BySoft FreeRAM

BySoft FreeRAM is a free memory management program designed for Windows 95/98/Me/NT/2000. This is done by forcing Windows to remove all the data that is not currently needed from the memory. It can be used manually or automatically.

Advantages are:

•	Applications load much faster

•	Less blue screens

•	Less lock-ups

•	Allows your computer to run longer

BySoft FreeRAM is FREEWARE.

Distribute it freely, provided that any part of the program or files included is not modified.

FreeRAM is provided as is, without warranty of any kind. The author assumes no liability for damages, direct or indirect, which may result from the use of FreeRAM.

To report a bug or to make a suggestion write to

 freeram@bysoft.com

Check out for the latest version of FreeRAM or other software at:

www.bysoft.com

Check out options here: Options

Check out cache tuning here: Cache Tuning

Check out how to create skins here: Creating skins

If you right-click on main window or tray icon, popup menu will appear:

Hide/Show - shows or hides the main program window.

Free RAM now (XX MB) - frees specified amount of RAM (you can set it up in options, by default 25%).

Free RAM -> - Select desired amount of RAM to free. Amounts from 5% to 80% are automatically calculated.

Options - opens options dialog (same as clicking on button Options)

Automatically (XX MB when below YY MB) - turn on or off automatic freeing of RAM

Help - brings up help file

About - opens about dialog

Web site - opens default browser and goes to www.bysoft.com

Exit - exits program

If you click on “Free” button, popup menu will appear:


Options

Automatically free memory at alarm level:

If checked, program will when alarm level is reached, automatically free amount of memory selected in “Amount of memory to free (MB)”.

Alarm RAM level (MB)

When this level is reached, memory will be freed depending on previous option.

Amount of memory to free (MB)

This amount of memory will be freed when alarm level is reached. Also this amount will be available at popup menu option “Free RAM now (XX MB)”

Number of retries if desired amount is not free

How many times the program will try to free the memory if desired level is not reached. Default 2.

Only if CPU usage is below this level (%) (0 - ignore)

This option is valid only for automatic freeing. If not 0, program will wait until processor usage is below selected level for at least 10 seconds, and then free memory.

Stay on top

If checked, the program will be above all other windows on desktop.

Start with windows

If checked, the program will start automatically when Windows start.

Start minimized

If checked, the program will start without showing the main window, and can be accessed through tray icon.

Show available RAM in the system tray

If checked, amount of free RAM will be displayed in the system tray.

Shortcut to free RAM:

You can select system wide shortcut to free RAM (amount specified in “Amount of memory to free (MB)”).

Play this sound when freeing up RAM

If checked, selected file will be played at the beginning of freeing process.

Here you can select a skin you want to use on programs main window.

How to create a skin?

This button takes you to the help system, describing how to create a skin.

Cache Tuning


Creating skins

Creating a skin is simple. You are not limited by window size, window shape and position of elements. Also skin can be transparent. All you need is background bitmap and positions of elements written in the ini file.

Skins are stored in “Skins” subdirectory of FreeRAM. Each skin has its own subdirectory under “Skins”. Directory name is also skin name.

FreeRAM->Skins	->Default

->Classic

->Only data

…

Each skin consists of two parts “main.bmp” image file and “skin.ini” ini file that holds all information about placement of the elements on the skin.

When creating a new skin, first create subdirectory under “Skins”. Then create background bitmap with buttons, captions… drawn on it and save it to that directory with name “main.bmp”. Bitmap must be true color (24 bit) and saved without RLE compression.

Than copy “skin.ini” from “Skins\Default” directory to your skin directory. Now you can edit copied “skin.ini” file with any text editor (e.g. Notepad). Remember to save it with same name and as normal textual file (not Word document or some other word processor type).

Description of “skin.ini” file parts:

[Info]

Transparent=0

R=255

G=0

B=255

Info part describes transparency. If “Transparent” is 1, main window will be transparent for the parts of the bitmap that have color set in R G B keys. Transparency can be used to create windows with different shapes: circular, with rounded corners, with “holes”. You are not limited to rectangular shape.

[BarFreeMemory]

PosX=15

PosY=41

Width=230

Height=16

R=0

G=0

B=255

FontName=MS Sans Serif

FontSize=8

FontCharset=1

FontBold=1

FontItalic=0

ShowPercent=1

Enabled=1

StartColR=255

StartColG=255

StartColB=0

EndColR=255

EndColG=0

EndColB=0

BackColR=192

BackColG=192

BackColB=192

“BarFreeMemory” and “BarMemoryLoad” sections describe two gradient progress bars that show free memory and memory load. PosX, PosY, Width and Height describe position and size in pixels. R, G, and B are font color. Other font properties: FontSize, FontCharset, FontBold, FontItalic.

FontCharset is a number from this list:

# ANSI_CHARSET 	0	ANSI characters.

# DEFAULT_CHARSET	1	Font is chosen based solely on Name and Size. If the described font is not available on the system, Windows will substitute another font.

