Low Memory

[susanac]

I have an hp IPAQ 4355. When I surf the web with a wireless connection, a screen pops up saying that memory is low and that I should switch some programs.

Is this what I should do? My IPAQ is brand new and has very little data stored in memory. Why does this screen pop-up?

[dmacburry2003]

You will find that Internet Explorer takes up a LOT of memory (if you leave the app open, it will sequentially build on your program memory with each website you visit). I suggest that you frequently empty your internet cache and close Internet Explorer when not using it, or as often as possible.

Soft resets never hurt :wink:

[susanac]

Thanks. Will give it a try.

[Wiggster]

Check to see how much memory you actually have free. Tap on Start, Settings, then under Advanced you'll find Memory. That should tell you exactly how much memory you have.

But chances are, you have some temp files taking up space. Try clearing out your Temporary Internet Files and see how much space that frees up:in Pocket IE, Tap Tools, go to Options, then on the General tab, click Delete Files. If you're doing a lot of surfing, you might have upwards of 16 mb stored there.

You also might have files in your \Temp folder taking up that space, but I don't think it's quite as likely. You can go back in time (http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=98104) and see an old tool that should still work for deleting the Temp files.

[Addendum]
Note to self: don't actually research for alternatives, as by the time you do, someone else posts a more succinct answer.

[Robb Bates]

Susan, you may also be unaware that when you tap the X to "close" a program, you are actually minimizing it. That's a ... uh ... feature (read bug) of Pocket PCs. So you've probably run several programs and are unaware that they are all still open but minimized.

There are several task managers that will allow you to actually close the programs so they won't be taking up valuable memory.

I like to use WisBar Advance (http://www.lakeridgesoftware.com/). It's rather popular. There are several others that, no doubt, others will suggest in this message thread. Look at them all and pick your favorite.

Oh, and welcome to the wonderful world of gadgets! :D

Robb

[Wiggster]

Susan, you may also be unaware that when you tap the X to "close" a program, you are actually minimizing it. That's a ... uh ... feature (read bug) of Pocket PCs.

I remember back with Windows CE 2.0 that some people used the fact that Palms never really needed to close any applications to free memory - it was kept in the memory already, which made start-up faster. So now that Pocket PCs do it, we see how wonderful it really is, right? Right? :wink:

Yea, I'm a fan of WisBar. I got rid of it recently due to problems with my campus's WiFi network, and I needed to access the Connectivity icon on my regular taskbar. Sure, I could have just exited it and re-started it, but I don't like the simple solutions.

[Robb Bates]

Yea, I'm a fan of WisBar. I got rid of it recently due to problems with my campus's WiFi network, and I needed to access the Connectivity icon on my regular taskbar. Sure, I could have just exited it and re-started it, but I don't like the simple solutions.

Why don't you just enable the connectivity icon on wisbar. I think that's one of the non-default features. I have mine setup for my bluetooth connection.

There's just no way I could work without a task manager like WisBar. 8O

Robb

[buckyg]

Based on my experience, you almost have to have some sort of task manager. If not, sooner or later (probably sooner), memory gets too low. I have yet to see any of the Pocket PC OS's handle memory as good as MS says it does.

When I went to my local Compusa to get a new PPC, a MS salesperson was there. He did a good sales job, though I was already convinced. At the time, I was moving from Pocket PC to Pocket PC 2002. One thing kind of blew his mind, though. I asked him if they fixed it so the X actually closes running apps instead of minimizing them. He asked me why I would want it to do that. Apparently, many people had asked him this before, because he said he had asked his tech folks about it. Their answer: The OS will manage the memory, no need to actually close a running app.

Well, the guy admits if you run enough programs at once, especially something like a video, you may run a little low. If you do, you can go to the memory settings and close running apps. But that's very rare that you would need to do that. Sure enough, as he was showing me some stuff, things slowed down and he got the memory error.

Remember, as the old cliché goes: It's not a bug, it's a feature.