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When to Reboot XP

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by Johanna, 2004/03/09.

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  1. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Johanna,

    I'm sure you know everything I mentioned in my last post. I think I misunderstood your questionx.

    Re: XP "difference between a restart and a cold boot? "
    There can be quite a difference. With a restart the power is not effected, so there is no question of a surge like you "can theoretically get" in a cold boot (= turning on power). So I prefer a software start over a reset over a cold boot.

    BTW, I used an UPS (750W Triplite) for some years - through three $200 batteries, but now, since it died, I use good quality surge protectors, which I find satisfactory. We have an electric pole on the property line about 25 ft. from our home and it has a lightning rod and heavy ground wire.

    btw, I'm new here. What is a supergeek?
     
    Last edited: 2004/04/01
  2. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    tony,

    "Realize that a TSR is NOT a memory leak."

    I didn't say it was; I know what TSRs are and do. And I admit I don't know whether proprietary software that loads at boot are real TSRs or not, but they act the same once in memory. Sure, I load similar "TSRs" while running, but nothing like the nunber of things running in background since boot.

    "stands for "Terminate and Stay Resident ". If it loads at boot time, its was never terminated, was it! It's just something that loads at boot, that's all it is. "

    You'll find that a TSR is a program with two parts: the whole program is loaded at once (whenever), and the resident part is given control while the loader is terminated and its memory released (hopefully). This arrangement was developed in the days of limited and expensive memory, and I don't know if it's worth the bother today.

    "Not entirely correct. The programs that you opened, used and then closed are have TSRs in them. Some memory is still being used by the APPLICATIONS within the programs. "

    40mb is a lot for tsr's or leftover applications. I still think I'll reboot and thus clean up my memory. I've never lost anything I'm aware of doing this.
     

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  4. 2004/04/01
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    It depends on what programs you have run. And is your XP installation optimized? The Processes Tab in Task Mgr will show how much memory a process is using.

    Open a few programs and not the new processes and the memory they use. Then close the programs and see which processes remain after closing the programs. You can manually kill the processs of poorly coded software..

    For instance, the MS Indexing Service, if enabled, will continue to use memory when the system is on. As well, there are about 15 other services that load by default that are completely unneeded for a home system that is not on a domain.
    see http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/service411.htm#Alerter

    There's another side to this too. Over 60% of all MS support issues can be traced back to 3rd party drivers that do not function efficiently. Drivers are basically software and many will over consume or leak memory.
     
  5. 2004/04/01
    noahdfear

    noahdfear Inactive

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    Any member with 1000 or more posts, unless a contributing member.
     
  6. 2004/04/01
    Johanna

    Johanna Inactive Alumni Thread Starter

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    Hey, I contributed- twice! And I'm still a "SuperGeek "! Not even close- maybe a SuperTweak or a SuperMom, but not a "SuperGeek "! I just get lucky, now and then...

    Awwww...I'm just a LUNAtic...
    Off to Newegg to do some SHOPPING!! Time for a new comp... (Thank you, Uncle Sam, for holding onto MY MONEY for me!)

    Hey, Dave, did you get my PM?

    Johanna
     
  7. 2004/04/01
    BillyBob Lifetime Subscription

    BillyBob Inactive

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    A warm restart does not always clear RAM completly. Maybe it should but it don't.

    Also is it possiblte the 768 meg of RAM is too much for the machine in question to handle properly ?. I have read somewhere that in some cases too much RAM was as bad ( or worse ) than not enough.

    Are the RAM chips of the proper type ?

    Does the MB require MATCHED pairs. If so, are they ?

    I believe if a matched pair is required then the 3rd one will cause problems. And a 512meg chip and a 256meg chip may not work properly.

    It used to be but is no longer the case of just using any old RAM chip and it would work. But that is now long gone.

    TonyT

    You mentioned drivers.

    That is what caused problems for me when I used the wrong printer drivers. As long as I did not use the Printer I was fine. But when I did all kinds of nasty things popped up. And NOTHING would work right. And in order to clear things up I had to power down both the machine AND the Printer. A Windows Restart would not fix things.

    BillyBob
     
  8. 2004/04/01
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    Luna Lass ...

    You're listed as a SuperGeek because you requested (if I remember correctly) not to be shown as a Contributing Member, but you retained your Contributing Member's avatar. I think you just wanted to see your status change (like I'm about to hit the magic 500)! :D
     
  9. 2004/04/01
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    I belong to the school that says "more RAM is good and, up to a point, the more the better ". My computer is happy with 1024MB.

    The discussion about memory leaks and refreshing memory has been interesting, and I want to add only one thing.

    Up until a few minutes ago, my computer had been running (from a cold start) for about 26 hours. Task Manager's Processes tab showed every running process's memory usage to be well within what I consider to be the "normal" range, with one exception, a program/application that had slowly increased from its starting usage of about 10,000K to nearly 750,000K.

    I had discovered previously that all I need to do to reset the memory is log off and log back on. Doing so gives me almost exactly the same starting values as a warm boot.

