Boost your computer's RAM in seconds. Very easy.
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Cell105 This may sound like a tech-heavy article but trust me, it's not. My own technophobic dad could do this one (and he'd better after I tell him). All you need is the good old Notepad accessory and, let's say, about 30 seconds of your time. Ready? Let's begin.
First up, why do you need a RAM booster? Well, it's not so much a question of why because we all want a faster PC. This is more a question of when. If you've been running a large application (or several large applications, maybe a game, Photoshop, something like that) the RAM can get taken up quickly. Even when you close down these programs, RAM can still be eaten-up.
You'll notice this effect at the end of the day. When you first power-up your PC it's running smoothly, by the end of the day it's as sluggish as teenager who's just eaten a whole pizza. Now, you can get various applications to solve this. Some cost a little, some cost a lot. But personally, I like free. Especially when that free is really quick and easy.
So, here's what you need to do. It works for both Vista and XP.
Step One: Open up Notepad (it's in Accessories)
Step Two: Type in MYSTRING=(80000000)
Step Three: Save the file as MEMORY.VBE (or RAM.VBE if you like...just remember the .VBE)
Step Four: Make sure you save the file to your DESKTOP.
Step Five: Just double-click the newly created file on your desktop whenever your PC seems sluggish. It will give your RAM a much needed boost.
If you have less than 128mb of RAM (is that possible these days?) change the 80000000 to 160000000 and it should work the same.
That's it. Quick, simple and a real time-saver. By the way, don't ask me how it works, I have absolutely no idea. A close friend far smarter than myself gave me the tip. I tried it, it worked like a charm. Let's go to work.
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... allocating a load of memory (80meg, in this case), which forces windows to send anything which hasn't been used for a while out to disk ("page it out to disk"). If you then bring those apps to the front and use them again (the ones which were paged out), it has to reload them before they run, which means they start slower.
Swings and roundabouts.
Another method is to minimize apps you are not using. This does almost the same thing.
So yes, it WILL free up some memory, and make the "front" app run quicker, but not for long. I'd recommend going out and getting more ram, to be honest - you'd get more benefit from spending $60 on another 512meg of ram.... :)
I had a mini notebook that didn't have enough RAM to run Windows smoothly. The RAM was not upgradeable in this laptop, so I installed Linux. It works great. It's like getting a new notebook without spending $1000.
I'm not a techy kind of person. All the info I needed was available on line. Do it on your day off when you will have time to invest. It could done quickly by someone who's done it before, but your first time will be a learning experience. It's worth the time invested to get a laptop that works great. It would take a lot more time if you tried to earn the money to by a new computer.
The only thing this does is set a script variable equal to the number that you put in (). It is just as effective to hold each side of your screen and chant, "please work faster, please work faster"
If you are going to write an article instructing your readers to do something, you should probably do enough research to understand why it works before you put it out there. As others have explained, this is not a worthwhile fix.
That's a little odd as advice goes. If I had to research every single method of doing something before I post about it, I'll never be posting. I tried and tested it, it worked very well for me, and as someone who does this in my spare time, that's all I can offer.
And no-one has to do anything...this is a free blog with free advice, it's not an order or demand. If you don't like the advice, you certainly don't have to follow it at all. That's why we have comments, so people can give us feedback and readers know more about the article.
My only peeve with my computer is how it bogs on YouTube videos. So I clicked the file and now I can listen to a song all the way through without choppy pauses.
Can I go into my configs and disable all the background stuff? yeah. But this works just fine for the rare times I need it.
Thanks.
I was starting to get that grim feeling of "no good deed goes unpunished." Glad it worked out for you.
about as easy as it gets too. thanks for the tip.
Nic Wise is correct here--this is just a placebo. It's essentially forcing Windows to bypass its own automatic memory management. It may seem to do the right thing but you're definitely shooting yourself in the foot by causing the applications you are using to page out. Please don't do this. Let Windows manage its own memory. It knows what it's doing.
"...Windows knows what it is doing?.."....
now THAT'S funny.
HAHAHHAHAHA!
..
Cheers.
HAHAHAHA Windows does its own thing. I THINK NO this has helped out alot. i use this along with windows readyboost
...I'd have to disagree that it's a placebo, as a placebo does nothing. IF anything this is a duct tape solution, but it's one that has worked fine for me and several other people. Your comments will be read by many people though, and as always it's up to the individual to choose to follow this advice or not.
salam...peace
i am dumb at computer but i know my computer is sslllooowww. but after trying this method....wallaaaa ITS WORK... i am going to share with my friends.
i have that mini laptop kohjinsha thing... less then 1kg. the results is marvelous.
by the way this is my first comment to wisebread coz i am soooo happy.lol
Free or not, it's kind of odd to see you arguing with people when you're the host of the blog, rather than just letting it go. If it is up to them, and the people who complain won't allow it to affect them anyhow, then it really doesn't matter? Just be pleased that you're trying to help and for some people, whether it's not a real fix or not, will agree with you that they don't mind the detriments for the specific benefits they get.
