Computer Hope
Microsoft => Microsoft Windows => Windows Vista and 7 => Topic started by: joepinger on June 23, 2010, 09:05:01 PM
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I have an Acer Notebook 5100 Aspire. It is running on Windows Vista Home Premium and it's supposed to have 4GB of RAM but when I look to see it says I only have 2GB. How can that be? Also for X-MAS I received an IPOD and downloaded the information onto the laptop and now the computer runs slower than ever. I looked into some of the program files and found out that there are some files that have 10,000 KB and some with a little bit lower ones. It shows that I only have 10 percent space available. How do I find out what files are junk and what files are good? I think the IPOD from Apple downloaded some junk into the hard drive and now the computer is turtle slow. Any help is appreciated thank you.
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Have you done basic disk house keeping? (I.E. Disk defrag, disk cleaner) As far as the laptop only showing to 2 gigs of RAM where is it showing that your laptop has only 2 gigs of RAM? if its the task manager, under the performance tab, that shows how much RAM is in use as well as how much total RAM the system has....
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1) Apple does not install "junk" on your computer. In fact, you always have the option what to install.
2) Download and run treesize to see where the space is being consumed (http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml)
3) Look in SYSTEM PROPERTIES - how much ram does it show?
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Try going to System Configuration Utility. Go to start, type msconfig then click ok. Under General menu, you may see you have 3 options normal, diagnostic, selective. Try clicking the circle besides selective starup click apply then click ok. Close the System Configuration Utility and it will ask you to reboot. Restart your computer. Make sure also that you have emptied your recycle bin of your previously deleted files.
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Try going to System Configuration Utility. Go to start, type msconfig then click ok. Under General menu, you may see you have 3 options normal, diagnostic, selective. Try clicking the circle besides selective starup click apply then click ok. Close the System Configuration Utility and it will ask you to reboot. Restart your computer. Make sure also that you have emptied your recycle bin of your previously deleted files.
Toward what end? Why do you want him to do a diagnostic startup?
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Toward what end? Why do you want him to do a diagnostic startup?
I think i posted Selective Start up....http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/msconfig.htm
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Same thing. What's the purpose?
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It's also a telling point that even though you have a high memory or RAM and eventually slowed down your computer, the programs that are running in the background even though its not being used when you open your computer and using it will also contribute to the inefficiency of your computer. By managing these programs on the SYSTEM CONFIGURATION UTILITY[/color, it will give you the option on how your computer perform based on the user's need.
http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/msconfig.html
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1) msconfig is a diagnostic utility only and should not be used to manage startup processes for other than troubleshooting purposes
2) startup items have nothing to do with the problem at hand here
joepinger - there is no reason for you to do ANYTHING with msconfig for the questions you posted.
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1) Apple does not install "junk" on your computer. In fact, you always have the option what to install.
2) Download and run treesize to see where the space is being consumed (http://www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml)
3) Look in SYSTEM PROPERTIES - how much ram does it show?
I looked into system properties and it says I have 2GB, when in fact I have 4GB. I since uninstalled the IPOD from my computer to see if it would give me more room and no it didn't. Still at 10%. I have some questions on some of the program files and things. How do I know which ones are important and not important? Here's an example of one of the files. MOVIEMK.dll 10,671KB, omdBase.dll 8,878KB, omdProject.dll 4,041KB, CaptureWizard.exe 2,876KB, DVDmaker.exe 1,917KB, Pipeline.dll 1,560KB, PipeTran.dll 1,465KB these are some of the big files.
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1) You uninstalled the ipod? How do you do that?
2) We're not going to go through all of your files.
3) If System Properties says you have 2GB ram, that's what you have.
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I actually uninstalled the files in which when I connected the ipod to the computer for the first time the information in which it installed on the computer I took out like the Apple Application Support, Bonjour, Quicktime and Apple Software Update. I put in 4GB awhile back it said so on the RAM I installed on the bottom of the computer inside next to the hard drive. How do I know which files are good and which ones aren't? Apparently some of those big files are loading down the computer. Thanks again.
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Are you talking about itunes? No matter, you uninstalled what you uninstalled - that's fine.
Did anything ever show that the system recognized more than 2Gb ram after you installed the additional ram?
You can go to ADD/REMOVE and uninstall whatever you like.
