error since. Great program.
Ensign Pulver
On Fri, 06 Dec 1996 16:38:15 GMT, ah...@aqua-star-seafood.com (Al
Hall) wrote:
>David Godshall <dav...@hesston.edu> wrote:
>
>>We are having some memory problems in Windows in which I am having a
>>bit of difficulty in isolating the cause. Symptoms are that after
>>running several programs, I get an "Insufficient Memory" error trying
>>to run *ANY* program, including small ones like Clock. The order I
>>load the programs makes a difference -- sometimes I can load 20
>>programs without a glitch, sometimes it complains after two. The
>>main program that seems to exasperate this problem is the Client
>>Access/400 program I most recently have been working with -- after
>>running it, it is somewhat likely this problem will begin -- though
>>I've been having similar problems to a lesser degree for quite some
>>time, prior to working with CA/400.
>
>>Anyway, I am trying to figure out exactly what "memory" is being filled
>>up. This is a 16meg Pentium computer with a 10meg swap file. I ran
>>WinProbe 3.0 and, at the time the problem is manifesting itself,
>>WinProbe is reporting various available memory sizes (maximum locked,
>>maximum unlocked, total free memory, available physical memory, largest
>>free block of global memory, etc.), with all values being 3.7meg or
>>larger -- well enough to run the 9k clock. System resources are 70%
>>for USER and 72% for GDI, also plenty to run clock. I compared other
>>WinProbe numbers between pre- and post-problem conditions without
>>noticing anything that could account for this, and I'm stumped as to
>>what to try next. The answer is probably staring me in my face, which
>>is why I decided to write this message. If you can see what I can't or
>>have ideas of other things to try, I would appreciate a reply! Please
>>CC my dav...@hesston.edu address, since I don't have very easy access
>>to newsgroups at this time. Thanks!
>
>>David Godshall, Network Manager
>>Hesston College, dav...@hesston.edu
>
>>-------------------==== Posted via Deja News ====-----------------------
>> http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Post to Usenet
>
>Hello,
>
>I have 1 PC (out of 35) that does the same exact thing. I have
>no idea what it is and no one has given any suggestions. Mine
>is just a bit stranger. I have a small program that won't run
>but it will run big ones. If I find an answer I'll let you know.
>
>Al
>
>
I have a problem you may be able to help with. I assume you have had
numerous suggestions and perhaps a solution to my situation has come
to your attention,
Brand new Compaq deskpro 4000, 166MHz 1.6 gig drive 16M RAM. It comes
with Win 95 and Windows 3.11 and at the time of first boot, the
machine configures to one or the either. This particular machine was
initated with Win 95, but because of Corp standards and a nescesary
piece of software that is incompatable with WIN 95 we had to wipe the
drive and start again. We copied the contents of the original computer
up to the network and down to the clean drive. Everything went well
but now when Windows is running with Word 6.0 (MS-Office Pro 4.2) the
system sends an out of memory error. System resources are at 1%.
I hope you can help me with this problem. I had the problem once
before with another client and solved it with what I considered an
unacceptable solution; Ram Doubler.
Paul
jo...@gwis.com