# Windows Memory Trick **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 1, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770 "2001-10-01T15:05:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/1 "2001-10-01T15:05:26Z")
We all know how poor windows can be at returning the memory to the system from programs you have closed. Eventually, the swap file get into use even more, and total system performance goes right down. Well no more. We all have used those ram free-ing programs, and while they have their use, they are unnecessary. Instead, do the following: Enter the following line in notepad exactly as shown: FreeMem=Space(28000000) Save this text file as MemFree.vbs on your desktop. Double-click it to free up ram that is being held for no reason. Ta-daa! ---
**Author:** ![snopester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@snopester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snopester)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/2 "2001-10-01T15:28:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stupendous man \* > **We all know how poor windows can be at returning the memory to the system from programs you have closed.** Isn’t it the individual programs which have the memory leak, not Windows? 😕 And your .vbs trick will only work (_if_ it works anyway) if the system has something on it to run Visual Basic Scripts; which I doubt mine has… ---
**Author:** ![Stupendous\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a8b319/32.png) [@Stupendous\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stupendous_man)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/3 "2001-10-01T15:37:39Z")
Either or… It matters not if windows has the leak or the programs themselves. The end result is the same. For the people it does work for, have at it. Gads… ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/4 "2001-10-01T17:17:26Z")
It does do the job, but [MemMax 1.1](http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,68327,.html) appears to it better. ---
**Author:** ![Fredge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Fredge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fredge)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/5 "2001-10-01T17:43:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by snopester \* > Isn’t it the individual programs which have the memory leak, not Windows? 😕 It might be true that poorly written applications have the memory leaks, but IMO, the OS is ultimately responsible for resource allocation (memory in this case) so if an program terminates without returning resources the OS should reclaim them automagically. ---
**Author:** ![Studi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Studi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Studi)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/6 "2002-04-01T03:52:21Z")
I just started having this problem, with the Windows memory leak. The problem started out of the blue, with no new hardware or software being installed anytime recently. Basically, after a while (about an hour after being reset, or less, depending on what’s being run), the computer will just seize up. If you try to run another programme, you get the “Not enough free memory … Quit some applications and try again.”" I’ve reinstalled Windows (98 SE), and I’ve updated it completely. I’ve tried software solutions, such as FREERAM and Mem-Trax, with no success. Does any body have any solutions that don’t involve - installing Windows 2000 or XP - reformatting this mother? Thanks. Studi ---
**Author:** ![rubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@rubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rubes)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2002, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/windows-memory-trick/84770/7 "2002-04-01T15:07:12Z")
Studi, I just posted to the Questions board ,“ughh, reinstalling win98” and did get some good responses. You may want to check out that thread, but the most important thing seems to be getting updated drivers. My chipset was known to be crappy (unbeknownst to me) but with some updated drivers, hopefully things will work better.