[Resu Deretsiger]

My problem started with the install of Logitech webcam drivers (the problem is in detail here http://www.geekstogo...howtopic=127716 ). The problem is the following: at some point during my Windows XP session, I can't open any new programs, seemingly because the system thinks it's out of memory. Now, I have 2GB RAM on my system, and this happens when varying amounts of memory are occupied, so it has little to do with how much memory is actually taken from what I can see.

I have suspected corrupt system files or a corrupt pagefile, so I ran sfc /purgecache + sfc /scannow, and forced recreation of pagefile via turning off the pagefile, rebooting, turning on the pagefile and rebooting again. The pagefile was recreated, I think things got a little better but now I see the problem again.

My computer is a Dell Laptop Inspiron 9400, with a Pentium Core Duo , running Windows XP Home SP2 with all the latest updates. I have Kaspersky Anti Virus 6 running. I also have the Windows KB909095 HotFix installed, it should be noted - which solves the problem of hibernation for laptops with > 1GB memory (somehow I think this might be related to the problem...).

Interestingly, if, when experiencing the problem, I close one of the existing programs - no matter how small its memory footprint - I get a breather and can start opening programs again, until the problem recurs. I could probably keep a bunch of notepad running just so that I could keep closing one when the problem occurs.

I am really out of ideas on this one, guys, would be extremely appreciative if anyone had any insights in this situation!

cheers!

Edited by Resu Deretsiger, 05 October 2006 - 02:54 AM.

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Press ctrl+Alt+Del. In processes look at which processes use up a LOT of memory space. If you have another computer nearby you can compare the processes tables of the two computers to get an idea which are the abnormal processes.

At the same place, in "performance", in "physical memory" see how much memory is available. Also, what is the cpu usage at idle.

[The Skeptic]

Press ctrl+Alt+Del. In processes look at which processes use up a LOT of memory space. If you have another computer nearby you can compare the processes tables of the two computers to get an idea which are the abnormal processes.

At the same place, in "performance", in "physical memory" see how much memory is available. Also, what is the cpu usage at idle.

[Resu Deretsiger]

Thanks for replying, Skeptic! Honestly, everything is fine... The Task Manager currently shows me using 630 Mb, 1.3Gb available, 5% at idle. I take pretty good care of my laptop, HijackThis doesn't turn up anything out of the ordinary as far as I can see...

[Resu Deretsiger]

And yet, just now one of the programs complained that some "memory address could not be read" and shut down. I've run memtest as well for a couple hours, there are 0 errors, so it's not a hardware problem. Seems that memory management got screwed up on my windows installation... any ideas how to fix it?

[The Skeptic]

Is it the same memory that you had all along or did you add or replace a module in time proximity to occurence of the problem. If you did, there might be some incompatability between the modules. Try to set BIOS to default values. If this doesn't help we'll discuss other options.

Control panel > System. How much memory you have in there?

Edited by The Skeptic, 05 October 2006 - 08:51 AM.

[Resu Deretsiger]

I have 2 GB of RAM, original paired Dell RAM (Edge I think) that came with the laptop (bought about 3 months ago). No changes on my side. I can run SiSoftware Sandra to give you exact specs if you want. You still think it's a hardware problem, even after memtest ran fine? Maybe I should run it again...

The problem appearance and pattern was definitely linked to the installation of the Logitech camera drivers (others have had similar problems). But in case of others the problems went away, in my case - no. I uninstalled the logitech drivers and made sure that there are no services/etc. left running on the system...

[The Skeptic]

Please look again at my last post. I edited and added a sentence at the end.

No, I don't think it's a hardware problem but you can't exclude such possibility. the test is very simple. I aim to see if XP identified all your 2 Gig ram. You see that in control panel > system.

[Resu Deretsiger]

Yes, I did look in System last time, the reported amount is indeed 2Gb.
What it says exactly is:

Dell Inspiron 9400
Genuine Intel® CPI
T23000 @1.66GHz
981 MHz, 2.00 GB or RAM
Physical Address Extension

[The Skeptic]

I assume that you thoroughly scanned the disk and it is clean of malware.

1: run sfc /scannow. I understand that ran it without success. Try again, no harm.

2: If you have the original xp disc you can perform xp repair. Follow the instructions in this link. Please note: quite often a repair doesn't succeed. You will loose all XP updates and you will have to download and install them again. If you have an antivirus I recommend to uninstall it before the repair. I dont know about all AVs but AVG, for example, gets corrupted by the xp repair and you cannot repair or unistall it.

Backup your valuable data.

[Resu Deretsiger]

Yes, I do believe that things are going that way I am putting it off though as a last resort . Thanks for all the help, Skeptic. Toda roba

[The Skeptic]

Have a nice Sukot.

[Resu Deretsiger]

Hehe thanks, you too!

[Resu Deretsiger]

Are there any memory management profilers that I could run to see exactly what's happening to the memory when the problems starts?