useful programs.

[Monkey Hi Fi]

here are a few new programs or updates to some that i thought might help those here, with some errors i seen reported.

a network troubleshooter
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Wireshark_d4449.html


as the name says a ram speed tester.
http://www.majorgeeks.com/RAMspeed_d5992.html



roving cowboy / keith hall / monkey hi fi

[Kilmatead]

...as the name says a ram speed tester.

If you don't mind me saying so Cowboy, you seem to have an odd fixation on RAM oriented things (in other posts you've made references to "ram cleaners" which I had to google to figure out what you were on about). Judging from your (regular) signature you don't seem to be a hardware enthusiast (or if you are, you're a frustrated one ).

RAM is indeed a curious thing to play with, but once you've learned the essence of it, I've found it easier to adopt a "set-it-and-leave-it" attitude. For instance, when overclocking, CPU-z and the like (CoreTemp, et al) are extremely useful - but once you've found the most appropriate latencies, voltages, and FSB bandwidth's your system can tolerate... what more is there? Especially with DDR2 being so ridiculously cheap these days, it's easy enough to get some high-end stuff that'll happily run above 1200 MHz, beyond a few days studying stability issues, RAM doesn't dance and sing enough for sustainable entertainment. If you really need the speed, DDR3 is nice, but a but pricey yet.

As for "cleaning"... I just don't get it. I run 4GB (x64) just for fun, with so many bleedin' background things being greedy that a good 35% is in use just at idle - but with an overhead like 4GB (at decent speeds), it's irrelevant.

The point is, (even decent) RAM costs nothing these days, so anyone who keeps bumping their head off the ceiling just isn't trying very hard to solve their problem.

Unless of course you have darker more nefarious purposes behind your RAM interests, like using it to heat the coffee to corrupt the border guards to import cheap Mexican women (or liquor) for your friends...

Nuevo Laredo was a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't buy any RAM there. Candles, Slaves, or dead mystical chicken parts, yes, but not RAM.

(Just an observation. And no offence to the Mexican fraternity here. Well, maybe a little offence - I was once bitten by a mean little beastie there so I long bear a grudge against the country in general. ) I love going off-topic - even within Off Topic.

[Lowlander]

Although you are correct about RAM being cheap, laptop users are sometimes limited in their upgrade path. Even though RAM managers was a thing before Windows XP came around. Windows XP isn't too bad in managing RAM, so cleaners tend to have little benefit while adding more overhead for your PC.

You correct that RovingCowboy has a peculiar fetish for the RAM managers, but I think that stems from his long time use of Windows 98 where this was more common and often of benefit to the user.

[Kilmatead]

Fair enough, that's what I get for going walkabout "to find myself" in the years between DOS and Vista. I missed out on all the - um, how to put it - "innovations" Windows managed interregnum. Curious that some should choose to use OS's which are... well... decaying. It can't be for "functionality" as Linux happily supplies that niche with that obscure combination of the origin of species (Unix) and pretty (unfortunately) omnipresent foppery (Windows).

Usually laptops at least allow for memory module access - a little harder to find on the open market, perhaps, but any access means upgrades are possible. And if nothing else, Dell and Asus have shown that new hardware is affordable if need be, even to people who can't afford food (yes, an easy dig at OLPC).

And perhaps no small coincidence to illicit an unremanding response from the Mexican intelligentsia contingent. (I'm practising my alliterative prose.)

[Lowlander]

Well there are those that use an OS and many of them will choose Mac OS X or a Linux variant. Than there are those that use applications and many of them will use Windows. Lastly there are those that by a PC and they'll use whatever is on it which will probably be Windows.
Don't forget the alternatives aren't attractive for many as Mac OS X is expensive (requires Apple hardware) and Linux tells Windows users that they're stupid. Problems plague all systems, just look at the Mac OS patches and the Linux issues with drivers (not their fault though). And between all the marketing speak and the dirt slinging between all sides one wonders how bad Windows really is in comparison. Take the point of view that many argue that although Windows and security are worlds apart that security in other systems will also be an issue once they have enough users. This all has to do with attack surface as hackers and the like mostly work for economic gain.
I would wish for more compatibility between systems so users can use whatever they like and we can move on to more important issues instead of this petty fight about whose system is better (more secure).