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Yes- if you delete any programs, do so through Add/Remove, do NOT go futzing about and deleting files at random in some misguided attempt to free space. If you do, you will probably learn not to do it again.
Also, How much disk space do you have? You've mentioned the amount of RAM you have as well as how much you think it should have, but both are largely irrelevant to the problem that you only have 10% free disk space.
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I have 10% disk space available right now. It does fluctuate thoughout the day from 10%-20% when I write up new documents and things. I do need to mention that I do have alot of computer issues in the problems and reports section. That might be a factor do you think? Reliability and Performance says this:ERROR SYMPTOM "A service is reported as having an unexpected error code." CAUSE: "One or more services has failed." "The service did not stop gracefully, suggesting the service may have crashed or one of it's components stopped in an unsupported way." "Service exited with code not equal to 0 or 1077." System service checks failed. It doesn't recognize my anti virus product Webroot. "Acer.scr stopped working and so on. Thanks.
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Start backing up some data and free up some drive space...
Windows needs approx. 15% free space to run properly or you will continue to have issues...
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Start backing up some data and free up some drive space...
Windows needs approx. 15% free space to run properly or you will continue to have issues...
I have some other problems with the computer I didn't mention that don't have any solutions. How do I backup my data? Can I use a usb drive? What can I backup? I have program files that are taking up thousands of kbs of space. Thanks.
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Have you checked to see if all memory sticks are properly seated? One may have come loose.
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Have you checked to see if all memory sticks are properly seated? One may have come loose.
All are in place. Which files do I backup? I don't have any real important information on my computer. All that's in here is in the program files which is taking up a considerable amount of space. Something called MOVIEMAKER is taking up most of the space. I don't even make movies and I think it's a waste of space. Can I take it out? Here is some of the files that are the largest: MOVIEMK.dll 10,671KB, omdbase.dll 8,878KB, OmdProject.dll 4,041KB, Capturewizard.exe 2,876KB, DVDMaker.exe 1,917KB, Pipeline.dll 1,560KB, Pipetran.dll 1,465KB. These are the files in which I am wondering if I can get rid of. Thanks.
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If you no longer use them then yes i would get rid of them...
Use Control Panel/Add/Remove to do so...
Then run disk cleanup reboot and run defrag.
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If you no longer use them then yes i would get rid of them...
Use Control Panel/Add/Remove to do so...
Then run disk cleanup reboot and run defrag.
Not to be a pain or anything, but these particular files weren't in here when I purchased this computer. So I imagine that it won't hurt to remove them then as you said. These were created on different dates. The MOVIEMAKER file itself was created on 3/12/2010, the others were created earlier. Thanks.
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No pain at all...glad to be of service...
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You know something, that these files are not in Programs and Features. These are in fact here: COMPUTER>ACER (C) DRIVE>MOVIEMAKER>PROGRAM FILES. Can I remove them that way and still proceed the way you described in the last post? Just trying to make it clear and understandable in my head is all and not mess up anything. Thanks again.
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It sounds like you're system is in a bit of a death spiral.. I would 1st and foremost be totally sure you have all your data backed up because at this point, one of these times it just may not start up for you.
Generally, because of how poorly windows cleans up after itself due to both windows and bad application deinstall routines, if you use your system heavily, especially if you install/deinstall programs somewhat often, it's just a good idea to re-core your system every couple of years, or more frequently.
As was posted earlier, if you're only running 2GB ram, your system is probably caching a good bit, and with the disk so full, if you don't regularly defrag, the caching will really bog down performance. To run windows with any decent performance, I never let the boot/caching disk get below 25GB free.
If you have not defragged, I would certainly try that, it alone may help the speed due to the above.
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I have defragged just recently, yesterday and no change. I was wondering if I could get an answer to my post above the reply. If I can do that, then I will see if it works faster then. Thanks.
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Generally, because of how poorly windows cleans up after itself due to both windows and bad application deinstall routines, if you use your system heavily, especially if you install/deinstall programs somewhat often, it's just a good idea to re-core your system every couple of years, or more frequently.
As was posted earlier, if you're only running 2GB ram, your system is probably caching a good bit, and with the disk so full, if you don't regularly defrag, the caching will really bog down performance. To run windows with any decent performance, I never let the boot/caching disk get below 25GB free.
WHAT????
