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    ProShare(TM) Software: Increasing Memory Resources

    Contents:

    • INCREASING MEMORY RESOURCES FOR USE WITH PROSHARE SOFTWARE
    • WHAT IS VIRTUAL MEMORY?
    • HOW CAN I FIND OUT HOW MUCH VIRTUAL MEMORY MY SYSTEM HAS?
    • WHAT CAUSES FREE MEMORY TO DECREASE?
    • OPTIMIZING MEMORY FOR USE WITH WINDOWS
    • INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF VIRTUAL MEMORY IN THE SYSTEM
    • HOW TO CREATE, DELETE, OR CHANGE THE SIZE OF A SWAP FILE
    • PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS FOR VIRTUAL MEMORY
    • TEMPORARY VS. PERMANENT SWAP FILES
    
    

    INCREASING MEMORY RESOURCES FOR USE WITH PROSHARE SOFTWARE

    
       The section in ProShare software's on-line help on "Improving
    
       Performance" explains situations under which system memory resources may
    
       be insufficient to complete certain operations.  The ProShare software
    
       requires that you have 12 megabytes of free virtual memory in order to
    
       successfully use the advanced features in a typical environment.
    
    
    
       If you plan to capture many pages from a presentation program using the
    
       document import feature, you may require even more free virtual memory. 
    
       The program itself checks for 10 megabytes of free virtual memory when
    
       it loads.  If less than 10 megabytes is available, you'll see a message
    
       warning about the effects of low memory. You can continue to run the
    
       ProShare software application, but be aware that some operations like
    
       print capture and document import may fail.
    
    
    
    

    WHAT IS VIRTUAL MEMORY?

    
       Virtual memory is a combination of RAM (physical system memory) and
    
       reserved hard disk space.  It is used by Windows to store program code
    
       and data when applications are running.  During the execution of a
    
       program, parts of the program are in physical RAM and other parts are
    
       swapped out to the hard disk.  Because virtual memory is a combination
    
       of RAM and hard disk space, it's possible to have more virtual memory in
    
       your system than you have RAM installed.  Because Windows uses virtual
    
       memory to run programs, it's possible to run more applications
    
       simultaneously than would be possible if Windows used only physical
    
       memory to run programs.
    
    
    
    

    HOW CAN I FIND OUT HOW MUCH VIRTUAL MEMORY MY SYSTEM HAS?

    
       Windows can tell you the amount of virtual memory available at any given
    
       time and the percentage of your total system resources that are
    
       currently available for applications.  To get this information, switch
    
       to Program Manager, and choose Help/About Program Manager....  At the
    
       bottom of the display box, your free memory (virtual memory) and % of
    
       free resources are listed.  The amount of free memory should be 12
    
       megabytes or more, i.e., 12,000 KB.  It is also recommended that your %
    
       free be as high as possible.
    
    
    
    

    WHAT CAUSES FREE MEMORY TO DECREASE?

    
       Every time you run an application program under Windows, that program
    
       uses some of your free virtual memory to run program code, and to store
    
       and display data.  Programs use additional memory as they:
    
    
    
         *  open new documents
    
    
    
         *  execute utility programs (like a spell-checker)
    
    
    
         *  perform other related program operations
    
    
    
       For example, when you load ProShare software, it uses some of your free
    
       memory.  If you load a meeting file or capture some bitmaps to the
    
       screen, more memory is used.  If you use print capture to import a
    
    
    
       document from another application, ProShare software launches the new
    
       application, which in turn has its own memory requirements.  Starting a
    
       print operation in the second application uses memory, creating the
    
       bitmap to display the captured data in the ProShare software notebook
    
       uses memory.  And so on.
    
    
    
       As applications and operations are increased, more and more system
    
       virtual memory is used.  The ProShare software application has been
    
       optimized to use bare minimum resources for program operations, but if
    
       many other applications are running in the background, resources can be
    
       drained below the minimum amount required for a particular operation.
    
    
    
    

    OPTIMIZING MEMORY FOR USE WITH WINDOWS

    
       The first thing to do when you're running low on virtual memory is to
    
       optimize your use of existing memory so that the maximum possible amount
    
       is available for Windows to access directly.
    
    
    
         *  Start by closing down some (or all) applications that are running
    
            in the background or running minimized.  In some cases, you'll need
    
            to close and restart Windows to achieve the maximum available
    
            virtual memory your system can have.  (This is because some
    
            applications don't de-allocate memory after they're closed.)
    
