upgrade from xp to 7 to improve ram usage?

[kirov]

I am using a school laptop running winxp that has 2 GB ram. But it still uses 1 GB of the page file in addition to the physical ram. I heard that windows 7 has "better" performance that xp.

I was wondering if upgrading to vista and then 7 would help reduce ram usage. I suspect it is the educational crapware loaded on the laptop that is hogging the ram with background processes and the like, but I don't see how it can take up an entire 2 GB ram + 1 GB page file. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sup3rsprt]

I was wondering if upgrading to vista and then 7 would help reduce ram usage.

If you compare XP and 7 both at fresh install, 7 uses quite a bit more memory.

If your XP is extremely bloated and you've never done any maintenance, you will probably see a nice performance improvement by moving to 7.

 

[torrentg]

7 has superior memory management. We all were impressed by this during the beta testing phase of the OS.

This doesn't mean I disagree with sup3rsprt. His post is correct too.

 

[sup3rsprt]

The memory management is better I suppose but I'm still not sure how that benefits me in the real world. So far all I can see about this memory management is that it makes Windows 7 look like a memory hog to anyone who doesn't know what's going on.

 

[kirov]

I was wondering if upgrading to vista and then 7 would help reduce ram usage.

If you compare XP and 7 both at fresh install, 7 uses quite a bit more memory.

If your XP is extremely bloated and you've never done any maintenance, you will probably see a nice performance improvement by moving to 7.

Thanks, I plan on dual-booting into 7 since I still have to use xp once in awhile. Any tips on reducing OS bloat in xp? And 7 for that matter once I start installing stuff?

 

[DeaconFrost]

Windows 7 does use more memory....but the key word was omitted. It uses more memory....effectively.

If you compare the two side by side, it is very easy to see the difference between the two, once you've given SuperFetch enough time to learn your habits and frequently used applications. When you put the system under a load, you'll notice that XP bogs down, while Windows 7 continues to remain snappy and responsive. It isn't a trick or a gimmick, and it doesn't take much to see how this benefit helps out. All you need to do is compare two similar systems, with the same apps installed.

As for tips, dual-booting is so....stale, in my opinion. Load up Windows 7, virtualize XP, and enjoy a smooth, responsive system, that still gives you access to XP in the rare event you'll need it.

 

[zigzag3143]

I am using a school laptop running winxp that has 2 GB ram. But it still uses 1 GB of the page file in addition to the physical ram. I heard that windows 7 has "better" performance that xp.

I was wondering if upgrading to vista and then 7 would help reduce ram usage. I suspect it is the educational crapware loaded on the laptop that is hogging the ram with background processes and the like, but I don't see how it can take up an entire 2 GB ram + 1 GB page file. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Nope you wouldn't. The absolute minimum for win 7 32bit is 1 gig. the page file is HD space used when you run out of memory.Certainly if you clean install you are going to be more efficient but that means re-installing all your apps

Hope this helps

Ken

 

[kirov]

Windows 7 does use more memory....but the key word was omitted. It uses more memory....effectively.

If you compare the two side by side, it is very easy to see the difference between the two, once you've given SuperFetch enough time to learn your habits and frequently used applications. When you put the system under a load, you'll notice that XP bogs down, while Windows 7 continues to remain snappy and responsive. It isn't a trick or a gimmick, and it doesn't take much to see how this benefit helps out. All you need to do is compare two similar systems, with the same apps installed.

As for tips, dual-booting is so....stale, in my opinion. Load up Windows 7, virtualize XP, and enjoy a smooth, responsive system, that still gives you access to XP in the rare event you'll need it.

This helps a lot, thanks. I don't think virtualizing xp will work though. XP is so bloated it uses 2 1/2 GB of ram when idle. Does anyone know how do reduce xp's bloat? That would be nice.

Nope you wouldn't. The absolute minimum for win 7 32bit is 1 gig. the page file is HD space used when you run out of memory.Certainly if you clean install you are going to be more efficient but that means re-installing all your apps

Hope this helps

Ken

So your saying I shouldn't install win 7? Maybe your misinterpreted me, the laptop has 2 gb ram but xp bloat takes 3 gb hence the page file usage.

 

[DeaconFrost]

If your install of XP is using that much memory, then you must have some malware or many, many third party apps running in the background.

 

[zigzag3143]

Kirov

I think your xp is so peppered with apps, etc that the only way to get either xp or win 7 to work is going to be a clean install. I orginally was running win 7 in 2 gig or ram and quite nicely.

So you have to make your decision and go with it. XP or win 7?


Ken

 

[Tews]

Another question must be addressed.. This laptop belongs to your school, so you might ask them first ... I would be surprised if they allow it as they have already installed the apps that they want their students to use... I could be wrong though..

 

[kirov]

Another question must be addressed.. This laptop belongs to your school, so you might ask them first ... I would be surprised if they allow it as they have already installed the apps that they want their students to use... I could be wrong though..

Surprisingly, there are loopholes in the technology policy. We mainly use office and photoshop so I'll be fine.

If your install of XP is using that much memory, then you must have some malware or many, many third party apps running in the background.

I suspect third party apps. I disabled a ton of startup items, but the ram usage still sucks. Do third party apps like to install themselves as services? I have huge list of services and I don't think all are MS services.



Zigzag3143

Win 7 is the way to go (chess titans, yeah!) . The only reason I'm trying to reduce xp bloat is because I planing on using xp mode to run older apps.

 

[DeaconFrost]

I just booted an XP tower I have sitting on a shelf. It's running XP Pro SP3 and using Windows Defender and Avira for security software. No tweaking was done with services or anything of that matter, and it's using 173 MB of memory. I couldn't get this system's memory usage to be as high as yours without trying to do so on purpose.

 

[kirov]

I just booted an XP tower I have sitting on a shelf. It's running XP Pro SP3 and using Windows Defender and Avira for security software. No tweaking was done with services or anything of that matter, and it's using 173 MB of memory. I couldn't get this system's memory usage to be as high as yours without trying to do so on purpose.

My system is using 2 1/2 gb memory while idle. Any idea what could possibly chew up all of that ram? The disparity between our systems is quite large. I ruled out malware. Interesting thing though, after boot up, the system is quite responsive even when running photoshop and the like.

 

[DeaconFrost]

You should be able to figure that out pretty easily by opening task manager, and seeing what processes are using up the memory.

 

[kirov]

They don't add up to anywhere near how much task manager claims the system is using. Any ideas?

 

[DeaconFrost]

Are you checking the box to show processors for all users? Where are you getting your info from, claiming that it is using 2.5 GB while idle?

 

[kirov]

Show processs from all users is checked. I got the 2.5 GB ram usage by adding the PF usage under the performance tab and adding that to the physical ram under ccleaner and then subtracting the 128 mb for integrated graphics.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Okay, I think that might be the problem. I'm not sure why you are turning it into something complicated, but try this instead.

Look on the Performances tab. Under Commit Charge, look at total. That should be relatively close to your actual usage, as well as the number listed on the very bottom right of that window, along the bottom banner, also labeled as Commit Charge.

Peak tells you the highest your memory usage went during this session.

I've also had people suggest that a better way is to look on the Performances Tab, under Physical Memory, and subtract available from total to find out what you are actually using.

Either way, the number should be relatively close, and much more accurate than what you were doing above. Try these out and see what your usage is.

 

[Antman]

A screenshot will speed this analysis process up. Show us your task manager.