Windows Myths

The "Free Memory" myth

Memory fills up as more programs are loaded (loaded means started, not simply installed). [true]. The belief is that when lots of memory is free (empty), programs will load faster and run faster [false]. If lots of memory is not free your computer will slow down [false].

This myth is based on a couple of misconceptions:

  1. More memory speeds up your computer [true]. But it's more physical memory that speeds up your computer -- not simply free memory. Adding physical memory is a good thing. Windows will use what it has to good advantage. Windows 95 does mismanage memory some of the time. Windows 98 manages it well in most circumstances though.
  2. Windows could empty everything from memory that's not in immediate use (if it was designed that way.) But, most of that data will have to be saved to the disk (which takes time), and some of the data that was removed will be needed again soon. Windows will just have to go get it from the disk again. That's at least a thousand times slower than accessing it in memory. Might as well have left it in there in the first place.

Many programs are available that promise to "free up" memory. But these programs waste time to empty memory (some of the contents of memory can't just be dumped, they have to be written to disk). Worse than that, these programs have no idea if something they remove will have to be reloaded in memory because it's needed again. In contrast, if Windows guesses right on what to leave, it's way ahead of the game. In summary, Windows is designed to think ahead and retain things in memory that it will probably need again soon. It's false economy to try to keep memory "free".

What Windows does do is run out of "system resources". Resources are a special area in memory. Unfortunately, Microsoft decided to limit resources to a miserly 64 KBytes. It was OK in the early days of Windows 95, but it's a severe bottleneck in Windows 98. (The problem has been eliminated in Windows XP.) Running out of resources can't be fixed with more memory. No matter how much you install, resources are always just 64 KBytes. And when the computer runs out of resources, it doesn't just slow down, it crashes.

There is one memory manager that has some value. I've used it and many others swear by it. RAMpage is good when you've been using a program that uses lots of memory, and then want to switch to another program that also needs a lot of memory. RAMpage also can be set to defrag memory, which helps to keep performance high. Memory gets fragmented too -- much like your hard drive does. It's always unfragmented each time you start your computer, but RAMpage can defrag memory while Windows is running. [RAMpage]

Fred Langa probably has a better way of debunking the free memory myth, plus links to much more.

The "Too Many Programs" myth

If you install too many programs your computer will show down. [false] Installed programs each take up some hard drive space (usually not much) and make the Registry a tiny bit larger. Those two things do slow your computer down imperceptibly. Programs are essentially inert until you start them. Even then, most of them take up very little CPU time unless you are working with them directly at the moment. Fred Langa explains it more thoroughly.

The "Swap File" myth

A big swap file means that Windows is working inefficiently [false]. The swap file is used to extend regular memory. It's also called "virtual memory". Windows creates it in a special file on the hard drive. The swap file contains data that Windows doesn't need right now, but that it will or may need again in the future. Don't worry about it. Windows XP is very good at managing both real memory and the swap file.

The (hard drive) "Free Space" myth

When your hard drive fills up, your computer slows down [false]. Oh, it wil slow down very slightly, but if you keep it defragmented you'll never know the difference.

More on the Web

Memory management.

System settings.