increase RAM, and then.....

[wojo629]

hello to all the guru's of W98...working with a Compaq 5460,480mHz,8GB HD..had 88Mb RAM, installed 256mb thus having 344Mb RAM now..i keep hearing about vcache-what is this and should i adjust this? looking for more tweaks for better performance...before i installed the increased memory, i ran Belarc Advisor, it had this to say about my memory modules:
88mb installed memory
64mb module size-1 installed
32mb module size-1 installed
One memory socket is empty.
should've done something to this or leave it as is?....so confused i am!
thanks for any help!!

[eshows]

Alright, I could be wrong, but the "modules" should be the sticks of RAM that are already installed, thus you have one stick of 64 megs of RAM, and one stick of 32 megs of RAM. The memory socket that was previously listed as empty would say "256mb module size-1 installed." The most likely reason that the 64 and 32 don't add up to 88 is because 8mb of the RAM is being shared to video. As far as vcache is concerned, you could set it to a value of 6144, but you don't really need to - if you're not experiencing any problems, then Windows is probably managing the swap file just fine. However, if you want to, head to the start menu, type in msconfig, click on the "system.ini" tab and look for the "vcache" folder. Under that, either edit the value listed, or add a value of "maxfilecache=6144" without the quotation marks.

~evan

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• yes, fdisk is a valid form of virus removal
• I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol

[Lance1]

I’ve never trusted online diagnostics. Diagnose it yourself! Open up your DOS prompt and type mem to find out the amount of RAM in your computer. To find the switches for the mem command just type at the prompt mem /?. if it doesn’t see the correct amount of RAM then you mite have a problem. Make sure that your RAM is in the right sequence, start with the larger RAM in slot #1 and work down in sequence. Then check the RAM again from the prompt.

[wojo629]

thanks to eshows & Lance1..
eshows: will try the vcache.
Lance1: help me here, "open DOS prompt", hate to admit but i have no clue!!
thanks

[davidgsmith]

wojo629,
Adding memory was a giant boost for your Presario.
The next think you can do is to upgrade the processor if possible. An exhaustive search of the Compaq support forums will find that answer for you. I upgraded my CYRIX 223mhz to an AMD 550 that way.

A stand-alone video card with at least 32mb memory, will also show a noticable difference in performance.

Then of course, tidy up all of your boot/start-up files. Clean out temp files, defrag, etc.

To get to a DOS / Command prompt, just click on Start / Programs / MS-DOS Prompt. Or click on Start / Run , then type in COMMAND and press enter.

Then just type mem as suggested.

Have fun !
Dave

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*** Help others less fortunate.

[This message has been edited by davidgsmith (edited 05-29-2002).]

[Lance1]

Not a problem. Click start, programs, MS – DOS prompt.

[wojo629]

Lance1, disregard last message..trial and error always prevails!!...but anywho, i thinks where i might've screwed up is/was in the installation of the new mem stick, i just put it in the open slot that was there..so what i should is (?) ut the 256mb in slot#1 and move the other two down one slot in order?..thanks sooo much!

[Lance1]

Glad to help.

[Ridgerunr]

Also may be a good idea to go into bios on first boot after re-arranging RAM and update/enable ESCD. This will update your hardware configuration...

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Badges? We don'need no Steenkin'badges!!

[slipe]

For most users a good part of that memory is going to be used for cache most of the time. The last thing you would want to do is to limit your computer from using that RAM for cache. Some people claim that vcache should be limited to 70% of your RAM, but I think it is one of those loony things that gets a head of steam and keeps getting repeated like setting your swap file as a multiple of the installed RAM. Limiting the vcache to 6Mb is absolutely absurd.

Open a program that takes a while to open and that you haven’t opened since you booted. Shut it down, and anytime you reopen it during that session it will open 3 times as fast. That is because it is opening from the RAM cache rather than getting all of the code from RAM. The cache speeds up many operations to that degree. Win98 handles the cache well and returns the RAM when it is actually needed by programs. You would do best to let Windows handle the vcache.

If you screw up the vcache by limiting it to 6Mb, a large part of your RAM is going to sit around unused most of the time when it could be but to good use speeding up your computer.

The vcache has nothing to do with the swap file.

Some MBs like the largest stick in the #1 slot and the rest in descending order. I don’t think it is a common requirement but I do it that way just in case.

[WhitPhil]

Amen!

[Train]

Larges chip in the first slot
next largest in the 2nd
and then the smallest chip.

If you do not see all the ram in System Properties/performance tab.
Then go
Start, run [type in] msconfig > OK
On the general tab at the bottom right , click the advance tab and see if the ram is limited. That can be unchecked or updated.

EDIT: YOUR MANUAL
Software and Drivers
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SMILE
and post back
[ Book mark this post to find it again]

[This message has been edited by Train (edited 05-29-2002).]

[wojo629]

thanks to all that answered, i see that i have my work cut out for me...once again thanks for the tips!!