out of memory 3

[braddds]

My friends PC has been giving him this error (Out of Memory) as of late when tring to run some programs. He also has had trouble burning CD's and gets an error of "unable to steam data fast enough to the device"...or something like that, as I've never seen it! I've tried the following to correct:


(system OS winXP Pro doesn't have SP1 only downloaded as I was forced to re-install winxp over it's self)
1 checked installed ram -256 mb
2 checked disk space - 3 gb free space on primary (C:\)
3 Checked his swap file - was set at 2 1/2 x ram min/max
4 checked and disabled "safe" un-needed services (see

http://www.blackviper.com)

5 uninstalled any recently installed programs and re-installed his problem program (easy CD creator 5.x)
6 updated and ran spybot and ad aware
7 ran Startup Monitor (Mike Lin) to remove unneeded startup programs.
8 updated and scanned for viruses (NAV2002)
9 ran disk cleaner with all options, cleared prefetcher, dumped all internet files.
10 defragged hard drive.

I may have forgotten some other things...however he still gets an out of memory error when trying to send and email (when he can get in, that is - outlook express). Another thing that I noticed was in his processes his "explorer.exe" was huge - 71,000K +. Another problem is that he is on ADSL and I can't get a firewall to work, tried all the free ones and they either stop his internet access outright - configuring makes no difference or I have to tweak-it after each boot to allow access again...and it's not like the settings change, I have to change them then change them back to their original and apply before access is granted...or in Zone Alarm's case access is never re-established until uninstall and re-install. These are programs I use myself (for years) without incident so I'm very familiar with them (Kerio, Zone Alarm, Sygate).

If there are any suggestions of things I haven't tried please post....otherwise I see nothing else but a wipe and clean install!


Cheers

 

[captdef]

Just to be clear about the reinstall of XP. Did you install XP non-SP1 over top of XP w/ SP1? If so, have you reapplied SP1?

If not, I recommend that be the first thing you do. Doing a repair with the original XP over top of an install with SP1 can cause a world of issues. You're going to have mismatched system files all over the place. Just because it repairs doesn't seem to put everything back to square one from what I've seen.


Regards,
Ty

 

[linney]

A visit to the Windows Update site may help.



Either of these will check out his RAM for errors.

http://www.memtest86.com/

http://oca.microsoft.com/en/windiag.asp

To get further information about the error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on this site.

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr.../prodtechnol/winxppro/support/EE_winxppro.asp

Some general things to try.


Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem with Memory in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.

HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

If they don't work you could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.

How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[bcastner]

I am a little troubled that explorer.exe is 71+ Megabytes in size.

Along with everything else recommended above, doing at least two online virus scans seems wise. faq760-3862

 

[linney]

I was wondering if the high reading of Explorer could be tied in with the old problems involving corrupt AVI or MP3 files.

Problem: Windows Explorer excessive CPU usage.
thread779-453406

 

[braddds]

Thanks all

captdef...I am aware that the SP1 re-install is required I just didn't have time to complete the repair...re-install of winxp over itself and SP1, this will however be a priorty when I get back to his PC. The real problem for me is that these errors were occuring before this measure was taken...but you're right, I will complete the SP1 update!

linney...I know I didn't mention it but I did do an error check and sfc /scannow - before the reinstall - and niether showed problems. I also looked at the Event Viewer but am not tech savy enough to decipher the info...will post any relevent problems later. Didn't try the "safe mode" to check the programs...can you connect to the internet or burn CD's when in safe mode?...will try this also! Thanks for the other links will check out the memory and device drivers...did use the info from the inplace upgrade to re-install of XP. Will get back later with more info.

bncaster...yeah, that got my attention right away! It seemed to get fixed (well, it droped to 18000k anyway) when I did the re-install but it seems to have increased again...will try an online scan and see if that reveals anything!



Cheers

 

[bcastner]

Last note: the out of memory error could be coming from your TCP/IP stack. Repair the Winsock service:

http://members.shaw.ca/techcd/VB_Projects/WinsockFix.zip

This will help with the firewalls.

 

[linney]

You can use Safe Mode with Networking option. In XP I don't think you can access CD-ROM Drives from Safe Mode.

 

[Snickle]

I have 2 Internet Explorer windows open and iexplore.exe is showing at 33,340K in Processes and explorer.exe is at 8854K. With Windows Explorer open, explorer.exe is at 12,104K.

 

[braddds]

OK,I was able to get the system up and running with the following:
Checked the Event Viewer and found dozens of error but was unable to open then to discover more. Tried to run check disk...no go! Tried to open the links provided on this thread and found that the links wouldn't open??? Installed SP1 then did a diagnostic startup with msconfig. Was able to run OE and internet but unable to connect to internet...of course. Changed the diagnostic startup to normal and was able to run all programs but some slowdowns were evident. Disabled some unneeded startup items and rebooted. Updated and ran ad aware found 39 bugs (data miners and such) and removed them. Downloaded from other computer and ran the Winsock fix and started up Kerio Firewall...successfully! Rebooted and opened IE and OE both worked as designed. Burned a CD...no errors! Next did a full image with True Image...as everything is working without errors! Only time will tell if all will remain working!

Thanks All...Stars all around!

Cheers