Insufficient Memory... ???

[Merryband1]

I'm having some difficulties with my DAW. I can still edit on the tower, but whenever I try to record something, I get an error message saying the system doesn't have enough memory, and to try shutting down other applications. I never have any other apps running except the ones that run in the background and don't automatically shut down. I even tried shutting down some of the background apps, and it still isn't letting me record. (.wav files)

My PC has 8GB of RAM, but I'm thinking now I need to upgrade it and replace that with more. I'm looking at modules on Best Buy. I'd like to get 64GB so I can do lots of recording and editing of music and film, but if 16 or 32 would work, that could be an option. I don't have bunches of money to throw at it, and I definitely can't afford a new computer right now. So, if you've upgraded RAM in a tower computer and have any particular brands or GB recommendations, I'd really like your opinion.

Thanks,
Merry

[cosmicdolphin]

Have you checked that's actually the issue as sometimes it's not, even if that's what Windows is reporting. 8gbs is not very much though.

First port of call is to run the Resource Monitor in Windows https://youtu.be/evlzku7IxZk

And then go to the Memory tab to see if it really is all in use and what's eating it up. If you do need more ram you can't really go wrong with Crucial, as for how much well that depends on what your motherboard can support which you should be able to find out with a tool on the Crucial website. If it's an older machine or a more basic motherboard you may only be able to install up to 16 or 32gb - so I would probbaly go with that depending on your budget.

Mark

[Merryband1]

Have you checked that's actually the issue as sometimes it's not, even if that's what Windows is reporting. 8gbs is not very much though.

First port of call is to run the Resource Monitor in Windows https://youtu.be/evlzku7IxZk

And then go to the Memory tab to see if it really is all in use and what's eating it up. If you do need more ram you can't really go wrong with Crucial, as for how much well that depends on what your motherboard can support which you should be able to find out with a tool on the Crucial website. If it's an older machine or a more basic motherboard you may only be able to install up to 16 or 32gb - so I would probbaly go with that depending on your budget.

Mark

Thanks, Mark! I did run a memory check on the computer a few days ago, but it was just to see whether something was wrong with it, not to see what was using so much. It said there was nothing wrong with the memory... It is an older machine, one that my cousin (who prefers using her iPad) gave me when my old laptop was dying and before I got my new laptop. I upgraded it to Windows 10 from 8.2, but it won't run 11, so I don't know what that means in relation to how much I could add. I will run another check in a little while and see what is using the memory. I may be able to keep it running for a while without upgrading, which would be great, but if not, I'll definitely keep Crucial in mind! I appreciate the advice!

Merry

[Rolf]

Have you checked that's actually the issue as sometimes it's not, even if that's what Windows is reporting. 8gbs is not very much though.

First port of call is to run the Resource Monitor in Windows https://youtu.be/evlzku7IxZk

And then go to the Memory tab to see if it really is all in use and what's eating it up. If you do need more ram you can't really go wrong with Crucial, as for how much well that depends on what your motherboard can support which you should be able to find out with a tool on the Crucial website. If it's an older machine or a more basic motherboard you may only be able to install up to 16 or 32gb - so I would probbaly go with that depending on your budget.

Mark

Thanks, Mark! I did run a memory check on the computer a few days ago, but it was just to see whether something was wrong with it, not to see what was using so much. It said there was nothing wrong with the memory... It is an older machine, one that my cousin (who prefers using her iPad) gave me when my old laptop was dying and before I got my new laptop. I upgraded it to Windows 10 from 8.2, but it won't run 11, so I don't know what that means in relation to how much I could add. I will run another check in a little while and see what is using the memory. I may be able to keep it running for a while without upgrading, which would be great, but if not, I'll definitely keep Crucial in mind! I appreciate the advice!

Merry

Hi Merry, the fact that you can't install Win11 doesn't tell much about your Laptops power. It just indicates that a security chip is missing on your mainboard. But 8GB is a bit too small for music production.

[Merryband1]

Hi Merry, the fact that you can't install Win11 doesn't tell much about your Laptops power. It just indicates that a security chip is missing on your mainboard. But 8GB is a bit too small for music production.

Oh, no, it isn't the laptop (although that does have 8GB, too); it's the tower. I was able to install Win 11 on the laptop. It's the tower that is older. I think I'm going to have to change the memory chips, and I'm also going to contact Magix for help because even when I have over 2k available MB, the program is still telling me I don't have sufficient memory. It's so frustrating! Until I get it working right, I'm going to record audio tracks with the laptop and transfer them to the tower for editing. The tower will still record MIDI, and it still lets me edit tracks, so I don't know what else to do, aside from adding more memory. It's going to have to wait until next month, though. Groceries took all the rest of this month's money.

I wish I'd known I needed more RAM for music and video editing when I bought the laptop! *sigh* Live & learn!

Merry

[Merryband1]

I'm reading this page at Microsoft, and I think this should solve my problem. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, yesterday, I tried opening my DAW, and it wouldn't even play a track, let alone edit. Well, actually, it played, but it was slow and garbled. So. Here's hoping this solution will work. From what I understand of the problem, even if I'd bought additional RAM, the standby would have filled it up. Technology is great when it works right.
File Cache Consumes Most of the Physical RAM

Thanks for all your great input!
Merry

[Merryband1]

I still see my Free RAM shrinking away by the second, despite the RamMap telling me that I don't have Metafile running the show. Since I turned the computer on a few minutes ago, the amount of free RAM has shrunk down to between 82 and 17 MB--fluctuating a lot. I hope I don't have to get a new computer! (Although, admittedly, this one is out of date.) My virus program doesn't show any malware, so I'm at a loss to figure out what the problem is.
Thankful I still have the laptop! (Which could also use more RAM) I guess I should hit up YouTube to see if someone on there knows how to fix the problem.

Oh, and I forget who asked what the processor speed was, but in the tower, it's 2.0 GHz. The laptop is 3.0 GHz, if I'm not mistaken.

Frustrating.
Merry

[AlanHall]

The Task Manager will show what apps/processes are running and potentially help ID the thing that is out of hand. You could try stopping any processes that you don't think need to be running - worst case you'd need to reboot your computer if you shut down something essential.
It may not actually solve the problem, but at least a screenshot of the running apps and one of the running processes may be of use to someone in the know about windows systems.

Feel free to ignore my unsolicited advice, Merry!

[lesmac]

My virus program doesn't show any malware, so I'm at a loss to figure out what the problem is.

Hi Merry, A quick google search of "windows memory hog" threw up the possibility of a virus. I would look at a few different virus checkers, freeware hopefully. Do some investigation in that area for a while. Be careful to make sure any programs you download for the task are clean and secure.

It sounded like a random occurrence out of the blue so it could be worth a look. Sometimes one particular virus checker can't find stuff and when our computers are getting a bit older, like people, they may be prone to picking up a cold or two.

Hope you get it sorted soon.

[Casey H]

Yes, definitely scan with a few different virus/spyware programs. Also, if you haven't already, go to the Startup tab in Task Manager and see what launches automatically when you start your PC. Some programs are sneaky and either by original install or update, design themselves to launch at startup. Often, it is not necessary to run these except when you need to. Also look at the Services tab. Some run services at start that you don't need to.