Where's the professionalism?
And if the concept of research is foreign to you, think of what it could add. I come to WB often and any time it sounds like someone's talking out of their arse I scroll down and it's usually you. Maybe it's something to try.
You know, more people tuned into Howard Stern who hated him than those who tuned in as fans. By the way, the posts coming out of my arse (another Brit?) have became 8 of the top 10 stories on WB of all time. Not bragging, after all, my arse is the one you should thank ;-)
I don't see you arguing. I see you explaining something to a bunch of ignorant people.
This method works great when my browser wants to be slow opening, or when IE freezes up. I even have 1 gig, but a lot of processes are going on. This is easier than going in and changing the startup processes.
Keep up the good work.
All the haters make your posts popular, isn't it great?
Great solution...I tried it and liked it. By some of the comments above, apparently some of the techno-geeks are offended...too bad for them. I use my laptop all the time and noticed an immediate improvement in speed. If there are any geeks - with positive attitudes - out there with some other good ideas, please post.
Though it might work, it is not the best solution. Maybe it would be more efficient preventing non-used applications to occupy memory? not loading quicktime/itunes and msn at start-up of your computer for example would be more constructive.
Even a better solution would be installing an operating system that does not keep all unnecessary stuff in memory, so you can keep your compuer turned on for weeks/months/years, without slowing it down....
P.S.: rumors go that Linus Thorvalds doesn't even know that you can power off a computer.....
Hey so incase you didn't know IE7 has this awesome bug where it never unloads flash elements untill it closes. I just did this with a 100mb setting and it changed my IE memory load from 150mb to 3. sick!
I have a great list on my website on how you can improve the safety and speed of your computer, check it out.
Twelve ways to keep your computer running safer and faster
Virtual RAM is a BAD idea. It gum up your computer.
Good "duct tape" type script - I used to have a program called Rambooster in Win98 I used to do this.
The best things to keep it from running like crap is to run a scan disk, clean disk & then defrag (in that order) regularly. Just let them run when you'r not using the machine (I'll start one of them before I go to bed or leave for work in the AM). Once a month or two should be sufficient unless your constantly making & deleting files.
There's other stuff you can do however, as person who does this all day everyday & has been for years.... most folks don't listen...
- Don't open files from people you don't know & from sites you don't do business with (nothing free is really "free" anymore).
- When you update Java/Flash/Shockwave, etc don't just keep hitting next - make sure there's no adware being installed with the update (you usually have to uncheck a box to keep it from being included).
- Keep your pop-up blocker turned on & only turn it off when it hinders you & then turn it back on when your done. Or use Firefox (I love it).
- Keep your machine & anything connected to it (like an external drive or speakers) plugged into a power strip - things plugged into your computer can carry a power fluctuation to the machine too.
- Do not fling your laptop into the back seat when you get in your car. Set it gently on a surface that it won't slide off of.
Jumping off soap box now - gotta go fix some more computers now :-)
Thanks this could work for me cause after I play my games and my father has to use the computer he gets really mad at how slow it is...
its a good method..what it does is that it flushes your RAM....the thing is that a RAM is used when applications are currently running or when applications have been very recently used...it basically clears or flushes up that space...now the reason why some tech-savvys are against using it can be understood here only...in case an application is in use and you use this script then you might lose valueable data , transactions or might end up crashing your computer also(dont stop reading yet though)
the thing is...all you must ensure is that you use it when no applications are directly running..simple
even better thing is that...even if you use it while running an application..the chances of PC crashing are marginal to minimal because they are no longer dumb boxes waiting to go glitchy...also the PC can re-retrive some data in case of accidental flushing...so you can use this method with no problems.
my only advice is..use it only when hardpressed(especially when there is little free RAM space) and its better to opt for other alternatives like upgrading the RAM or defragmentation,etc
THANKS! this makes my PC run twice as fast! :)
WTF this realy works im shokked !!!
now i can render very fast in cinema 4d thx mate :D:D
Step Two: Type in MYSTRING=(80000000)
does it mean, if your PC (xp) got more memory (128M), then you should read the 8 0000000 number to something like 40000000
so far, seem to have no side-effect and seem that it will only do good, rather than harm
my chrome on veetle.com and youtube.com seem to be sluggish
another choice would be load up a clean ghost image for c drive
This doesn't work at all !
I just want to try this thing out. OMG! It is worked! My RAM usage dropped from 85% to 60%. Thank you very much.
i have 1 GB ram i cant play games which needs 256 MB ram cant this step work to solve this
This method work fine. But I recommend you to use some of those game boosts. It boost some of your stuff. It closes unnecessary programs and can be use for othe r things beside gaming.
it worked wonders for me! thanks paul
Thanks for that, it works in Win7 as well.
Can't I create a folder without using notepad