RAM optimization programs (Windows 7)

onemorechance

Are RAM optimization programs essentially useless, or do they offer more than what the Windows 7 OS will do itself?

I have a cheap laptop, and won't be adding more RAM soon, so I was wondering if any of these utilities can help make the most of what I have.

In theory the OS should be able to handle this, and Window 7 is supposed to be better at it than previous versions, but are there programs out there can improve on what the OS does?

Example apps from cnet (Free, W7, Maintenance & Optimization, "RAM"):

http://download.cnet.com/1770-18512_4-0.html?query=ram&searchtype=downloads&rpp=10&filter=os=133|licenseName=Free|platform=Windows&filterName=os=Windows%207|licenseName=Free|platform=Windows

Example apps from cnet (Free, W7, Utilities & Operating Systems, "RAM"):

http://download.cnet.com/1770-2018_4-0.html?query=ram&searchtype=downloads&rpp=10&filter=os=133|licenseName=Free|platform=Windows&filterName=os=Windows%207|licenseName=Free|platform=Windows&tag=pe-searchFacetsTile;navForm

cookie1977

Personally I think they're absolutely useless. The OS is fine at handling it and really adding more ram is the only way to go if you feel you're low.

Capt'n Midnight

They have a long history of being snake oil

certainly these days I wouldn't pay for one when the same money would buy you RAM or flash drive etc. And I wouldn't touch a freeware version form someone I never heard of, as it's handing it god-mode, also unless written by an expert then it could be flaky and destabilise the system.

yes there used to be registry tweaks to tell windows how to handle memory , probably still , but that was for fine tuning of systems that were used in specific roles, there are few one-size all tweaks since you are trading resources.

onemorechance

Snake oil! I like that analogy!

I guess they have a placebo effect of allowing you to see your RAM being freed up graphically!

It was when I temporarily switched back to Firefox from Chrome that I really noticed it. Also I notice it when using Eclipse, usually with a few other programs too and I'd notice lag with the API hover effects and such.

More RAM is the only way for me I guess. I just checked and I have 2GB, which is reasonable I would have thought, but not so it seems.

Alun

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

They have a long history of being snake oil.

Snake Oil indeed ... I remember a product called SoftRam back in the 90's that was thoroughly debunked by a German computer magazine called c't. They disassembled it and found that it effectively did nothing at all and published the results leading to the magazine being sued. Many other people came to the same conclusion though and eventually after the authorities in the US got involved the company removed it from the market. They went bankrupt shortly afterwards

Overheal

superfetching is where its at anyway.