Virtual Memory Size?

"Ken Gardner" wrote:

"Chris Burson" wrote:

Thanks, Mike. The pagefile is now set to auto (on a drive with about 10GB
available) but the problem persists. Any other gems of wisdom would be much
appreciated. :-)

Total memory on XP, including virtual memory, is limited to 4GB unless you
have the 64 bit edition of XP.

Ken

Not quite correct. Windows XP limits are 4 gb physical RAM, plus
another 4 gb of pagefile.

Windows 9x was limited to 4 gb total, consisting of 2 gb physical (in
theory) and 2 gb of swapfile.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

"Chris Burson" wrote:

On my wife, Anna's, laptop I have the hard drive partioned, with the last
partition used just for temporary files & Virtual Memory. Anna uses some
massive files (pictures - and a genealogy file size not much smaller than
the Old Testament) and gets the error
'... insufficient resources...', at which point everything stops responding.

I guessed the 'resources' it lacked referred to memory (system RAM is 1GB) -
but it is just a guess! - and tried to increase the Virtual Memory from 3GB
to lots. But the dialogue box says that 4GB is the maximum.


My suspicions are that this is more related to GDI Resources, which
are supposedly pretty close to unlimited in Windows XP (4 gb in
theory) but we need the *complete* verbatim text of the error message
and the specifics of exactly what the computer was doing at the time
the error occurred.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Thanks for the correction.

--
Ken


"Ron Martell" wrote:

"Ken Gardner" wrote:

"Chris Burson" wrote:

Thanks, Mike. The pagefile is now set to auto (on a drive with about 10GB
available) but the problem persists. Any other gems of wisdom would be much
appreciated. :-)

Total memory on XP, including virtual memory, is limited to 4GB unless you
have the 64 bit edition of XP.

Ken

Not quite correct. Windows XP limits are 4 gb physical RAM, plus
another 4 gb of pagefile.

Windows 9x was limited to 4 gb total, consisting of 2 gb physical (in
theory) and 2 gb of swapfile.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm

Probably got nothing to do with virtual memory. Everything is a =
resource. It depends what the program making that message means. Ask the =
program's makers what they mean.=20

--=20
----------------------------------------------------------

"Chris Burson" wrote in message =
...
=20
"Jim" wrote in message
:
: "Chris Burson" wrote in message
:
: "Ken Gardner" wrote in message
: :
: : "Chris Burson" wrote:
: :
: : Thanks, Mike. The pagefile is now set to auto (on a drive with =
about
: 10GB
: : available) but the problem persists. Any other gems of wisdom =
would=20
be
: much
: : appreciated. :-)
: :
: : Total memory on XP, including virtual memory, is limited to 4GB =
unless
: you
: : have the 64 bit edition of XP.
: :
:
: Ken - 4GB total memory?! That sounds incredible. We only use =
laptops but
: we're already hitting a Windows imposed memory limit? (If we have =
2GB=20
RAM,
: then would Windows reduce the maximum VM to just 2GB? This is VERY
: strange...)
=20
: Chris - 4GB is all that a 32 bit processor can address.
: It is necessary to map the operating system into the 4GB virtual =
memory
: address space. For simplicity, Windows normally divides the 4GB =
virtual
: address space into 2GB user space and 2GB system space. However, =
there is=20
a
: /3GB switch for bootini that changes this behaviour to all 3GB for =
the=20
user.
: 1GB is plenty for the operating system.
: Note, I never mentioned the amount of physical RAM because it has no =

effect
: on the amount of virtual address space. Additional physical memory =
will
: reduce the amount of paging which will result in improved =
performance.
: Jim
:
=20
Thanks for that explanation, Jim. I didn't know it was a mathematical=20
reality thing regarding the processor. It's interesting to know that =
the=20
pagefile is divided between applications, etc. and the OS - I had no =
idea. I=20
had always thought the OS would run in RAM, assuming there was enough =
space.
=20
So, increasing the RAM might help as it doesn't directly affect the =
pagefile=20
size... but I've checked with Crucial and that would cost =A3250 (for =
2 x 1GB=20
modules). Too much. (Before I get RAM for Anna, it's most important I =
get a=20
Speedster 3 Steering Wheel & Forza Motorsport for my Xbox, and we =
can't=20
stretch to both. Of course, if it was my laptop that was running short =
of=20
RAM... ;-) .)
=20
But can I just clarify that a 'low on resources' dialogue does refer =
to=20
memory? (If not, what else could it be?? Everything has been increased =

compared to Anna's old laptop on which these apps. ran - including the =

RAM/pagefile!? It used to be 384MB & 2GB respectively.)
=20
It'th a mythtery (to me)... as the saying goes.
=20
Cheers,
=20
Chris=20
=20