    I'm the only user of my computer, though, with only two accounts, mine and the Administrator's, and it may be that a log off/log on wouldn't work the same on a multiple user machine.

    On another note, this is my 500th post since joining the BBS on 28 June 2002. Tada! :D :D :D
     
  10. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Tony,

    I made an awful booboo: I was comparing 16% to 56% and got 40 but NOT mb, just %. 40% of my memory, or rather my computer's (I hope), is 307mb, and that's REALLY a leak.

    BTW, this is not a regular occurrence, only happened a few times and I can't remember what I was doing. My system is running just fine now and for a long time. I just mentioned that I had observed the (I thought) interesting phenomenon.

    I keep close track.
     
    Last edited: 2004/04/01
  11. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    BillyBob,

    "A warm restart does not always clear RAM completly "

    Sorry, I can't let that pass. I dont know where you got that, but the only thing that could cause that is bad or defective ram. No, the ram is not changed to 0's or 1's, but it is cleared so far as the cpu is concerned, as is the case when any software exits and releases it's memory properly.

    "is it possible the 768 meg of RAM is too much "

    No. If you'd like info on my mobo look it up on the web. That applies to all your questions. All my ram is good quality, warrantied for life. And little of this applies to the subject "when to boot XP "
     
  12. 2004/04/01
    reboot

    reboot Inactive

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    I asked a question 2 days ago. Still no satisfactory answer.
    Even you smart guys should have figured this out: why is it that I can run this long, and other's can't even get through one day?

    Current uptime: 1490 hrs, 25 min, 51 sec.
     
  13. 2004/04/01
    TonyT

    TonyT SuperGeek Staff

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    I believe I answered that in several posts:
    1. system is manually optimized for best performance.
    2. not running **** software or hardware.
    3. good understanding of how the os functions and of what is really needed and what isn't. (example is the os or software saying to reboot when you know it's not absolutely necessary to do so)
     
  14. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    reboot,

    I thoought that was a rhetorical question.

    You are running a server, which uses different parts of Xp than I use (for example). Modern software is written by groups of programmers and their IQ's vary. And if I were running a programming company, I would place the smartest programmers in the jobs that are most sensitive, like those that effect the most users. And what could be more critical than server programs?

    The rest should be obvious. You need to ask your question of Microsoft.
     
  15. 2004/04/01
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    reboot wrote:
    • "why is it that I can run this long, and other's can't even get through one day? "
    For some of us, it's life on the edge. I've probably rebooted my computer a dozen times today, and restored my C: partition with Drive Image, as well ... the price of a botched program removal. Ricky Martin had it right ... "livin' la vida loca "!
     
  16. 2004/04/01
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Hi JSS3rd,

    Glad you like the discussion.

    "all I need to do to reset the memory is log off and log back on "

    Any way you do it, there's no more wear and tear on your machine than running a program when you "soft" or "warm" boot. (it IS a program.)

    I see no reason to brag about how long a machine runs without a reboot. I help folks at a community center and I find lots of them are fearful of rebooting, and don't even know when it's adviseable. Modern hardware is designed to withstand thousands of hard/cold (power off/on) boots, so why worry?

    I'm sure my ISP has to reboot now and then, 'cause sometimes I can't get online for a few minutes with my dial-up dsl. He's a small local company.
     
  17. 2004/04/01
    martinr121 Lifetime Subscription

    martinr121 Inactive

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    Jim:congratulations on 500. Happy birthday or something like that?

    Martin
     
  18. 2004/04/01
    JSS3rd Lifetime Subscription

    JSS3rd Geek Member

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    Thanks, Martin ...

    Still almost six months 'til the magic number b'day, but they seem to come closer and closer together, as the years get shorter and shorter ... he||, I'm still trying to get ready for the 2003 holidays, and 2004 is already ¼ gone! 500 posts seems like a milestone to me, but I'm far from being in the same league as Newt, Abraxas, Johanna, or others, including you.

    The thing I like about this Board, as opposed to others I've been on, is that there's almost no flaming. Instead, there's a genuine desire to share knowledge and experience ... questions get answered and problems usually get resolved. Could it have something to do with the fact that so many of the regulars are retired, and have nothing better to do with their time? :D :D

    Sparrow ...

    My experience, too, is that most of the folks I know don't know (or care) much about their computers, other than how to turn them on, handle their email, run a few programs, and shut them down. Believe me, it's not Ghostbusters they call when they run into problems, it's moi. What the hey, though ... it keeps the mental muscles exercised. :D :D
     
  19. 2004/04/05
    sparrow

    sparrow Inactive

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    Rehi all,

    A final thought about booting:

    It's not so much for exceptional events like memory leaks and crashes but most important for refreshing the operating system, which seems to me, anyway, to benefit from a warm boot once in a while..

    Earlier today mine, after running since yesterday AM, slowed down dramatically, and I couldn't find the reason looking at what was running, etc., so I did a warm boot and everything's been fine for the last 4 hours.

    Also, a warm boot is good for the soul. You can get some fresh air or a cup of coffee. Clears human memory too.
     
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