METZ FreeMem version 4.21 May 13, 1991 METZ Software Sales & Support (206) 641-4525 P.O. Box 6042 Fax (206) 644-6026 Bellevue, Wa., 98008-0042, U.S.A. GEnie: A.METZ Compuserve: [73567,1637] Overview METZ FreeMem is a Windows 3.0 utility which will display and monitor the percentage of free system resources and the amount of free memory available. With FreeMem you can monitor your Windows memory usage and avoid "Out of memory" messages. Version 4.2 Update Notes Memory used for system resources often gets fragmented or broken up into many chunks consisting of occupied space and free space used for resources. It was possible that FreeMem 4.1 was inaccurate if the resource space was heavily fragmented. This version should be very accurate, especially after a long Windows session involving many applications. Freemem now displays the percentages of User and Graphics Device Interface resources free in the configuration dialog. Double click on FreeMem or press F1 after switching to FreeMem to access the configuration dialog. ** Memory, Resources, Windows, and You Memory under Windows is comprised of real and virtual memory. Real memory is comprised of the base memory up to 640K (655,360 bytes). Virtual memory is a combination of extended memory and the memory which is swapped to disk by Windows. You can increase virtual memory by increasing the amount of extended memory you have and/or by increasing the size of your Windows swapfile. (See your Windows users guide for more information on the swapfile.) Since memory prices have dropped so much recently, it is advisable to install at least 4K of memory on your system, more is better. FreeMem displays the amount of free memory on the right portion of its window. Besides memory, applications also use system resources. Windows has a limitation on the amount of system resources available, and this limitation generally causes the "Out of memory" error when several applications are loaded and the system resource usage limit has been reached. Since the amount of memory available for system resources is limited, you will usually run out of system resources before running out of memory. FreeMem displays the percentage of free system resources on the left portion of its window. The memory available for system resources consist of two 64K pools, one for the User Interface, the other for the Graphics Device Interface, for a total of 128K memory. We have a growing concern about the number of Windows applications which are using extraordinary amounts of resources and memory. As users and developers we need to police application resource and memory usage to prevent further "Out of memory" messages. Remember when 640K was supposed to be plenty of memory? If we're not careful, 4096K won't be enough before long! You can determine application resource and memory usage using METZ FreeMem as follows: 1. Configure FreeMem to Check Memory every 1 second. 2. Configure FreeMem to Compact Memory every 1 second. 3. Close any unnecessary applications. 4. Note the percentage of resources and amount of memory free displayed by FreeMem. 5. Run the application to be tested. 6. Note the change in resources and free memory. 7. Close the application. 8. Check to see if the resource and free memory amount returned to the level of that noted in Step 4. Using the above procedure you can determine several things about the application in question. First of all, the amounts displayed in Step 8 should match those of Step 4. If not, the application is not cleaning up used memory like it should. Second, if the application uses an extraordinary amount of resources and/or memory noted in Step 6, it better have a good reason! We ran a simple test comparing different applications and observed the following: Resources used Memory used Program Manager 15%+ 17K MSDOS Executive 1% 34K Microsoft Excel 2.1c 9% 11K METZ Task Manager 5% 33K METZ Desktop Navigator 2% 35K METZ Desktop Manager 3% 32K These values will vary from system to system depending on their configuration, but well behaved applications are essential for optimal use of your system and software, so don't hesitate to question your developers about unusual resource and/or memory usage! The percentage of system resources free displayed by FreeMem may vary slightly from that of the Program Manager. Our calculation is more precise because it takes into account even the smallest blocks of free memory available for system resources. For normal use under Windows, set your FreeMem options as follows: 1. Configure FreeMem to Check Memory every 3 to 5 seconds. 2. Disable the Compact Memory option. ** Configuration options Check memory every ## seconds: FreeMem will calculate the amount of memory available every ## seconds. Compact memory every ## seconds: FreeMem will tell Windows to compact memory every ## seconds. This is useful when you wish to see how much memory a particular application requires. Check the amount of memory displayed before and after an application is run to see how much memory it consumes. When Windows compacts memory, is frees up blocks of memory no longer being used by an application. These blocks are kept in memory for performance reasons, so the Compact option may decrease your system performance. Some users have reported better system performance with the Compact option enabled. Invert Window: Choose Invert Window to display white text on a black background. This looks good with screen savers or a black desktop background. Stay in front: Select this option if you want FreeMem to always be visible and in front of any other application. ** Application notes - If EMS is detected the amount free is displayed along with conventional memory free. A plus sign separates conventional from expanded, with expanded on the right. Note, Windows does not recognize expanded memory in Enhanced mode, so this value will never be displayed. - FreeMem will keep itself on top of other windows so that it is always visible. (Unless the Stay in front option is deselected.) - With the left mouse button, click and drag FreeMem to move it to the desired location on your screen. This position will be stored in the current FREEMEM.INI for subsequent startups. (The default startup position is the upper left corner of your screen.) - Add FreeMem to the LOAD or RUN line of your WIN.INI. - As a Windows applications developer I have found FreeMem to be a useful tool for detecting memory managment problems within applications. Since FREEMEM remains visible, tracking memory usage is simplified. - As a Windows user, I am concerned about the amount of memory that some applications use under Windows. Now that Windows 3.0 has opened up the amount of memory available, it seems that some applications are taking free reign with their memory usage. So, guess what? It won't be long before 4 meg won't be enough memory! A reasonable amount of memory for an average application to use is 10-30K. ** -Non-mouse windows users can interact with FreeMem. When FreeMem has the input focus the following function keys work: (Alt+Tab to shift focus between windows, since FreeMem has no caption bar it is difficult to tell if it does have the focus, see the Microsoft Windows Users Guide for more info.) F1 - displays the about box, which contains configuration options. ALT+F7 - allows you to move FreeMem with the keyboard arrow keys, press enter when done. ALT+F4 - closes FreeMem. Mouse users: FreeMem can be moved with a click and drag motion. The right mouse button clicked on FreeMem will close it. A double click on the FreeMem window will display the About box containing configuration options. Payment for FreeMem is optional and completely up to you regarding an amount. ** Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent any commitment on the part of METZ Software. No warranties of any kind are associated with this product. Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, and help make this application a better product. METZ Software currently has several applications available for Microsoft Windows 2.x and 3.0. Please contact us at the above location for more information.