I've recently added some indicators to my charting software which seem to be quite memory hungry. As a result, the software now seems to take a fair bit longer to load and, shortly after loading, I get a yellow warning triangle to say that my Virtual Memory is too low and that Windows is increasing it.

I guess I need to buy some more RAM to whizz things up again, but is there anything that I should do to my settings in the meantime or should I just sit with it and leave it to Windows to sort out?

One of my favourite AntiSpyware programs is SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition.

In fact it's the one I mostly use and I find I now rarely bother with Spybot Search & Destroy or Ad-Aware because when I do, having used SASpyFE, they don't find a single thing.

Before I use SASpyFE for a sweep, I always use CCleaner to clean out all the crap. With CCleaner it takes just seconds to analyse and find the crap and then seconds again to delete it.

If you want to find out exactly what is actually running on our machine and whether it is SAFE or UNSAFE to have on our computer then there is a link from the control panel on SuperAntiSpyware to File Research Center.com to enable you to do a sweep. The subsequent report can also be printed out and referred to so that if you do find anything by way of some hazardous program or weird facility, it can be deleted.

Hilary

Although Windows insists that you use some virtual memory, you should make sure that you have enough RAM so that you don't need to use it. Easiest supplier that I have found is Crucial.

In the meantime, you can improve the way that VM works.

Go into the virtual memory settings, and set the maximum VM to zero or the smallest that it will allow.

Reboot the computer and defragment the disk.

Set the VM min and max settings to the same figure which should be approx 3 times your installed RAM.

These steps will ensure that you have a permanent fixed size VM swap file that is hopefully in a continuous piece of disk. Therefore Windows will not have to waste time changing the size and access should be quicker.

You could also try to reduce the amount of memory that you are using be closing some of the processes in your system tray.

ok and excel question. If a cell drops below a certain value say 4 then post a piece of text in another cell saying "Warning below 4"

Thanks in anticipation

M

Control Panel
System
Advanced
Performance
Settings
Advanced

should help you find where to do it.

Martini

The formula you need is =IF(A1<4,"Warning below 4","")

A nicer way is to use conditional formatting that would just highlight the cell or another cell in a different colour.

That's great, Opti and Doc. Many thanks. I'll give it a go a bit later on.

Optimist

Thanks

Yes high light the cell would be better how does that work?

Regards
M

Hil:

I second Optimist's recommendation of Crucial.

25 got me the 2 Gigglebytes of RAM that's running in my current ThinkPad. Doubling the memory makes quite a difference. In general, adding RAM is the cheapest and easiest way of improving performance. Failing that, we've found that a brace of quad-core Intel Xeons perks things up a bit :)

Martini

For conditional formatting, in Excel 2007 there is a button on the Home ribbon. For earlier versions, I think I remember there being a format menu, otherwise, type "conditional format" into help.

It's well worth experimenting with.

thanks
M

I third the crucial recommendation. I use them personally (and have done for years), and my company has just started using them to saying a fortune on Apple's own RAM prices.

I've been buying Crucial camera cards since I went digital. No problems that were left unresolved.

However, I understand they are now a subsidiary of Lexar.

Probably makes little difference, but I felt it worth mentioning.

TP

A while ago someone listed some software that you could run to check that all your internet bookmarks were still valid. anyone know what it was and if it works on firefox.

AM-DeadLink 3.2 - Free Software

Editor's review of AM-DeadLink
Sweep out the dead
This freeware program helps tame your list of bookmarked sites with a nice set of tools to manage links.

AM-DeadLink's interface is packed with options, but tool tips and a logical layout make it easy to follow. The length of the verification process depends on the size of your Favorites list, but the wait wasn't bad in our tests. You can sort results by any of the columns, which include name, status, URL, and folder categories. You also can delete entries one at a time or by the group.

The Backup option is a welcome safeguard that allows you to easily restore your original list in case you get too delete-happy. You can open links in a new browser window if you want to verify results or investigate those with error codes, but AM-Deadlink also has a handy Internal Preview option that allows you to open the link without leaving the program. You can dress up your bookmarks with the option to download FavIcons, making it easier to distinguish one link from another.

The program supports Internet Explorer, Firefox, Mozilla, and Opera. AM-Deadlink is a solid choice for any user looking for a comprehensive (and no-cost) way to manage bookmarks.

Thanks ExecLine

I've deleted all the inactive links and it took only minutes. It's amazingly good.

Now I'm going to run it again and download the Favicons.

I've been having BB connectivity issues for some time now, since early April I'd say.
I blamed it on BT to begin with. They didn't deny that there was a problem, and they tweaked and banged (in India I assume) for a few days again the other week, assuring me of their best intentions.

It is sooo frustrating waiting and waiting for a connection. Monday evening I simply gave up, having managed to place a couple of trades I watched in horror as window after window kept opening up all over the screen (after I lost the connection for the hundredth time). Same thing again yesterday - all I could do to stop the 'multiplying' was to shut down, over and over. It's a wonder I managed to make anything when cable finally fell after those cute little CPI jobbies.

Last night I thought it would be a good idea to try system restore, only because I felt this problem might have something to do with Windows updates. Well of course McAfee started giving me gyp after that, what with the fact that I still had no connection - none whatsoever this morning. And then a very nice man persuaded me to uninstall McAfee after activating Windows firewall. Well it worked a treat for a few hours whilst I got on with some work, but then when I opened ODL and my platform in the hope of a bit of trading non interruptus, it all went pear-shaped again.

Should I be enabling exceptions in the firewall, and if so - what ports/programmes?
And how do I add any if I ought to?
I ask this because I always get the live update/exe (unidentified publisher) question when I access ODL Metatrader

And on that basis I don't really have a clue what my internet settings should be either.
Does my level of security affect the sites I'm using - this includes MoneyAM as well as the 2 mentioned above? That's why I've hardly been posting for weeks now.

Any help most gratefully appreciated :)

chocolat

Windows firewall does not block many outgoing conections, but if you do need to modify the settings for a particular program then I would expect that info to be availible on their site.

From your post, I would guess that you are using a USB ADSL modem. These are unreliable, insecure and difficult to set up. You would do well to buy an ADSL firewall router (for the extra cost, make it a wireless one). Once set up, you will have a far better BB connection.

Thanks Optimist.
You're right about the modem, I think (it's a BT Voyager 210 ADSL router) - I just couldn't figure out why there was suddenly a worsening problem as it ran relatively smoothly for the last year. We have a couple of home hubs sitting here, but Mr Grumpy didn't want me to use one when this cursed Vista machine was set up - he didn't like the wireless aspect for security reasons, although he's changed his mind since he bought a new laptop.
And believe me, I would have installed it myself a few weeks ago, but when I read through the set up thingie, it made special mention about Vista and a disc, and my eyes just glazed over.