Ram problem

**gizmo.1484** · 11th February, 2009, 11:20 PM

Is there anyway to sort my ram out as i have 1gig of ram but it is saying that i only have 17% free and it is making my computer run slow.
So my question: Is there anyway to get most off my ram back?

What i have done so far: I have done a disk clean/done a defrag/cleaned registry.

**Lanxman** · 11th February, 2009, 11:21 PM

Alright Gizmo, I might be wrong about this but don't the programs that start up in your system tray use your ram?
What you got starting with your computer? What antivirus you using?

**gizmo.1484** · 11th February, 2009, 11:43 PM

I am using Norton 360
The programs in start up are:
ctfmon.exe c:/windows/system32/ctfmon.exe (Microsoft)

smartRAM c:/program files/Iobit/Advancedsystemcare3/sup_smartram.exe"/m (Iobit)

Soundman : Soundman.exe (Advance logic inc)

ccApp c:/program files/common files/Symantec shared/ccApp.exe" (Symantec corporation)

osCheck c:/program files/Norton 360/osCheck.exe" (Symantec corporation)

The highest the ram has gone to is 30%

gmb45 · 12th February, 2009, 05:08 AM

Originally Posted by gizmo.1484

Is there anyway to sort my ram out as i have 1gig of ram but it is saying that i only have 17% free and it is making my computer run slow.
So my question: Is there anyway to get most off my ram back?

What i have done so far: I have done a disk clean/done a defrag/cleaned registry.

you have to disable none essential programs that are running in the back ground and you can increase you virtual memory that also can help or add another gig of ram also clean registry and unistall programs you dont really need oh and norton 360 is shite

**DavC** · 12th February, 2009, 08:45 AM

the short answer is to buy more ram. it's dirt cheap and much better than struggling around with what you've got.

anyway if you dont want to spend owt then it's just a case of finding which programs and services your not going to miss disabling...

I presume your using XP?

if you've got norton on there then get rid of it. seriously, it will slow your pc down so much.

also go to start > run > services.msc
look through that list and see whats running and if there's anything that you wont need. probably worth googling before disabling any services your not sure about.

also task manager will tell you everything that is running on the processes tab

**Lanxman** · 12th February, 2009, 08:49 AM

Gizmo, Get rid of norton 360 mate, It's a notorious ram sucker. Get something lighter like eset! Trust me, If anything is slowing it down it'll be ****in 360. People might say eset aint as good but if you do weekly scans with eset and malwarebytes, you'll be fine.

**bazzw6** · 12th February, 2009, 12:09 PM

try disableing norton and see how things run. quicker-- then get rid of it.
no difference then its sumat else.
personally i would never use noreton its a system speed killer

**cunny** · 12th February, 2009, 06:37 PM

The short answer is definatly get more ram.
Get rid of norton.
Disable all startup items in the 'msconfig'
Do a task manager, processes, get it down to as little as poss, i can run xp on 18 in total.

I do like Avast anti virus its a very good program and it FREE

**jetsada** · 12th February, 2009, 07:25 PM

It's pretty much been answered but I just wanted to add my weight to the Bin Norton opinions, it's extremely resource hungry! AVGFree is decent enough if you're confident you know what you're doing, else I used Vipre which is slick and not resource hungry at all.

I'd also second getting some more ram, 2GB is pretty cheap, depending on how old the machine is, it's only the old old ones which cost a lot to upgrade.

**gizmo.1484** · 12th February, 2009, 07:56 PM

Cheers guys. I will get some more ram as you say 1gig is not much to run your computer on so will get 2gig.
What is the best AV & SW program about (Best if free).

**caveman_nige** · 12th February, 2009, 08:01 PM

gizmo, the best free one is probably AVG but if you like you can use a Mcafee enterprise client for free.

**DavC** · 13th February, 2009, 08:31 AM

as above, if you want free free then go for AVG.

Personally i swear by NOD32. fantastic AV software, and very lightweight, doesn't slow your PC down hardly at all

gmb45 · 13th February, 2009, 08:34 AM

avast is good m8 and free

**gizmo.1484** · 14th February, 2009, 07:17 PM

I have changed my av to AVG from Norton 360 but it has not freed any off the ram up so it is still at 17% so i do not no what is using all of the ram.
Where is the best place to purchase ram for my Sony vaio?

**cunny** · 14th February, 2009, 11:54 PM

Originally Posted by gizmo.1484

I have changed my av to AVG from Norton 360 but it has not freed any off the ram up so it is still at 17% so i do not no what is using all of the ram.
Where is the best place to purchase ram for my Sony vaio?

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For time being try seeing what processes you can kill in task manager this will free ram up, also try killing everything in the startup tab in the msconfig, you could also double the virtual memory in the system properties.