I happily run Windows without many issues as it's about applications for me.

[Kilmatead]

Linux tells Windows users that they're stupid.

The Linux fanboys tell Windows users that they are stupid, which is unfortunate. Linux itself is fairly neutral, if defensive.

I would wish for more compatibility between systems

That's why God invented Virtualization. Not least typified by a recent experience with VirtualBox.

A fascinating technology, personally more interesting for how it's done (seamless realtime runtime integration) rather than what it accomplishes, but it has it's uses. People who don't know much about OS design implementation will just go "huh, that's neat"; however, others will be flabbergasted at the unbelievable simplicity of it's current form. I tried to do such things in the '80's (just for fun), but the tech just wasn't up to it then (on the PC level) so I just ripped apart a VAX in my head instead, and became confuzzeled beyond comprehension by concurrent programming.

Which led to a depression, nervous breakdown, disillusionment with modern life, and seeking enlightenment in a bottle on the streets of Dublin, but that's another story, and unrelated to Virtualization. (I think.)

...as it's about applications for me.

There's a thought in my head that perhaps you are an application, Lowlander: I bate and I bate, and still no sign that you have a sense of humour.

Sometimes you're even more pedantic than I am, which is scary. Tough armour plating, I guess.

[Lowlander]

Oh, I have a sense of humor, but I tend to take the forum serious, after all it's a place to help out and this is just discussing in good spirit.

[Kilmatead]

Oh, I have a sense of humor, but I tend to take the forum serious, after all it's a place to help out and this is just discussing in good spirit.

So when you hit 10,000 posts you're not likely to turn evilly subversive and generally make the predilections of the Matrix ring true?

I was kind of looking forward to that.

A sight to see.

[Lowlander]

haha

[rovingcowboy]

to answer ya'll i do have a fairly well known attachment to a good running system regardless of how many programs i need to keep it running.

but in the case of ram cleaners for winXp i have not really found one that works the way i want and does a good job. i don't need ram cleaners that much only when the hard drives are being used by background operating programs, while i am surfing or playing music, which is one way i find out if there is a memory leak in mediamonkey like those that were in a few updates back. the ram cleaner kept going off on a steady pace and that signals ram is being used up by one thing. mostly its a memory leak but there are other reasons, like real time anti spyware scans or real time anti virus scans.

also when doing work with image editors the larger images will be making this system crash if i don't use ram cleaning to keep enough clear to use the program, mostly it does it when painting different colors in the images.
but if loading a tiff or bmp that is huge, they will sometimes crash the program with out even doing anything to the image, unless the ram cleaner is on to keep it freed up.

but the old win98 believe me or not is really working good i got so many timed maintenance things on it that it is always being cleaned or having the errors fixed.

but this post is just along the lines of the others i did with program links. it is just that i have seen some errors posted by members and and when i see a new program that is along the lines of the cause of those errors, i post the new links here so they might be seen faster and might get the errors found and fixed for them.

which is why i posted the network troubleshooter program.
the ram cleaner was just an new one that promised something different.

as for my systems here being messed up like you thought might be the reason. they are not really messed up as it seems. there are some things that show up and toss a wrench in to the works but i get them fixed or found out and then find the fix for them on line. when i am not in the forums much you know i am either adding songs to the systems or making a new skin or some other personnel web page update, or something tossed a wrench in one or all of my systems and i am busy finding and fixing it.

this is a full time job with win98 gold, but not so much with winXp Pro.

as for lowlanders sense of humor he has one or else he could not put up with some of my postings like he does? and he has been here just a little longer them me so he's been withstanding them for a long long time.
as a matter of fact i think him and rusty and jiri were the first ones to answer my bug reports when i first joined.

[Eyal]

...as it's about applications for me.

There's a thought in my head that perhaps you are an application, Lowlander: I bate and I bate, and still no sign that you have a sense of humour.

So if he is an application, I think he's in the right topic, re. Useful programs.

[Lowlander]

lol

Fatal error in line 538

soiled myself laughing......