"Ron Martell" wrote in message
:
: "Chris Burson" wrote:
:
: On my wife, Anna's, laptop I have the hard drive partioned, with the last
: partition used just for temporary files & Virtual Memory. Anna uses some
: massive files (pictures - and a genealogy file size not much smaller than
: the Old Testament) and gets the error
: '... insufficient resources...', at which point everything stops
responding.
:
: I guessed the 'resources' it lacked referred to memory (system RAM is
1GB) -
: but it is just a guess! - and tried to increase the Virtual Memory from
3GB
: to lots. But the dialogue box says that 4GB is the maximum.
:
:
: My suspicions are that this is more related to GDI Resources, which
: are supposedly pretty close to unlimited in Windows XP (4 gb in
: theory) but we need the *complete* verbatim text of the error message
: and the specifics of exactly what the computer was doing at the time
: the error occurred.
:
: Good luck
:
:
: Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
: --
: Microsoft MVP

Many thanks for the reply, Ron.

Since no-one seems to think this is a memory related problem, I've been
quizzing Anna some more. First, the problem only occurs when running the
genealogy programme Family Tree Maker while accessing genealogy.com through
Internet Explorer. (The website offers a subscription service with access to
old census returns. Apparently this is very exciting for genealogists!) The
website offers detailed scanned images which are accessed through their
viewer - a bit like Acrobat Reader when it runs 'inside' Internet Explorer,
but a much, much smaller application.

Anna has also told me that Family Tree Maker (FTM) suffers other problems,
like dialogue boxes which half appear and freeze the programme, so I am now
assuming this is specifically an FTM problem. I have found some support
information (eventually - what a convoluted route you have to take! Thanks a
lot, Broderbund) but it'll take me few days to work through it.

I had thought this was a Windows problem initially but it seems I was wrong
[Note to self: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing]. I'll investigate
further and report back - maybe at the weekend. But thanks to everyone who
offered input here. I even understood some of it!

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. I gather Alex Nichol has passed away. A sad loss. I hope he was aware
how many thousands of people he was able to help. God bless him & his
family.

Hi, Chris.

P.S. I gather Alex Nichol has passed away. A sad loss.

Yes, Alex died March 9, 2005. In addition to his many contributions to
computer users at large, he was "the MVP's MVP". We all miss him very much.
We will TRY to carry on in his footsteps, but don't expect us to fully
measure up.

I'm glad to see that you're making progress on solving Anna's computer's
problem. I also use FTM (version 11, SP2), but not in depth. I'm too cheap
to pay for all the optional resources, both online and in CDs. So I haven't
tried the subscription services. So far, I've seen no programming problems
with FTM on my machine (AMD 64 3200+ w/1 GB RAM, running WinXP SP2).

Thanks for the report, and let us know if we can help further.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP

Since no-one seems to think this is a memory related problem, I've been
quizzing Anna some more. First, the problem only occurs when running the
genealogy programme Family Tree Maker while accessing genealogy.com
through
Internet Explorer. (The website offers a subscription service with access
to
old census returns. Apparently this is very exciting for genealogists!)
The
website offers detailed scanned images which are accessed through their
viewer - a bit like Acrobat Reader when it runs 'inside' Internet
Explorer,
but a much, much smaller application.

Anna has also told me that Family Tree Maker (FTM) suffers other problems,
like dialogue boxes which half appear and freeze the programme, so I am
now
assuming this is specifically an FTM problem. I have found some support
information (eventually - what a convoluted route you have to take! Thanks
a
lot, Broderbund) but it'll take me few days to work through it.

I had thought this was a Windows problem initially but it seems I was
wrong
[Note to self: A little knowledge is a dangerous thing]. I'll investigate
further and report back - maybe at the weekend. But thanks to everyone who
offered input here. I even understood some of it!