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As long as you don't care about that program, you can delete them. The best option is to try to go to control pannel add/remove, and remove moviemaker, but if it's not there, then have at it.
By deleting the files though, you may still have an Icon or so laying around in your start menu that will likely not be connected to anything so if you try to launch that after deleting the files, of course, it won't work.
If that subdirectory will really get you a lot of space, and you don't care about the program, go for it..
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Sometimes badly written install routines do not conform to the standards, and they install their application in a subdirectory not under program files. As long as it seems that the files in there are all related to the moviemaker application and you don't see other obvious program names or directories, you should be ok per my last post.
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I just tried to delete the biggest file when I go to the Acer (c) drive>program files>moviemaker>then moviemaker.dll 10,671KB. It says this when attempt this action: " Destination folder access denied", "You need to confirm this action." Then it says:MOVIEMK.dll FILE DESCRIPTION WINDOWS MOVIE MAKER, COMPANY MICROSOFT CORPORATION, FILE VERSION 6.0.6002.18121, DATE CREATED 3/11/2010 AT 11:06PM SIZE 10.4MB then Continue, skip, or cancel. How do I get around that, call or email Microsoft? Thanks.
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That just means that the file is likely loaded upon boot so when you try to delete it, it's actually open and in use by the operating system.
One way to get around that is to boot into safe mode.
Here's a link if you're not sure how to boot into safe mode at will. http://pcsupport.about.com/od/fixtheproblem/ss/safe-mode-windows-7.htm
Once your up and running in safe mode, it should let you delete that file. If after you selected to boot in safe mode it ask's what you want to load as it boots, be sure to say no to any optional DLL's or specifically anything to do with moviemaker.
Give that a try.
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That just means that the file is likely loaded upon boot so when you try to delete it, it's actually open and in use by the operating system.
No. It isn't.
absolutely NONE of this makes any sense. The file is 10MB. So freaking what? you aren't going to save any space at all by futzing about deleting "large" DLL files, which aren't even a tenth of a % of the total disk space.
use Programs And Features to remove Applications you don't use. Perhaps move your data to another drive. Whatever the case, people have been trying to "free space" by deleting random program DLLs strewn about their disk and all they get in the end is two fistfuls of their own hair. Use WinDirStat (http://windirstat.info/) to find out where your space is <actually> being consumed. You will find that a good chunk of it is in your own data folders. This is the same suggestion given days ago by Allan (treesize is the same type of program).
If that subdirectory will really get you a lot of space
94MB is not a lot of space.
Sometimes badly written install routines do not conform to the standards, and they install their application in a subdirectory not under program files. As long as it seems that the files in there are all related to the moviemaker application and you don't see other obvious program names or directories, you should be ok per my last post.
Movie maker doesn't have an uninstaller. It <IS> installed into program files, and deleting it will orphan about 40 file associations and COM component registrations. And yet this is how you propose they "clean up".
It sounds like you're system is in a bit of a death spiral.. I would 1st and foremost be totally sure you have all your data backed up because at this point, one of these times it just may not start up for you.
If it doesn't start up one day, I assure you it's because somebody gave them the idea it was ok to delete random DLL files.
Generally, because of how poorly windows cleans up after itself due to both windows and bad application deinstall routines, if you use your system heavily, especially if you install/deinstall programs somewhat often, it's just a good idea to re-core your system every couple of years, or more frequently.
Complete and utter nonsense. Especially considering "recore" isn't even a word any self-respecting tech would use.
As was posted earlier, if you're only running 2GB ram, your system is probably caching a good bit, and with the disk so full, if you don't regularly defrag, the caching will really bog down performance. To run windows with any decent performance, I never let the boot/caching disk get below 25GB free.
The pagefile is where data is swapped. It's not a cache. a cache is used to access data faster then it would otherwise be accessed, in this case since it's being stored on a slow medium (disk) rather then a fast one (RAM) it's not being "cached".
secondly, "cached" data is actually stored in low priority memory blocks by SuperFetch That is Cached data because it is being stored in RAM rather then on disk.
If you have not defragged, I would certainly try that, it alone may help the speed due to the above.
First:Defragmentation is not some magical panacea. You aren't going to see a computer go from "turtle slow" to blazing fast just because you moved a few clusters around on the disk. The fact that people actually believe to be the case this indicates that there is a lot of misunderstanding about what defragmentation actually does.