    
    
         *  Next, unload memory-resident programs and drivers that load into
    
            conventional or extended memory.  Or move some of these into upper
    
            memory using a memory manager program like QEMM386, 386Max or
    
            EMM386.  
    
    
    
            Note:  Conventional memory is system memory with address ranges
    
            0-640K, upper memory is 640K-1M, and Extended memory is above 1M.
    
    
    
         *  Since Windows can access extended memory directly, and since
    
            extended memory is normally available in the largest quantities,
    
            freeing up extended memory is usually the most efficient way to
    
            gain virtual memory for Windows to use.  To free up extended
    
            memory, check your system for RAM disks or disk caches that are
    
            created from extended memory.  Eliminating these or reducing their
    
            size will provide more virtual memory for Windows applications.
    
    
    
       Freeing up conventional memory is a less effective way to optimize
    
       memory, since you can often gain only a few Kbytes of additional memory.
    
        However, it's always a good idea to provide the largest possible amount
    
       of conventional memory when running Windows.
    
    
    
       To free up conventional memory, start by unloading memory-resident
    
       programs and unnecessary drivers.  These are normally loaded in your
    
       AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS files.  To remove them, remove or remark out
    
       (by placing REM in front of them) the command lines in the AUTOEXEC.BAT
    
       or CONFIG.SYS file.  If you cannot unload drivers, use a memory manager
    
       (mentioned above) to move some of your drivers and programs into upper
    
       memory.
    
    
    
       Memory manager programs normally come with a utility that automatically
    
       checks your system and configures it to save the largest possible amount
    
       of memory.  Check the documentation that came with your memory manager
    
    
    
       for instructions on loading drivers high and optimizing memory usage.
    
    
    
    

    INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF VIRTUAL MEMORY IN THE SYSTEM

    
       If optimizing memory usage still leaves you short of the 12 MB that
    
       ProShare software may need, you'll have to increase the amount of
    
       virtual memory in the system.
    
    
    
         You can do this in two ways:
    
            1) Increase the amount of system RAM available.
    
            2) Create a permanent or temporary swap file.
    
    
    
       To increase available system RAM, purchase additional memory chips and
    
       install them in your computer.  Contact your computer dealer for
    
       information on installing additional memory chips.
    
    
    
       To increase the amount of hard disk space allocated as virtual memory, 
    
       you need to create a Windows swap file, or increase the size of your
    
       current Windows swap file.
    
    
    
    

    HOW TO CREATE, DELETE, OR CHANGE THE SIZE OF A SWAP FILE

    
       To create, delete,  or change the size of a swap file, follow these
    
       instructions.
    
    
    
       Before creating a swap file, run a disk defragmentation utility.  If you
    
       already have a swap file, use these instructions to delete it before
    
       defragmenting your hard disk, then create a new swap file after
    
       defragmentation is completed.  Do not run the defragmentation program
    
       under Windows or if you are using a disk cache.  See the user's manual
    
       for your defragmentation utility for more information.
    
    
    
         To create or delete a swap file:
    
            Open the Windows Control Panel by double clicking the 'Control
    
            Panel' icon
    
            (usually located in Windows' 'Main' program group)
    
            Double-Click on the 386 Enhanced icon in the Control Panel window
    
            Click on Virtual Memory
    
            Click on Change
    
            In the 'New Settings' box, select Permanent or Temporary (See: 
    
            Permanent Swap Files) from the 'Type' box.  Select 'None' to delete
    
            an existing swap
    
             file.
    
            Enter a size in the 'New Size' box.
    
            (Skip this step when deleting a swap file.)
    
            Click on O.K..
    
            Click on Yes to tell Windows you're sure about making changes to
    
            virtual memory.
    
            Click on O.K. to confirm the message that the swap file has been
    
            created
    
            Restart Windows when prompted.
    
    
    
       Note: Windows cannot create a swap file from compressed or stacked hard
    
       disk space.
    
    
    
    

    PERFORMANCE CONSIDERATIONS FOR VIRTUAL MEMORY

    
       The fastest type of virtual memory is physical RAM.  The more of your
    
       virtual memory that's provided by memory chips in your computer, the
    
       faster Windows will run.  Because of this, it's best to increase
    
       physical memory whenever possible.  For example, if you have a RAM disk
    
       in extended memory, do not create a swap file on the RAM disk.  Instead,
    
       remove the RAM disk so that Windows can use the memory directly.
    
    
    
       Creating a swap file on a network drive is not recommended.  Network
    
       swap files are extremely slow.  If you must create a swap file on a
    
       network drive, create a permanent swap file.  Before creating the swap
    
       file, you must make sure the network directory does not have a read-only
    
       attribute, and you must have both create & write access to the
    
       directory.
    
    
    
    

    TEMPORARY VS. PERMANENT SWAP FILES

    
       Windows allows you to set up 2 types of swap files, temporary or
    
       permanent.  Temporary swap files can be created out of fragmented hard
    
       disk space, but permanent swap files can only be created out of
    
       contiguous hard disk space.  Depending on the amount of contiguous free
    
       hard disk space available, performance concerns, and the amount of hard
    
       disk space you need when not running Windows, one type of swap file may
    
       be better for your configuration than the other.
    
    
    
       Of the 2 types of swap files, temporary swap files are slower.  The more
    
       fragmented your hard disk is, the slower a temporary swap file becomes. 
    
       To maintain the best performance from a temporary swap file, run a
    
       defragmentation utility on the hard disk frequently.
    
    
    
       Temporary swap files are deleted when you close Windows, so a temporary
    
       swap file doesn't take up any hard disk space when you're not running
    
       Windows.  If you need your free hard disk space for DOS applications
    
       outside of Windows, then a temporary swap file is best.
    
    
    
       A temporary swap file is a DOS file (WIN386.SWP) that is created on your
    
       hard disk when Windows loads.  It is deleted when you exit from Windows.
    
        When configuring virtual memory for a temporary swap file, the default
    
       recommended size is determined by 1) rounding the amount of available
    
       physical RAM to the nearest 4M, then multiplying that amount by 4, and 
    
       2) checking that no more than 50% of the available free hard disk space
    
       is used.
    
    
    
       When configuring virtual memory from the Control Panel, you can create a
    
       swap file smaller than the recommended size, but Windows will not allow
    
       you to exceed the recommended size.  If you wish to create a larger swap
    
       file than the recommended size, you can edit the SYSTEM.INI file to
    
       increase the free RAM multiplier.   To do this, add the following line
    
       to the [386enh] section of your SYSTEM.INI file:
    
    
    
               PageOverCommit=x.
    
    
    
       The default value for x is 4, which is the number used above.  The
    
       maximum value is 20.  Increasing this value beyond 4 can cause Windows
    
       performance to slow and should only be considered an option if adding
    
       physical RAM is impossible.  The swap file size can never exceed 50% of
    
    
    
       the available hard disk space regardless of the amount of physical RAM
    
       or the value set for PageOverCommit.
    
    
    
       Once you've set up virtual memory for a temporary swap file, a swap file
    
       of the requested size will be created every time Windows loads. 
    
       However, if the requested size swap file would use more than 50% of  the
    
       available hard disk space, the size is reduced to accommodate the 50%
    
       limit.  Windows does not warn you that it's creating a smaller swap
    
       file, so if disk space is low, and if you add files to the hard disk, be
    
       aware that your swap file size may be affected.  If the swap file size
    
       falls below 512K, performance will be seriously impaired.
    
    
    
       Because temporary swap files can be created from non-contiguous hard
    
       disk space, Windows may allow you to create a larger temporary swap file
    
       than if you created a permanent swap file on the same system with the
    
       same amount of free hard disk space.
    
    
    
       Temporary swap files are deleted when you close Windows, so a temporary
    
       swap file doesn't take up any hard disk space when you're not running
    
       Windows.  Permanent swap files are permanently allocated hidden files
    
       created in a contiguous section of your hard disk.  They are never
    
       deleted so they continue to take up space even when Windows is not
    
       running.  The recommended size for a permanent swap file is calculated
    
       using the same methods given above for a  temporary swap file.
    
    
    
       However, because permanent swap files must be created from contiguous
    
       hard disk space, the recommended size that is shown in the Control
    
       Panel's virtual memory setup may be smaller than the recommended maximum
    
       size for a temporary swap file.  If the recommended size allowed in the
    
       Virtual Memory dialog box seems small, exit from Windows and run a
    
       defragmentation utility program on your hard disk before creating a
    
       permanent swap file.  (Delete any existing permanent swap file and
    
       unload any disk cache programs before defragmenting the drive.)
    
    

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