Is there anyway in XP to find out what's using up my memory, besides what Task Manager says?

If I TOTAL up the memory being used as is listed in Task Manager 'processes', and the total comes to 200mb, when I check in the 'performance' tab, it TELLS me PF usage is over 500mb, and that usage seems to be confirmed by the slow processing, as I only have 512mb ram.

How do I find what's using all this memory?

I've defragged, run AV, and Spybot, and unplugged my DSL to see if it was an external drain, but it's still the same.

Any suggestions would help. ThanksPF refers to "page file" (virtual memory), so it has nothing to do with your "real" RAM usage.
RAM usage depends mostly on number of startups and a number of open programs.
Surely another 512MB of RAM would help.

As for startups...

Download Autoruns for Windows: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
No installation required.
Simply UNZIP Autoruns.zip file, and double click on autoruns.exe file to run the program.
Go File>Save, and save it as AutoRuns.txt file to know location.
You must select Text from drop-down menu as a file type:



Attach the file to your next reply.


Thanks Broni, I finally had a chance to do as you suggested.

the report is attached.

[Saving space, attachment deleted by admin]It looks like you're running two firewalls, PCTools and ZoneAlarm. This is not a good idea. You have to uninstall one of them.
In fact, since, you don't have that much of RAM, I'd uninstall both of them and I'd turn Windows firewall on.
I'd also uninstall Spybot, which is know for slowing computers down.
As better alternatives, you can use:
- Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware (trial VERSION is fully functionable): http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
- SUPERAntiSpyware Free Edition: http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html


Now, let's disable some unnecessary startups (no actual programs will be removed.

Re-run Autoruns, click on "Logon" tab and UN-check following entries:

+ "eSnips"
+ "HP Software Update"
+ "HPBootOp"
+ "PCDrSmartMonitor"
+ "SunJavaUpdateSched"
+ "TkBellExe"
+ "Microsoft Find Fast.lnk"
+ "Office Startup.lnk"
+ "Uniblue ProcessQuickLink 2"

Restart computer.

Download Temp File Cleaner (TFC)
Double click on TFC.exe to run the program.
Click on START button to begin cleaning process.
TFC will close all running programs, and it may ask you to restart computer.
Well, right out of the gate, I tried to uninstall ZA, it says it can't locate dll library and specifies 'vsutil.dll (WSEInit) could not be found', even though I found the file in the ZA folder twice, both in the diagnostics and the repair sub folders.

I get the same message if I try to uninstall through 'add and remove' or the ZA uninstall tool.Try Revo: http://www.revouninstaller.com/
If it still doesn't work, we'll find other ways.Just a bump to thank Broni.  Revo worked fine. System response has improved and I think I'm getting the best I can expect without additional ram.

PF usage has dropped, but still at 460mb.I'm glad, it worked and thanks for posting back Is it possible for a computer to have enough RAM so that there is no need for virtual memory? Quote from: Doug on March 13, 2010, 09:02:21 AM

Is it possible for a computer to have enough RAM so that there is no need for virtual memory?