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Accurate method to check available memory?

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  • 24-11-2008 1:58pm
    #1
    blondeonblonde
    Registered Users Posts: 372 ✭✭


    Hi all,

    Hope someone can help with this - I have a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop, running Vista Business and I'd like to be able to accurately check exactly how much memory I have remaining.

    The problem is the figure quoted in My Computer seems to vary wildly from time to time even though I wouldn't have put much extra stuff on the HD. Yesterday it said I had roughly 75GB remaining but today it's down to 40!? :confused:

    Anyone else had this problem?

    Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks.


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    #2
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    Have a look here. Might be of help: http://hcidesign.com/memtest/

    Are you taking about hard-drive space or actual RAM (Random Access Memory) space?


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    #3
    rubadub
    Registered Users Posts: 32,381 ✭✭✭✭rubadub


    I presume HD space, after mentioning 75GB

    Did you check it in the exact same way? could it be reading another partition or something? I notice more and more PCs with manufacturers dedicated partitions. Also did you clean out your recycle bin? Some also have space set aside for the recycle bin and perhaps other things. Depending where you check it may or may not include it.


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    #4
    blondeonblonde
    Registered Users Posts: 372 ✭✭blondeonblonde


    Its the actual hard drive space. It just seems to randomly change for no apparent reason. I can't even figure out where most of my space has gone to tbh! I've got about 30gigs of music, some photos but not that much else....


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    #5
    Voodu Child
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,706 ✭✭✭Voodu Child


    The available memory is changing because of Vista's Shadow Copy/System Restore.

    Its regularly creating restore points and backups of changing files, in case you want/need to revert (in case of a OS problem or deleted file).

    You can turn it off, or minimise the amount of space it takes, but first you should read up on the service, in order to understand what its doing and whether or not its useful to you. Personally I disable it, but only because I manually create external backups, and reinstall the OS fairly regularly, so a system failure isnt a problem. For the average user, its a useful feature and id leave it alone unless its causing a major problem (in terms of storage space or system performance).


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    #6
    blondeonblonde
    Registered Users Posts: 372 ✭✭blondeonblonde


    Thats great lads, thanks for the comments. I'll check out that shadow copy to see how much space its creating. I do back up my files to an external HD every month or so, can't say i've ever reinstalled the OS but if I start to run out of space then maybe I could switch it off.


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