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I'm working with a QuickBooks add-on that requires a GREAT deal of memory to run. Problem is, QuickBooks is calculating available memory based on "free" memory as listed in RAMMAP. I've got 64GB on the machine, and RAMMAP is showing that 59GB of that memory is "Zeroed" and about 4GB of that memory is "Free".

Is this normal? Is there a way to increase the "Free" memory so that it can be utilized by the QuickBooks application? I have read hundreds of articles on increasing the memory usage for QuickBooks, and I'm at an iron wall here.

Any ideas?

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    Really? You have 59GB of RAM?
    – BenjiWiebe
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 20:05
  • 64. 59 is free. Looks like no answer.
    – FurryWombat
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 21:53
  • zeroed is free. you probably need a better way to determine what QB is seeing, or what it is even capable of using.
    – Psycogeek
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 21:53
  • Appears as though QuickBooks "Enterprise" edition is a far cry from a true definition of enterprise-level software. Since the move from 12 to 13, and now 14, still no fix, the backwards use of memory is just appalling.
    – FurryWombat
    Commented Jul 15, 2014 at 22:25
  • Wow! What kind of computer do you have anyways??
    – BenjiWiebe
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 2:03

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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This is normal and fine. Before Windows is using free memory it must be overridden by zeros. This is done by the MmZeroPageThread function of the kernel. That's why the value for zero is so large.

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  • While this doesn't solve my problem, it does confirm that the memory is in fact free, and the limitation is based in hard-coded application-level caching with QuickBooks. I've taken this up with Intuit more times than I can count. Time to try again :) Thanks for the tip!
    – FurryWombat
    Commented Jul 16, 2014 at 13:55
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There are ways around the standard cache settings in QBES as per the Sleeter Blog and the QBES KB, which vary according the the version number you're running.

Version 12 and below has a cache fix tool to download and run on your server, then reboot.

Version 13 and above,

  • make sure you have the latest release
  • open (Windows Vista and later, C:\ProgramData\Intuit\QBW.ini) (XP or Server 2003, C:\Document and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Intuit\QBW.ini) with a text editor
  • Preserve the original version with a .BAK extension

  • Add these three lines in a new section

    • [DBSERVEROPTIONS]
    • InitialCache=256
    • MaxCache=0

  • Save the file, and close the editor.

  • turn off Hosting from the file menu and turn it back on. This will disconnect any user's sessions that are running at the time.

See step six in the aforementioned article for instructions if the server is running the Database Manager only.

The QuickBooks family of applications are written as 32-bit applications, and therefore the most they can use is 4GB. Many programming companies do this, as 32-bit code is faster, uses less RAM when in use, and will work on a 64-bit OS (whereas 64-bit applications will not run on a 32-bit OS). It also cuts the cost of programming and documentation, as only one code base needs to be maintained and distributed.

Now, if your OS is 64-bit (which you did not specify, but which I infer) Windows and other apps will not compete with the 4GB slice used by QuickBooks, so that's to the good. If you ever deal with a 32-bit version of Windows, there are ways you can get your PC to use more than 4GB, such as http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/windows-and-office/override-the-4gb-memory-barrier-on-32-bit-windows-81-systems/ and http://wj32.org/wp/2012/12/26/pae-patch-updated-for-windows-8/ .

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  • What really needs to happen here is for Intuit to finally get their stuff together and release a 64-bit version of the program for crying out loud. BTW, my solution to the "Out of Memory" error ended up being a simple one: stick a C battery sideways on the enter key until the process completes.
    – FurryWombat
    Commented Jan 23, 2015 at 14:16

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