Having trouble: Adding RAM with a USB memory stick to a Windows XP desktop that has 4GB installed

68 running processes consuming nearly all but 175MB of your installed RAM, it all depends on what your do with the computer but I would say that you need to do some more trimming.

There are six critical system services, Windows XP needs these services to start and run properly.  These critical processes cannot be killed, killing them would end the Windows session:

• Csrss.exe (Client/Server Runtime Server Subsystem)
• Lsass.exe (Local Security Authority Subsystem Service)
• Smss.exe (Session Manager Subsystem)
• RpcSs (Remote Procedure Call Server Service)**
• Winlogon.exe (Windows logon process)
• services.exe (Windows Service Controller)

** RpcSs runs inside one of the SvcHost.exe.  RpcSs is not critical in its own right and strictly speaking Windows XP can run without it but hardly anything runs without it.

These are the 6 critical NT processes, without these 6 items things don't work too well!  Along with that the Task Manager would show:

• System (the kernel or kernel-mode threads)
• System Idle Process (Not a process or service but a single thread that runs on each processor, its sole task is to account for processor idle time or time spent doing nothing.)

There you have it, the minimum 8 items that will or should always show in the Task Manager, add the Task Manager itself to the list and it will give you 9 processes.

By no means does this mean that you should be running your Windows installation with these bare processes, (you most likely shouldn't), it simply tells you that many processes running on computers are not critical or necessary in the real sense and that you can do away with almost everything running except for the above mentioned processes.  Somewhere in there between 9 processes that will always show in the Task Manager and the 68 that you have running 59 of them or so could be turned off and your Windows installation would still run properly!  If you think about this it will allow you to get a better handle on the situation and it will help you make some of your decisions with more confidence.

There are no right or wrong number of processes or services that you should have running on your computer but having so many of them running that they consume all the available memory is not good practice, if you don't use them or need them turn them off.  Only you know what you use the computer for and what is convenient and helpful for you so you will have to decide what to keep and what you can do away with.  A machine with fewer processes and services running is easier to maintain and troubleshoot, less possibilities of things going wrong and less stuff to weed through when things do go wrong.  Once you get things weeded out keep an eye on your running processes, make it a habit of taking a look at the process list after you boot the machine and get familiar with the list.  If you get your list down to 20 processes and all of a sudden after you boot the machine there are 21 then investigate, what is the new process and why is it running?  Is it something you want or need?  Or is it a virus or other such pest?

Keep in mind that almost every program that you install will want to add itself or one of it's components somewhere in a startup location, keep an eye on this an if you don't need these programs to start go in the programs options and turn them off, only use tools like Autoruns to turn these items off if you cannot do it in the program itself.  Also keep an eye on the running services, some programs start unnecessary services and often times these services spawn other services or processes that run for nothing.  The advantage of turning these unwanted items off in the programs rather than in Autoruns is that the better programs will also properly turn off other related processes or services which may be starting at boot time.

John

Screenshot after removing some Services/Programs:

Yes, sir.

I remembered you writing that. That is exactly why I went back after changing my mind for the better.

The matched set of 2GB cards which he had, may have been fine for me, but I just think the 533MHz vs. 800MHz was a grade lower, AND being on a low budget as it is, the $50 was $12-15 more than I planned on spending on RAM, plus, I don't really need two cards.

So, I will get an identical Patriot card from Tiger, or a spec-identical Crucial.

I should start another "Question" thread, as I am having major difficulties with one of my laptops with Windows 7. It is acting strange... Maybe a Restore is in order.

To take advantage of dual channels the modules must have the exact same specifications, the modules must be identical to each other to perform correctly, the easiest way to ensure this is to buy modules from the same manufacturer.  Modules from different manufacturers will work if the specs are identical but not all RAM is created equally and sticking to the same brand assures better results.

You can mix modules with different speeds and latencies, the motherboard will automatically detect this and run at the lowest speed and latency.  Mixing voltages is just plainly a bad idea and an invitation for trouble.

John

Thanks! I will be careful, for sure.

I'll check out those resources, even if dated. Obviously, Win XP is dated.

I nearly bought RAM today, and almost created a minor disaster.

I checked with my former rebuild guy, and he is no longer doing it, and has no memory cards left.

I checked with two local PC repair stores for RAM.

One wanted $46 for a 2GB card like mine.

I called the other shop, and was told that they had a pair of 2GB DDR2 RAM cards with identical specs to what I currently have. Good brand, heat sinks. $50 for the set, out of the package.

I was driving away from the shop when I noticed that the guy gave me 1GB cards, so I had to go back.

The 2GB cards he thought he had like mine were different specs, 533MHz, as opposed to 800MHz, and mine is 6400. I think his were 5200... something else was different, too, like the voltage maybe. 

He said they would be fine, but I just didn't think they were the same. (Obviously the two that he had were matched to each other, no doubt). They just seemed a step down from what I have.

So, he said, well, you can have those for 50, or I will do one for 30. (He originally said that he was asking $32 for each of the 2GB cards when we first agreed on 50 for the pair).

I said okay, I'll take one, knowing that it was different than what I currently have. He said if it doesn't work for me, he'll gladly refund.

I was driving away, and the further away I got, the worse I felt about it.

"I just paid $30 (cash, no tax, no shipping, no wait) for a 2GB RAM card that doesn't match mine, with specs that do not match, that I believe to be a step down in performance even, when for only $5-8 more, and maybe 5 days wait, I can have an identical Patriot card or a near-identical Crucial card."

So, I went back, and got my $30 bucks back. (All $50, total actually).

Good news is that I returned two of the 16GB USB flash drives to Office Max, which I erroneously thought could be used as RAM (or ready boost) in my desktops! Lesson learned, there.

I have a 16GB stick that is opened, which I can use for storage (my 256MB one is full), and a 32GB stick which I can use for Ready Boost on one of my 2 laptops with Windows 7 (they were all on sale, at the time. 32G was $20, reg $50 and the 16GB were $10 reg $20)

So, the two 16GB mem sticks which I returned, will pay for the RAM.

The guy at the second shop said that he has some used machines, and that I could probably get a quad-core machine with 8GB RAM and Windows 7 for about what it would cost to change this machine over to 7. (Without him knowing exactly what processor I currently have, and what motherboard I have.)

I'll order a 2GB RAM from Crucial, or a Patriot from TigerDirect.