Second: Windows Vista & 7 automatically do some defragmentation during idle time. At least that what I suspect, considering I've had this install running for nearly a year and my fragmentation rate is 1% or less on all drives.
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How do I move data from one drive to another? Thanks.
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Don't know about the space issue, but i have an idea about why your coputer says you only have 2 GB ram instead of 4. If you have a 32-bit OS, it can only read 2 GB ram(and only use 2 GB), so even if you have more than that, windows won't use it. Also, i dont think 10MB is a lot of space, its probably like 0.1 or something like that of your hard drive space, so deleting it wont help much. Someone experienced correct me if im wrong :P
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Don't know about the space issue, but i have an idea about why your coputer says you only have 2 GB ram instead of 4. If you have a 32-bit OS, it can only read 2 GB ram(and only use 2 GB), so even if you have more than that, windows won't use it. Also, i dont think 10MB is a lot of space, its probably like 0.1 or something like that of your hard drive space, so deleting it wont help much. Someone experienced correct me if im wrong :P
a 32-bit OS can access around 3.5 to 4GB of RAM.
Actually, that's a lie, it has nothing to do with the operating system being 32-bit, although that is something many people draw from the issue. It's actually built into many versions of Windows to not recognize past a certain amount- it's listed somewhere in the EULA probably.(the fact that it varies is based on memory used by hardware) for example, Windows 2000 Server could access up to 16GB of RAM (well, I'm not 100% sure on the amount, but it was way past the "4GB barrier", and it's a 32-bit OS.
The common "explanation" is that a 32-bit OS can only access up to 2^32 bytes, which happens to be 4GB. However, that's sort of redundant, when you think about it. For example, the IBM XT was an 8-bit PC and ran MS-DOS, and it could use 1MB of memory- but by the logic put forth today to explain the "4GB barrier" the IBM XT should have only been able to access 2^8 bytes, or a scant 256 bytes. Same story with 16-bit operating systems and hardware, which could use a lot of memory (I ran windows 3.1 with 256MB of memory, which is far in excess to the 32KB (2^16) that I should have been able to access.
Just to be clear, I am of course not "attacking" you or anything, I'm just trying to clear up a common misconception. it's true that some versions of windows have a "limit" to how much memory they can use, but the limit itself is completely artificial and completely unrelated to the hardware capabilities. The reason was because many applications and drivers might have problems if they were mapped (loaded into memory) at addresses higher then about 4GB, so MS decided to artificially limit the amount of memory windows could recognize on 32-bit consumer Operating systems. Since the server operating systems almost always ran hardware specifically designed for server use, (and generally needed gobs of memory) they added no such limit. Same with 64-bit windows.
How do I move data from one drive to another? Thanks.
buy either an external hard drive or blank discs to burn.
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You may also have a virus attack running in the background that replicates thats why you have a fluctuation of memory space. You mention you have a current antivirus. You may try to download a free antivirus(Avira) and rescan your hard disk to make sure. Just diable temporarily your antivirus before installing your downloaded antivirus.
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You may also have a virus attack running in the background that replicates thats why you have a fluctuation of memory space. You mention you have a current antivirus. You may try to download a free antivirus(Avira) and rescan your hard disk to make sure. Just diable temporarily your antivirus before installing your downloaded antivirus.
1) I'm not aware of any virus that would cause only half of installed ram to be recognized (and present NO other symptoms)
2) I would not install a second AV, but there's never any harm in running a full system scan with you current antivirus software AND with MalwareBytes (which can be installed along side of your av sw)
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How large is your HD, and how old is it? I haven't seen any mention of that since the beginning of the thread.
Instead of deleting random .dll files and possibly causing havoc in your computer, I would suggest running a cleanup program such as CCleaner (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner). It will delete most of the useless/empty/temporary files, and may help free a bit of disk space, without sending your computer FUBAR.
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1) I'm not aware of any virus that would cause only half of installed ram to be recognized (and present NO other symptoms)
2) I would not install a second AV, but there's never any harm in running a full system scan with you current antivirus software AND with MalwareBytes (which can be installed along side of your av sw)
Yes you are not aware of any virus concerning the RAM. It's a different issue. What i'm concern is the fluctuation of his memory space from 10 to 20%. And Joepinger's current antivirus posted having some errors.