Memory Usage?

Brand new M1330. Reading now on memory leak issues. Wanting to make sure I don't have this problem ASAP, hoping for further advice. (Searching finds me lots of 'old' posts so I am stuck here trying to decide what to do, LOL.)

I am seeing 35-53% physical memory used - generally staying at the 38% mark - with no added programs, removed some processes, uninstalled McAfee, never connected to internet, just sitting idle.
Seems high, but I can't find the right info. to help me determine if I've got a problem here or if this is normal. (I'd hate to pass the point of returning only to find out I have a serious memory leak or something. The usage seems high to me for brand new, worried if I do have a problem and start to use it intensively I'll wind up with memory issues? I will upgrade to 4GB, but for now with the potential issues I want to make sure the system is in full working order before installing the new RAM and HDD, which I'll do via clone so as to not bother with more driver issues.)

I have the integrated x3100 Intel graphics, and the A11 BIOS, with the driver version 7.14.10.1409 (1/2/08). (Unsure if I should go to A12, or if I'd end up with other/worse issues as a result, also searching I found I might need to back to 7.14.1253 dated in 07?)

This brought all of this to my attention. Found a couple more threads via google, but nothing making me confident in how to fix the problem or how to determine if you really have a problem or not.

Slight disclaimer: I am in no way out to call my M1330 a dud, but dang ... with the amount of money and how much I want it to be extremely useful for school/fun (word/excel/access, web design, basic photo editing, watching movies, surfing the web, etc. etc) and last a couple of years ... it's just worth making sure I have no serious issues with it from the get-go. It's the only 13.3"/light laptop in my budget with a good processor and total warranty factored in, so I'm really *really* hoping all is well but I don't just want to ignore any potential flags and be really upset and out of the $ later.

 

Windows memory consumption depends on which OS you use and how much memory you have installed. The more memory you install, the more memory Windows will use for caching:



Vista makes use of "unused" memory much more than XP. It uses the memory for various caches: SuperFetch, Harddisc cache, ...

By the way: Memory leaking is defined as an application (or driver or just any software), which eats more and more memory by the time without adding value (e.g. storing more images ...). You don't have the tools to detect those kinds of memory leaks easily.

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Regarding the memory corruption: The intel thread mentions a tool which will tell you whether you have memory corruption or not:
http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

I bet you do given the driver that is installed and the BIOS you have.

 

On a fresh boot, my vista ultimate uses 1.06GB. That's with the Dreamscene enabled. Otherwise, it will run lower. I don't know much about computers, but just posting my figure to help yourself decide if yours is normal.

 

Gosh, +1 for you. Thank you for helping me out, that was very clear and helpful. I didn't realize how much Vista used up - I was SURE it was too much to be related to the OS.

Time to jump onto the web with the new laptop! I will try MemTest. Then probably go back to the older driver. Then try MemTest again. And then decide if I need A12. I will have to research A12, though ... updating the BIOS is something I'd rather not do often unless it's really necessary/helpful.

With all this ... say I have this issue and fix it with driver and/or bios update ... has irreversible damage (memory corruption) already been done? Since it's *brand new* if there's irreversible damage here, I wonder if I need to be sending this one back for a replacement or anything...you hate to pay so much and end up with things starting out crappier than it should be, LOL.

Yes, that does help I clearly underestimated what a hog Vista really is.

 

UPDATE:

MediaDirect, HotKeys (except brightness), and Wi-Fi Catcher were all "broken" on my new M1330. (They worked once or twice then *poof* - useless.) Dell Factory Restore gave the same results I assume this was part of this memory and data issue. So I went ahead with finding out if I was affected, and sure enough.

MemTest, found instant/repeated problems.
Installed trusted driver, flashed to A12 BIOS.
MemTest ran again with no errors for an hour (just over 100%)
sfc /scannow found corrupt files
Dell Factory Restore
Instantly installed trusted driver from CD once booted
sfc /scannow found corrupt files again - is this OK??

Any suggestions how to deal with the corrupted files the scan found? The text file won't let me open it, even in different text editors and giving everyone full permission. It's extremely frustrating. I don't know WHAT is corrupt so I don't know if this matters at all!!

I hope A12 won't make the fan be on at all times for a x3100 user (integrated)? This is one thing I'm dreading after reading posts, but if it means solving the data corruption then I am probably sticking to it ... unless A11 with the right driver works too?

The issues I first had, the odd ones I had noticed, are off and on now. Fine with the first restart, not with the next. What the hell. I am really frustrated with this. I am going to bed before I give up.

 

You can fix corrupted windows files this way:
. open a command prompt with administrator rights
. type:
SFC /SCANNOW

It will check the integrity of your Windows installion and update all files in case it finds corrupt ones.

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Regarding fan noise with A12 BIOS: I would expect this to apply to GeForce 8400M GS. Fan control for X3100 should be completely different and there should be hardly a difference between A11/A12, but I didn't test very much.

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If you install BIOS <= A11 then you have to stick to old intel drivers as mentioned in that thread.
If you install BIOS >= A12 you may install more recent ones and I recommend installing the very latest one v15.9.

