[muglo] Re: memory

  • From: <dougbale@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: muglo@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2007 15:18:30 -0400 (EDT)

Hi, Hawk

Nothing unusual about your virtual memory being larger
than your built-in memory; the computer is just using
part of your hard drive space as temporary operational
memory, to augment the dedicated 128 megs hard-wired
for that purpose -- much like the 'scratch memory'
that Photoshop uses for jobs bigger than the RAM would
otherwise allow.
Certainly the amount of memory available will be a big
factor in your problem -- 128 is the bare minimum for
a G4, and a gigabyte would show you a big improvement
and stability -- but another factor may be some
preferences that have got out of hand. If you're
running Cumulus, for instance, that sucker starts off
at about 500K and can swell to a couple of megabytes
over time. The answer in that particular case is to go
into the System folder and trash the preference file;
Cumulus will start a new one the next time you launch
it, and you'll have to put up with the minor nuisance
of repositioning its search windows and query forms
the way you want them, but it'll run like a scalded
cat for the next few months.
You can also hunt in there for preference files left
behind by programs you no longer use; they can all be
dragged to the Trash too. Ditto any text encoding
files for languages you don't need (when was the last
time you wrote an e-mail in Hindi or Mandarin?) and
any printer definitions you don't need (there are
probably 100 or so for printers that aren't even made
any more).
In the end, though, memory's the answer. Getting
cheaper all the time, fortunately.

Cheers,

Doug

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