Checking Computer Memory Usage To Improve Speed
Is your computer as fast as the first day, when you purchased it or the speed has
dropped without any reason? Are you receiving messages about low memory? Are you tired of your computer being so slow and trying to find a way to speed it up.
PC speed can be affected by many things, but one of the largest factors is deficiency of computer storage space. While your PC may have had lots of memory when you purchased it, that capacity begins going down simply through regular use. Most of the time this creeps up slowly, and it can be difficult to find out where all that memory went.
There is a free program called TreeSize and it checks the memory usage on your PC. It scans your PC and gives you a list of how much memory each program or file is taking up. This program allows you to easily locate memory "hogs" and retrieve some of that precious space. The program is freeware designed to work on Windows 2000/Vista/XP. An earlier version works on systems using Windows 9x/ME. The program requires 2.1 Megabyte of free space to install.
After you download and install the program, an icon appears on the desktop. The program launches from the desktop shortcut and opens a blank window with two menu bars at the top. Choosing the "Scan" button drops down a list of available drives on your system. Selecting a drive starts the scan. The folder icon will open a browser panel from which a specific folder can be selected. Clicking "OK" begins the scan.
While scanning is in progress, mousing over any displayed sub folder will pop up an information display panel demonstrating details of that item. Once scanning is processed, folders can be expanded as required to show exactly how much computer memory each area is using. The memory is shown in megabytes by default. Buttons along the top menu bar will show options of KB (kilobytes), MB (megabytes), GB (gigabytes), or automatic selection of units based on data file size.
By viewing some of the display modes you will be able to see your computer storage usage as a percentage of drive or folder size or by file count. By default all the results are ordered numerically, but can be sorted alphabetically if you take the appropriate menu button.
To analyze the results, look for large blocks of memory being used by programs or files that don't seem to make sense. Mouse over any files you don't recognize, and look for clues in the details. Expand folders as far as they go looking for documents that may point to the parent program. Clicking the open-folder icon opens the file in Windows Explorer, to view documents more easily.
Old programs no longer in use tend to pile up, and can be uninstalled using "Add/Remove Programs" in the Control Panel. Temp files can often be deleted safely to free up more memory. If you do decide to delete anything, be sure to make a backup copy or wait a few weeks to empty the recycle bin. That way, if a problem shows up you can restore the item.
You can transfer the seldom-used files and programs to other drives or archived on external storage. Most users save their music and pictures in the "My Documents" folder. Actually it gets saved by default and it tends to take up lots of memory. Some of those records that you rarely open can be moved and it will give you big chunk of space.
Daily logs and backup folders can be created without the past editions being removed. This can take up your memory space after some time. Make sure to check everything before removing or deleting.
If you have done your homework and cleaned up and moved any unused files and programs, run a second scan to see the improved memory usage. With this program you are allowed to print the reports. If you scan on a regular basis, you will not have any memory space problems.
by: Jacqueline Gharibian
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