# SYMBOL_CHARSET	2	Standard symbol set.

# MAC_CHARSET	77	Macintosh characters.

# SHIFTJIS_CHARSET	128	Japanese shift-jis characters.

# HANGEUL_CHARSET	129	Korean characters (Wansung).

# JOHAB_CHARSET	130	Korean characters (Johab).

# GB2312_CHARSET	134	Simplified Chinese characters (mainland china).

# CHINESEBIG5_CHARSET	136	Traditional Chinese characters (taiwanese).

# GREEK_CHARSET	161	Greek characters.

# TURKISH_CHARSET	162	Turkish characters.

# VIETNAMESE_CHARSET	163	Vietnamese characters.

# HEBREW_CHARSET	177	Hebrew characters.

# ARABIC_CHARSET	178	Arabic characters.

# BALTIC_CHARSET	186	Baltic characters.

# RUSSIAN_CHARSET	204	Cyrillic characters.

# THAI_CHARSET	222	Thai characters.

# EASTEUROPE_CHARSET	238	Includes diacritical marks for eastern european countries.

# OEM_CHARSET	255	Depends on the codepage of the operating system.

If ShowPercent is 1, percentage will be shown on progress bar.

If Enabled is 1, bar is visible, otherwise it will be invisible (not active). It is useful for removing controls and labels that you don’t want on skin.

StartColR=255

StartColG=255

StartColB=0

EndColR=255

EndColG=0

EndColB=0

BackColR=192

BackColG=192

BackColB=192

These are colors for gradient progress bar. Start and End color, and BackColor for part that is not covered with gradient.

[Chart]

PosX=41

PosY=167

Width=165

Height=82

Enabled=1

Col1R=255

Col1G=0

Col1B=0

Col2R=128

Col2G=128

Col2B=128

Col3R=0

Col3G=255

Col3B=0

ColBackR=0

ColBackG=0

ColBackB=0

ColGridR=0

ColGridG=70

ColGridB=0

HorGridCount=40

VerGridCount=11

This is a section describing chart. Col1, Col2 and Col3 are colors for lines on chart (free mem, cpu and memory load).

ColBack is background color.

ColGrid is grid color.

HorGridCount is horizontal grid count

VerGridCount is vertical grid count.

[ButtonOptions]

PosX=71

PosY=129

Width=54

Height=20

Describes position and size of a button. If you want to disable a button, put all keys to 0.

Buttons described in “skin.ini”:

ButtonOptions - when clicked, options are shown

ButtonFree- when clicked, popup with different memory amounts is shown

ButtonHelp- when clicked, help file is shown

ButtonAbout- when clicked, about dialog is shown

ButtonFreeDirect- when clicked, default amount of memory is freed (same as clicking on popup menu item “Free RAM now (XX MB)”

ButtonExit- when clicked, application terminates

[Caption]

PosX=224

PosY=3

Width=15

Height=13

This describes “Caption” position.

Areas on the main window:

Caption- When caption is clicked onto, program window can be moved same as normal application caption.

Minimize - minimize button position

Close - close (X) button position

HomepageLink - Home page link. When clicked, opens default browser to www.bysoft.com

[LabelFreeMemory]

PosX=15

PosY=26

Width=51

Height=13

R=0

G=255

B=0

FontName=MS Sans Serif

FontSize=8

FontCharset=1

FontBold=0

FontItalic=0

Enabled=1

Prefix=Free RAM (

Sufix= MB ):

Describes label “LabelFreeMemory” properties (position, size, Font …). Labels write out different data on main window (free mem, cpu usage, memory size …)

New properties are:

Prefix - string that will be appended in front of the label

Sufix - string that will be appended at the end of the label

For example “LabelFreeMemory” shows amount of free memory in megabytes with two decimal point (e.g. 75.35). With following:

Prefix=Free RAM (

Sufix= MB ):

Label will be written like this:

Free RAM (75.35 MB ):

Labels on the main window:

LabelFreeMemory - amount of free memory in MB

LabelMemoryLoad - memory load percentage

LabelUptime - How long computer was turned on. This label uses “Sufix” as string for “days”

LabelCPU - CPU usage percentage

LabelFreePercent - amount of free memory %

LabelLoadPercent - memory load percentage

LabelMemoryFull - Total physical memory in MB (used on the right side of the chart)

LabelMemoryHalf - Half of  physical memory in MB (used on the right side of the chart)

LabelMemoryZero - Shows 0

LabelPercent100 - 100 % (used on the left side of the chart)

LabelPercent50 - 50 % (used on the left side of the chart)

LabelPercent0 - 0 % (used on the left side of the chart)

If you don’t wand some labels to be visible, put their property “Enabled” to 0.


Cache Tuning

Windows contains integrated file caching to enhance performance.

Here you can change cache settings easily. Cache tuning works with Windows 95/98/ME, not NT. Please note that these settings will take effect after system reboot.

Enable cache tuning

If checked, FreeRAM will take control over system cache settings.

Remove cache settings from system.ini

If checked, cache settings will be removed from system.ini

Minimum Cache (X KB)

Select minimum cache size. Recommended 25% of RAM.

Maximum Cache (X KB)

Select maximum cache size. Recommended 25% of RAM.

Chunk Block

Select chunk block size. Default 512. Larger value may improve performance.