Cheers,

Chris

P.S. I gather Alex Nichol has passed away. A sad loss. I hope he was aware
how many thousands of people he was able to help. God bless him & his
family.

First, let me post the Family Tree Maker (FTM) support links, which I found
are very difficult to find, being buried deep in the genealogy.com website:

For all FTM versions (and other genealogy programs):
http://gen.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/gen....p_prod_lvl2=78

For FTM 9 (incl. some v7 & 8):
http://gendisc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/..._page_head =1

For FTM 9 update file:
http://gendisc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...&p_topvie w=1

For FTM 'resources/memory etc.' error fix:
http://gendisc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...&p_topvie w=1

Sorry for the long links & list but it's easier to get it all out of the way
in one go. :-)

Next, I need to correct myself slightly: I said the census returns are
available on genealogy.com by subscription, but I they are actually on
ancestry.co.uk (& .com).

So, after a lot of poking around, and asking questions here (and I extend my
sincerest thanks to all who contributed - I would not have realised this was
not a pagefile problem without your guidance), I have updated Anna's FTM
(version 9) and have changed the settings mentioned below to solve the "not
enough resources" problem. I have no idea if this is the GDI related problem
that Ron Martell mentioned, but I've pasted the full text below for your
information. Perhaps someone could explain what was happening here!

For what it's worth, one of the tips said to compact the file -
understandably - which Anna did. The family tree file was very nearly 200
MB, and after compacting lost a wholly unimpressive 2 MB: i.e. about 1%!
But, surprisingly, it has speeded up the close-down process of FTM hugely.
Like MS Money, FTM 9 creates a backup every time it shuts down. On Anna's
old laptop, this took several minutes. On her new Dell, it took 30 - 40
seconds before, but now takes perhaps 10 seconds, or less. (What's that all
about?!) And to put the size of that file into some context; in my first
post I joked that the file was nearly as big as the Old Testament. I use the
Libronix software for Bible study and the entire King James Bible, for
instance, is just under 12 MB. (Note that Anna's FTM file has been 20 - 25
years in the making.)

So, here is the solution as listed in the FTM support pages which, so far,
has proved successful:


Q. "Not enough memory or resources" Message While in the View Menu
A. Usually you will receive this message this when you try to scroll down
the View menu. Also, you usually won't be able to see the whole View menu as
it may be cut off about 3/4 of the way down.

What we've found that the cause of this is that your Windows settings for
the Menu bar are too large we need to make them smaller.

Here's what you need to do:

1.. Go to Start and choose Settings and then Control Panel.
2.. Double-click Display.
3.. Click the Appearance tab.
4.. Change the Item to Menu.
Make sure the Menu is set to 18 and the font size is 8. You may also want
to change the font to Arial also if you don't already have it set that way.
5.. Once these changes are made, press OK and try the View menu in Family
Tree Maker.

Well, that's another 1/2 hour wasted! Still, I do appreciate all your help
with this - thanks to everyone. And, in defence of my pagefile policy -
setting the size manually - I thought it was quicker for Windows since the
OS wouldn't have to create a new file every time. Perhaps I am a touch
naive?!

Anyway, thanks again.

Chris


"R. C. White" wrote in message
:
: ... I'm glad to see that you're making progress on solving Anna's
computer's
: problem. I also use FTM (version 11, SP2), but not in depth. I'm too
cheap
: to pay for all the optional resources, both online and in CDs. So I
haven't
: tried the subscription services. So far, I've seen no programming
problems
: with FTM on my machine (AMD 64 3200+ w/1 GB RAM, running WinXP SP2).
:
: Thanks for the report, and let us know if we can help further.
:
: RC
: --
: R. C. White, CPA

:
: ... First, the problem only occurs when running the
: genealogy programme Family Tree Maker while accessing genealogy.com
:
: ... Family Tree Maker (FTM) suffers other problems,
: like dialogue boxes which half appear and freeze the programme,
: so I am now
: assuming this is specifically an FTM problem.
:
: ... I'll investigate
: further and report back - maybe at the weekend. But thanks to everyone
who
: offered input here. I even understood some of it!
:
: Cheers,
:
: Chris