SON SON
Using the performance tab of task manager, you can access exactly how much of an impact program that hog lot of memory are having on overall performance, the constantly updating graphs show processor and page file, referred to as virtual memory usage but the really useful information is in the four panels that sit below them. Total panel, which records how many handles, threads and processes are currently in use, processes have already been identified as the individual task the PC is running, the number of threads tell you how many separate sets of instructions are being executed by those processes and the number of handles is the total number of resources of all types that windows is juggling.
Although these figures offer a guide as to how busy windows is at any time, they’re only useful if you regularly keep an eye on them and have managed to detect that the computer is busier than usual, if it is, then you can shut down any unnecessary processes that are open or save your work and rebook computer to clear its memory, the three figures in the physical memory panel indicate the total capacity of the computer’s main memory, the amount reserved as a cache to speed up access to recently used programs and data.
If the sum of the available memory and the cache memory is greater than total physical memory, then the computer will turn to the slower page file stored on the hard disk if it ever needs to, to find out whether the computer is already relying on virtual memory in the page file, look at the figures in the commit charge panel, the total figures is the sum of both the physical and virtual memory currently being used, if this figure is less than the available memory indicated in the physical memory panel then your computer is using only physical memory and is achieving its maximum memory speed.
If the total commit charge is higher than the available physical memory, then by subtracting the available physical memory you can determine how to much of the page file actually being used, the more it is being used, the slower your computer will run and the more you’ll hear the disk spinning and growling.
The only permanent cure for a computer that constantly use a large page file is to add more physical memory to it, failing that, then you can avoid slowdowns by running fewer programs at the same time, closing them after you’ve finished using them and installing alternatives that use up less memory, it’s important to note that most PCs use a page file most of the time, this is normal.
The figures shown in the kernel memory panel relate to how much physical and virtual memory is being used for key activities by windows, however as these figures are beyond the user’s control, they can be ignored as can the information you can see on the networking tab, which merely serves to show that the network is operational, if it was able to show the actual speed of data transfers, then it would be far more useful.