The changelog for the graphics driver is really huge! Here's a partial list only up to driver revision v15.6 and this one is already very long http://downloadmirror.intel.com/12091/ENG/GFX_Vista32_15.6.0.1322_PV_Intel_relnotes_gfx.htm

Besides performance improvesments, there's a lot of compatibility improvements. Regardings Games (HW T&L, DirectX 10) and in video playback. Also if you ever attach an external display to the HDMI port compatibility has been greatly improved.

I really encourage you to install A12 BIOS and latest intel driver. There's no need to install and use (1253) driver when having A12 BIOS. I can't say much about the other issues you have.

 

I did that, what I meant is after it finishes it says it found corrupt files and tells me where to find the text file explaining which ones. That file can't be opened for some obnoxious reason, even if all rights are given to all users, and if I try to open in a few different programs (EditPad Lite, NotePad, WordPad, Adobe). Access denied across the board.

Good to hear I know I'll be able to tell within a day or so of normal use - but tonight it's been running more intense so the fan is turning on, expected. (I will add, this thing is surprisingly cool feeling despite all the stuff.)

I appreciate that, I didn't catch that you didn't need the old driver. I have A12, so I will go back and update the driver.

 

Maybe I'm being really stupid here, but isn't this a newer driver?
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...-1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=6&fileid=244176
It's dated 08, whereas that v15.9 link showed me 07.

My computer came with 7.14.10.1409 and A11 BIOS. I wonder if I need to have A12 with the 1409, or take the one you mentioned dated earlier from a random site (the link has no download).

Drivers still confuse me a bit - it's hard to make sure you get the right one(s). :/ It seems like there are pros/cons to each update, so I'm trying to be careful given I have some issues. I'll prob. go call Dell in a bit about my other problems, and to ask if this corruption issue has already done irreversible damage of any concern if I'm going to do a clone and switch my HDD. (I'm wondering if I'd just be free of the damaged bits on the new HDD? Or if it's screwed up my Vista or software beyond help in ways I haven't quite noticed yet.)

 

Dell notes as release date 3/28/2008. But in fact it's this one:

7.14.10.1409 (v15.7.3) dated 01/11/2008

And the one I was linking from Intel is this one:

7.15.10.1472 (v15.9) dated 04/25/2008 ( Download link for 32 Bit Vista)

It's not hard to tell which one is more uptodate. In fact only the latter one has DirectX 10 support. Dell's version doesn't.

This combination of BIOS and driver is broken. Despite that fact that dell is currently shipping this combination. I've been done a lot of testing and I wrote a lot of e-mails to Dell. Unfortunately I only reached the BIOS engineering team and not the manufactoring team. That's why for the time being they are shipping broken stuff.

You can see that it's broken by reading the first two postings in the intel thread:
http://softwarecommunity.intel.com/isn/Community/en-US/forums/thread/30250940.aspx

This will cost Dell thousands of dollars due to returned notebooks (they corrupt data and people will notice). Most people are not very technically skilled and they will get motherboard, harddisc, dvd writer, memory exchanged and nothing will help. Well - maybe at the time of the motherboard exchange they will update the BIOS.

The corruption is just software: It changes your data such that you can't read it anymore, but it doesn't do any harm to hardware. If you install new or overwrite files, everything is fine.

Please call Dell. Here's a shorter URL such that you can tell them on the phone about the corruption issue:
http://tinyurl.com/6rje2e
I'm pretty sure Dell service and technical department is not aware of this issue yet. The fix has been provided by another team and information doesn't flow automatically inside a company.

P.S: Update to A12 BIOS and you are fine. I do know the pros and cons of most of the different drivers and BIOS version. But I won't repeat and explain that information in this individual thread which is scattered all over the world in some threads. In that respect I just give you the adwise to update.

 

I'm pretty sure 38% is fine for having Vista. I'm staying at 37% running Home Premium, and my dad's m1210 runs at 36% (running Home Premium). Not to be a jerk, but I think you were fine before you tried all this. Remember, if you look for faults, you'll probably end up finding faults, no matter how good the machine is. That said, about the wi-fi catcher and hotkeys; make sure Dell QuickSet is on. Those things are controlled by the two. Otherwise, if you continue to fail with drivers and all, don't hesitate to call Dell; they won't hesitate to offer you a replacement machine.

 

Not knowing isn't always best. I consider data corruption a large fault. If I were to return, this would be the biggest reason. I think it's so stupid that you pay top dollar for a great laptop and have to deal with that.

I've got QuickSet working just fine, with everything properly enabled. I've done Dell Factory Restalls, tried different drivers, tried reinstallation, tried different settings ... nothing has helped the wi-fi catcher or the hotkeys, or the Media Direct, which renders the laptop useless until you remove the battery.

 

You can also try running the Check Disk utility; open the command prompt and type in "chkdsk c:". This is how I fixed a file corruption on another computer. If it says something about not being able to check the disk while Windows is being used, put in the Vista DVD, reboot, boot from the disk, and run the chkdsk utility from there. Hope this helps a little.

 

Alaska: you can view the CBS.log file by copying it to your desktop and opening it there. Search for "cannot repair."

sfc /scannow has repeatedly found autochk.exe to be corrupt and unfixable for me. This has been after numerous clean installs. Interestingly, after one clean install, I did a scannow and no integrity problems were found. I then finished by installing the media direct files and started getting corrupt autochk.exe files. Perhaps the corrupt autochk.exe files are coming from the media direct partition?