1

I installed a Windows XP x86 on my PC. But when I open the system information window in the System Summary tab, in the right-hand pane and at bottom the following are written:

Total Physical memory 768.00 MB Available Physical memory 270.41 MB !!

Why Available Physical memory is 270.41 MB please?

PS: My system is very slow and also very slower when start up. Isn't that less Available Physical memory the source of that slowness?

Improve this question
2
  • Please update your question with detailed information (make, model) of your CPU, GPU and motherboard.
    – Daniel B
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:42
  • OK but please wait some while. I'm installing new XP on that machine right now.
    – user3724662
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:43

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
0

The Operating System will always consume some amount of memory to do it's work and reserve some for caching data.

Furthermore, any programs that you might have installed and have components that load on startup will consume memory. Eg: Antivirus.

Memory is also consumed by the inbuilt graphics capabilities of your processor/motherboard.

The total amount consumed can also vary depending on how much RAM is currently available.

Finally, for a good example, I have a desktop system at home with 512 MB RAM but only 448MB is available as 64MB goes for inbuilt graphics. After booting, I have only about 80MB available and this gets used up really quickly once I open a browser, leading to slowdowns.

To boost performance significantly, perhaps you should consider upgrading your RAM.

Improve this answer
7
  • Thank you for the answer. So it's normal situation and I can't do anything (without adding more RAM) to increase the amount of available memory, yes?
    – user3724662
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:38
  • I'm afraid so. As a temporary measure however, you could try running CCleaner to remove junk files. Also it might be a good idea to optimize your startup. Just open Start->Run->msconfig and there, in the startup tab, sort by manufacturer and you will find unnecessary third-party programs like Adobe Reader Updater or Java Updater. Uncheck those and you will be prompted for a restart. These are just examples. Google the name of the programs and use your judgement to disable those that you don't need. One last thing that might help is regular defragmentation of your hard disk.
    – ValarMorghulis
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:45
  • OW. Thank you very much. I'm now installing a new XP on that. I do what you said. And please wait some while, after that I give your answer an answer vote.
    – user3724662
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:49
  • You're welcome. Keep us updated on your progress.
    – ValarMorghulis
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:50
  • After first start up of that new XP. the available RAM increased to 560 MB :)))).
    – user3724662
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 11:30
2

The motherboard might be using some of that memory as well as the onboard video card if there is any solded onto the motherboard

Improve this answer
1
  • So isn't it manipulatable to being able to increase that Available Physical memory?
    – user3724662
    Commented Jul 9, 2014 at 10:08
0
  • I assume your harddisk is working overtime as well ?
  • You can reduce memory usage. Firstly, install a program called CLEANMEM (from PcWinTech) and let the program also collapse the filecache. Reduced memory usage also means that Win XP doesn't need to access the harddisk that often. It improves overall system performance.
  • The best way is to add more memory. I assume you must remove the existing memory modules (3x 256 MB) and install 2 512 MB or 2 1 GB modules. GOOGLE it, to find out how much memory can be installed on your system.
Improve this answer
0

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .