Recovery
This feature can recover RAM by swapping out unused parts (e.g. from inactive or crashed software) to hard disk. Instead of periodic recovery you can also use this feature on demand by right clicking the Tray Icon and launching the Recover memory now menu item or by enabling the Recovery memory now hotkey on the Options page.
Enabled
When turned on Cacheman will periodically try to recover memory.
Try to recover every xx minutes
This is the time amount between the recovery tries. This value depends greatly on your computer usage but should not be lower than 30 minutes.
If free memory is below
Cacheman will only perform the recovery process if the available memory is below this value. It makes no much sense to recover memory if a significant amount is still available. (The minimal limit value can be overridden in Cacheman.ini - add MaxBelow=xxx to [Recovery] section).
Memory amount
It's important to not choose a too large value here as this would free up data that could be needed within the next minutes by some applications. Only a good chosen amount ensures performance enhancements. Novice users should use the automatic setting for best results. Both the automatic setting and maximal user defined values are calculated according to your installed RAM amount. (The maximal manual value can be overridden in Cacheman.ini - add MaxAmount=xxx to [Recovery] section).
Example
Try to recover every 40 minutes
Memory below value: 20 MBytes
Memory amount value: 10 MBytes
Cacheman will contantly check if memory is below 20 MBytes and recover every 40 minutes. Assuming 15 MBytes were available Cacheman will try to recover 10 MBytes. On success you should get 25 MBytes free RAM.
Do not recover on high CPU usage
This setting is highly recommended. Cacheman will not try to recover memory when your CPU is doing some heavy work (e.g. when your are playing a game). If Cacheman detects high CPU Usage it will postpone the recovery.
Do not recover on high disk activity
This setting is similar to the CPU Usage setting, but it measures high hard disk activity instead. Highly recommended. If Cacheman detects high disk activity it will postpone the recovery.
Recover on startup
Cacheman will try to recover memory immediately after program start.
Change Tray Icon when recovering
If checked, the Tray Icon will change when Cacheman is performing a Memory recovery operation.
Extreme recovery mode
If you turn on this setting Cacheman will try to recover memory in 2 steps instead of 1. It should free more RAM, but the recovery process will be slower, so we do not recommend this setting for the average user!
Status
Cacheman will output some status information into this box like the amount of successfully recovered memory after a recovery try.
Optimization
Unload DLLs from memory
Windows automatically unloads DLLs when the usage count is zero, but only after the DLLs have not been used for a period of time. This inactive period might be unacceptably long at times and cause performance slow downs on low memory systems. Enable this option to disable Windows holding the DLLs in memory.
Conservative Swap File Usage
The PageFile Call Async Manager feature in Windows 98-ME allows the Memory Manager to asynchronously write out swap file buffers during VFAT idle times. This results in more free memory, but causes permanent HD activity even if no application is in memory. To disable this HD activity you have to turn Conservative swap file usage on. This is recommended if you have at least 256 MBytes of RAM and are using Cacheman's Memory Recovery feature.
Limit available RAM to 512 MBytes
This setting limits total available RAM to 512 MBytes. Windows 95,98 and ME does officially support 512 MBytes at all, with more installed RAM it can become very unstable. If you are using multiple operating systems on your computer and have due to this usage more than 512 MBytes installed it is recommended to check this setting. Windows 95,98 or ME gets no real advantages of more than 512 MBytes anyway.