[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: Best -applzone parameter
>>>>> "Peter" == Peter D Cherry <cherry@clou9.net> writes:
Peter> Dear executor users I have used executor dos under 6.22 and
Peter> more recently under windows 95 on a 486 PC with 16 meg ram.
Peter> It is suggested in the FAQ to use an -applzone switch to
Peter> increase memory, so I have given various amounts 4M, 6M, 8M
Peter> etc. Although NIH-IMAGE works fine with any of these value
Peter> and also the default, some important applications like
Peter> aperion and Mong Pong actually slow down when I allocate
Peter> more memory. Anybody got a clue?
If Executor runs out of "physical memory" (actual RAM), then it will
start using some of your hard disk space as extra memory. Since hard
disks are much slower than RAM, using your hard disk for temporary
storage can slow Executor down a lot.
When you specify a bigger -applzone, that causes a greater fraction of
Executor's memory to be temporarily stored on disk at any given time
(assuming not enough RAM is available to hold it all). That, in turn,
causes Executor to spend a greater fraction of its time accessing the
drive, and so it runs more slowly.
I wouldn't expect this to be a problem on a 16M machine though. Win95
is using some of your RAM, and may not be making all of the remaining
RAM available to Executor. You may find that adjusting the Win95 DPMI
settings helps; I'm not sure. "executor -info" may give you some idea
how much RAM is available to Executor.
Note also that Executor requires memory above and beyond the
parameters you can specify on the command line.
-Mat
References: