Software did not activate on February 12, 2008. You should say it's just a 30-day trial, so no one will bother with it. Too bad, it looked interesting.

Person named "BUBBY" typed... "Do you think, that if fixing all memory leaks, fragmentation and segmentation problems in all programs, could be done with a third party program that is hocked for $20 or $30 to anyone who “will only believe” - would Microsoft with all of their millions (billions?) of dollars in research and development - have come up with an equivalent in Windows? ... etc etc..."

The answer to that, as everyone knows, is a definitive and resounding (in the voice of James Earl Jones) "NO!" Microsoft with its millions and billions of dollars and research can NOT and does Not come up with the types of things that small 3rd party developers come up with. And Microsoft does NOT include the best things they could, in Windows.

And that is why there are tons of better antispyware programs that are better than microsofts tool included in windows, that is why there are windows explorer and shell replacement programs that are superior to windows, that is why there are GUI's that are better than what microsoft includes in windows, that is why there are better Firewall programs that are superior than the one that comes with windows, that is why there are web browsers that are better than the one that comes with windows, that is why there are better Task managers than are included with windows, better paint programs than come with windows, better text editors than are made by Microsofts billions of dollars of research and included with windows, better driver tools, better backup tools, than Microsoft creates and ships with windows, etc. The list goes on.

And not only do many 3rd party developers create things that supercede what is in windows, they may sell it for not even $20, but even give it away free. It's a thing called Open Source.

So this statement by the person named BUBBY up there, although we have let him go on some incorrect things previously, because they were attempting to help or something, at this point, this person just tipped the scale and blew it. Posting that type of statement that 'if it was so great, it would already be in microsoft windows' and ridiculing people with talk of 'faeries' or some such thing is inappropriate, and incorrect. And from now on, most of the credibility of BUBBY, has now been lost.

Next time learn, think, and keep to the facts, rather than getting into the obtuse statements. It will serve you much better.

From BuBBy: (in the voice of James Earl Jones) "Doctor Dick - you have missed the point" ;)

While you have probably surprised nobody (including myself) by revealing that 3rd party, independent developers can produce software that is of higher quality than what comes with windows, you probably should've chosen not to answer my hypothetical question, especially if you were going to give the wrong answer.

I was saying the reason why Microsoft don't use the "Peter Pan" style "Magical Memory Optimizers" is not because they "Don't know how to" but because under recent versions of windows (including XP and Vista) they do not work.

They are Total and Absolute Crapola. If you buy one for $20 you have just wasted $20. If you buy one for $40, ... well I'm sure you can work it out.

Do some research, see if you can find one of the sites pedaling these programs - if they can explain (at a programming / OS level) just how they work. Have any of them documented the theory and made it available for public scrutiny? Didn't think so. They hide behind "runs faster", "crashes less", "more memory" - the sort of criteria they use - without publishing repeatable test results or procedures. Even though it appears your education is in "earth sciences" and not "computer science/engineering" (but it is not the point) - anyone with a science background wants evidence - documentation - proof. Yet you believe that my comments about memory optimizers were incorrect.

So to give you the opportunity to learn, think and keep to the facts, I've got some reading from some people who actually know what they are talking about.

The Memory Optimization Hoax - Doctor Mark Russinovich, Ph.D.
(note the final sentence - 'Fraudware' - common sense suggests that if RAM optimization were possible (and could be implemented by so many small-time upstarts), Microsoft developers would have long since integrated the technology into the kernel).

The Truth about Windows Memory Optimizers - Jeremy Collake, Bitsum Technologies
"Memory Optimizer" Confusion - Fred Langa

#7 Helpful? How? Nothing said.

This application has more saving grace than it is being given. Comments of "Windows can do all this" or long lists of free programs that "do all this" do not take into account just how long it takes to call up all of those individual mini-applications (programs)when everything is scattered about all over the Start Menu, Program Files directory etc. Also all of the icons for short-cuts that cover the same ground as this program take up two full city blocks of desktop real estate.

The program author put time into original programing rather than just calling Windows' applications and gave his creation a nice enough user interface. He also did a good job of thinking about a 104 utilities that someone not able (or be willing to waste the time) to find all of the free substitutes might appreciate. With all of the stuff crammed into this Frankenstein creation, why pick on the RAM defrag module?

I like it and will keep it around for a while. Hope you sell a few!

For those users who have not realized that all of this functionality already exists in Windows itself, should first research that functionality before downloading this software.

As a security expert I would suggest against downloading softwares that are extraneous, such as this one.

this program still thinks cpus still only have upto 2 cores...

#61 Lockett

No problem with making suggestions - you simply ignore them if you do not like them.

Comparisons are good as they allow us to determine if you should download the GOTD - after all if they are all free and you can find a better product why not download it and simply bypass the offering of the day. GOTD have a number of great offers I downloaded but I also downloaded, maybe as many, from reading postings.

After all it is a free country, at least where I live, and I welcome reading alternative suggestions.

Re: John #59 + General Rambling

I may not be #64

…. but alternative software suggestions don't both me in the least.
That's what it's all about for me – admittedly a software junkie!
I enjoy seeing what software others recommend.

My recommendation today in a nutshell was to use the GOTD only if you have an old PC and are memory constrained (memory is short).

I’m sure lots of GOTD site users have these older machines. Clearly there must be a some commonality between individuals looking for a software bargain and people trying to make their old machines last. We are not all running the latest and greatest.

It’s only at GOTD where you with regularity snag a software gem for free. Yes lifehacker.com does provide the odd lead to offers such a Zone Alarm Spyware Anti-spyware, but not often.

Also give lets please give the average GOTD users a bit a break. There are other good software sites out there like:

snapfiles
majorgeeks
cybernetnews
downloadsquad
freewaregenius
freeware-guide
FreewareWorld
lifehacker
neowin.net and winplanet

all offering some form of advice or rating of freeware and shareware implicitly in terms of the software selected or in terms of an explicit rating.

Snapfiles and Majorgeeks are two of the best web sites which offer both freeware and shareware - when GOTD can’t fill the niche; which surely even the ”novice” knows about - or they do now.

I enjoy GOTD their offerings and the banter as much as anyone. Who can complain about free software which is normally only available by way of real currency.

Each day we get to muse over, discard or install as we each see fit - the current GOTD.

Lastly, we even get to grumble by way of the GOTD forums about something we get for free and as a bonus get to take ourselves seriously in doing so!

Cheers
Paul.

Well, as a lazy one, I like this one. Works fine for ma and though it's not a needed app, it's pretty cool. these so called computer experts n do it their way but I love quick access and like to monitor my CPU usage. And, for some unexplained reason (no expert here) Not bad at all, running this app has made my Kaspersky anti virus engage every time the computer starts, Before it was 50-50. TY GAOTD, this ones OK in my book.

I get the ram cleaner for FREE with Advanced Windows Care Personal.
thx but no thx

>thomasalan

"it bothers me when i see people who only come on here to post links to freeware alternatives or programs they prefer over the GOTD ."

You don't like it when people are informed about freeware alternatives that are better? Why not? Isn't it a good thing when people tell others about better software? Those links are the best thing about the comments section, in my opinion.

"This does not encourage developers to put there programs up here for free."

You're right. It encourages them to improve their programs, or, at the very least, makes room for worthwhile giveaways. I don't see how it's a bad thing if the developers are forced to improve or pull their software - not that they actually care about the comments, for the most part...

A waste of space and resources to run this program. Tech experts, one of whom is my youngest son, recommend that you do NOT add such a program to your computer, as WinXP and VISTA handle memory just fine, and adding such a program can actually be detrimental to your computing experience, so PASS THIS ONE UP, and for heavens sake, discourage anyone from BUYING it!

Please keep comments related to the giveaway software.
The off-topic discussion on the price of RAM or what type of RAM your motherboard will take, belongs in the forums.

Same applies regarding the debate "Which is Better? XP vs. Vista".

The Off-Topic posts have been removed.

Thank you.

BuBBy.

I think, Bonnie /#56/ is right. :)

Psychodelic

Well thanks all for the great info...To all you mentioning buy more RAM...great idea but what do you do when you already have maximum memory installed.......EEEKKKKK

Bonnie

it bothers me when i see people who only come on here to post links to freeware alternatives or programs they prefer over the GOTD . This does not encourage developers to put there programs up here for free. thanks by the way, nice program.

I've only just uninstalled the previous version that was on here a while ago. No particular problems with it, I just felt it didn't actually do anything for my PC apart from taking up drive space and slowing the boot-up a little, maybe an older PC or one with less memory might benefit from this software but it's not one for me.

after reading all the comments, i think i will pass on this download. i run win xp pro sp2 on a 1.7ghz w/ 256k ram. im looking to upgrade the ram but cant seem to find what i need anywhere. this is 1g ram capable but i cant seem to find the modules i need. anyone with any suggestions please let me know. thanks ~shorty~

Seems to run equally alright on XP/Vista. Will I use it faithfully? Unknown; for processes options and the like Winpatrol has been my favourite for over 10 years. For# 31, the more I use Vista the more I think its this decade's Windows Me. XP SP3 much quicker than Vista & it's still release candidate. Thanks GAOTD

defragmentation of ram is quite simple...
basically what you do is allocate pretty much all available memory, and write to each page of it (to force paging to happen), once done you free the memory block, end result: windows reloads the page file, and adjusts memory usage, some programs appear faster, others need to be reloaded into the system when needed/clicked upon...

3.5mb to do that does sound a little excessive though

I got this last time it was offered and still am using it. I like seeing where everything is being utilized and what programs I can turn off. The optimizer is alright and I do not mind if it really does not do much as getting more RAM would which I will be doing anyways.

useless for Vista,as the Resources Monitor(2 sporty dial) gadget in Sidebar will already display it.What i hope for is a program that can optimise RAM(increase more available RAM) with a button touch.Acer's Empowering Tech has that function for my PC but im looking for one that can do the same for my Compaq laptop.

@BuBBy,

I just read #20, great job!

I just wanted to let you know I appreciate your comments, keep 'em coming as you're adding a much needed balance here and are providing excellent information. I appreciate the fact that you are not a rubber stamp for the developers, but are able to objectively comment on both the plus side and the minus side in a well written and even humorous manner. Thanks.

Thanks also to GAOTD.

Memory management tools such as these may help in situations where your machine is memory constrained. The best it will do for you is help avoid the occasional freeze of your machine experienced when you are running many processes on little memory.

These tools are more of a tool for yesteryear and older PCs where a memory is already maxed out at say 256MB or 384MB and a memory upgrade is just not longer an option.

I won’t be installing as I have no need for this software. I have used freeware GDS Ram2Free on my old PC, simple yet effective.
http://www.griffithdatasystems.com/products/ram2free.htm
I would run it on a needs basis only.

My experience is that memory management tools often try to do too much, sometimes taxing the very resources (including memory) which are likely in short supply to start with.

The other approach I’ve used in the past prior to running some memory intensive activity like Photoshop is killing processes I still resident but which I don’t need. Again it may save me a reboot after a freeze where I have tried to do too much with too little memory.

The tool I prefer is Orange Lamp’s Kill Process. Not for the faint of heart.

http://orangelampsoftware.com/products_killprocess.php

Cheers
Paul

a waste of money if you bought this, doesnt really do anything to your system ...my advice if you want to part with money would be to buy extra rams..money well spent

Though I own Hare, I never use it despite it`s 68 kernel converting claim.

Bill Gates can make a play for Yahoo whilst eying Google, but Freeze are his products middle name, and it makes better sense to clean out the registry and defrag that than bother with this resorse hogging eye-candy

Looks useful for novice users. It's easy to get lots of handy diagnostics information with only 2 clicks. I wouldn't pay for it but will definitely install it on my mum's PC to make it easier to help her over the phone!! Thanks!

I think I will stick with Tune Up utilities, Glary Utilities and AnVir.
But thanks anyway, GAOTD.

>freebird31

"The only thing I -as a novice- wouldn’t dare to try is they LOCK COMPUTER…. I’m always afraid I wouldn’t know how to get it out of that lock again, since that isn’t mentioned anywhere."

Locking the computer just makes it start up on the current user account, bypassing the logon screen. I locked my computer because I'm the only one who uses it and don't like having to click on my avatar to log on. I'd rather do it from the Start Menu, though!

>radsqd

"Why does everyone complain everytime there is a software"

I don't know, maybe because more than half of the time it's pointless or harms their computers.

"Yes, there are free alternatives which is nice to show in the comments and there are other things but stop destroying it
Its free people!!"

I am sick and tired of hearing this worthless phrase repeated over and over again after it's been debunked repeatedly. As has been stated countless times in the past, by countless visitors, making something free doesn't make it good. To use a rather old analogy, a free bag of poop is still a bag of poop. The truth is that this program is pointless - it doesn't do anything that isn't already easy enough in Windows itself, some of the features are just pointless anyway, and it actually has a few flaws. It deserves all mentions of these facts. Hopefully, these will convince the developers to add worthwhile features, or better yet, rewrite the program completely.

I hope that the developers offer their Media Extractor here - that would be worthwhile.

This program does nothing that you can't do any way.
The value is having it laid out for you in a one place setting. There are other programs tht are much the same. If you want to make life a little easier for yourself then give this one a try.

For free it is well worth trying it out.

@Bubby & #13
With enough physical memory on a recent PC (i.e. with a decently powerful processor), I also see no reason for this kind of software. But I have been working under XP on a Compaq P4 1,8 notebook with only 256 MB of memory which I too did not want to upgrade (I was so right: some kind of bad contact recently killed it and an -expected- expensive Compaq repair is definitely out of order). As my Compaq P4 1,7 desktop also died on me (and an expensive repair...), I haven't yet decided whether I'd buy myself another brand name PC or build my own (as I did in the past - btw, those never died on me!), I'm back on a PIII 600MHz Fujitsu-Siemens under XP with 1 GB (of which it only "sees" 640 MB???).

Believe me, in both cases I could not do without this kind of software without having to reboot on a regular basis. When, for example, the buttons in my Yahoo Mail actually completely stop reacting, I know it's high time to launch one of these.

One of my favorites is SpeeditUpFREE v4.7 (MicroSmarts LLC) which does an aggressive job on depriving running apps or processes from their "excessive" Ram-use (of course they reclaim this partly back on use). And it does not just swap those memory blocks to virtual memory as some optimizers seem to do. As an added bonus, it now links with the small and fast JKdefrag. It also says it "optimizes" Windows while running and we might just believe them for that!

As I'm writing this, I can see the characters "crawling" over my screen, in a way I don't even remember my old TRS80 ever did in its days... So I just checked : only 60 MB RAM free. High time for a SpeeditUP run!

So, I will also give this one a try...

Why does everyone complain everytime there is a software,
Yes, there are free alternatives which is nice to show in the comments and there are other things but stop destroying it
Its free people!!

#35 Jerry, am in total agreement!

Agree, putting useless stuff on your PC, makes it run worse.

Spent my money on more RAM and another Hard Drive.

Suki

For those who still insist on flying their biplanes with reckless abandon, and with apologies to this program's creators, try: SweepRam (a 4kb freeware dowload :-). Yes, I use it after switching from some graphic-intensive program session to another, cause...what the heck. No problemo with XPhomeSP2.

From its website... "SweepRAM is a little freeware application that will very quickly try to free some unused RAM. It is different than most if not all memory cleaners out there for a couple of reasons:
- it is not a resident; start it, it’ll do its job and when it’s done, execution ends.
- it doesn’t work as most memory cleaners that try to allocate as much memory as they can, then releasing it."

Have your pc ever frooze while installing a program??If yes in 90% of the cases it is becouse your hdd is fragmented and /or ram was not optimized.I'm hovewer not in favour of this particular program becouse it's size is too big,and the only features that i require from this kind of app is ram cleaning,optimization.

CAN THIS SOFTWARE BE USED WITH WINDOWS VISTA
SINCERE THANKS TRISH
HICKS

Hello all! Today's 15-Minute Review is up! Check it out!

http://www.bladedthoth.com/reviews/15mrs/clean-memxp-v9-0-quick/

Sad state of affairs that 17 years after it was proven that this type of program is useless and is not a replacement for having memory in your system, it is still being foisted on the public. GAOTD you ought to be ashamed of yourselves for pushing this crapware. For those of you that think you need this software, realize that by running it you will be using even more of your precious memory that you think you don't have enough now which is why you ran the program. Vicious circle. Go buy more memory.

The vast majority of these comments above only confirm my initial inclination not to bother with this program. Why spend my time on software that is really not going to make a significant difference? P.S. Thanks, Bubby for the explanation, even though it is so far over my head that I would have to look a lot of it up just to begin to understand a little of what you were talking about!

The experts agreed that ramoptimizers are a scam and totally useless and will often do more harm to the OS XP & Vista than do it any good.
Please read #20 & #27 it is the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

JUST BUY MORE RAM AND HAVE A DECENT GRAPHIC CARD, IT'S CHEAPER THAN THE SOFTWARE.

Most of this is useless, and some doesn't work correctly. The feature that lists which registry keys individual tasks have open is slightly interesting, although not very useful. It's tough to beat the free Sysinternals Process Explorer, Process Monitor, and Autoruns (although Autoruns doesn't cover everything). The paid version of AnVir Task Manager, which GOTD gave away recently, can be upgraded to the much-improved and useful version 4.9.1.

@Bubby
While I mainly agree to your explanation, I must add, that you are not quite right in one point: it IS possible to trace which programm uses which, and how many memmory chunks!

But the real important and main message is:
Leave the functions of RAM management alone! Believe the many given explanations and links. Don´t mess araound with this. - Only if you exactly know about a specific program (how it behaves, what and how it loads etc.) it COULD be useful to mess araound with it.

One last note: in fact using such 'optimizers' will (statistically - not dramatically) increase the risk of crashes!
___________________
(german)werwölfchen

From BuBBy: Thanks werwölfchen. Now I read it back, I've left a sentence or two out and that part doesn't actually make sense (I'm glad somebody at least read it though). Win32 does have 2 functions to query basic information about another process.

In Windows NT, this structure is the virtual address descriptor tree mentioned earlier. Win32 exposes the capability of "walking the VAD structure" in the VirtualQuery and VirtualQueryEx functions. Again, the Ex suffix indicates which function can be called from one process to query another—if the calling process has the security privilege necessary to perform this function.

ref: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms810627.aspx

The point I was trying to make - even with this information, a foreign process cannot determine if the contents of those data blocks are valid or invalid. The current state of memory is known only by the process that has that memory allocated to it. That is why individual processes still have to manage THEIR OWN memory and garbage collection.

(I guess stuffing up the explanation/post is my fault - watching TV at the same time. Obviously I don't multitask very well).

Quite a lot of useless memory optimizers and boosters and stuff that I think are really worthless rather than to buy some physical ram.

BUY MORE:RAM(random access memory)...STOP BEING CHEAP PEOPLE...

RAM can be compared to a person's short-term memory and the hard disk to the long-term memory. The short-term memory focuses on work at hand, but can only keep so many facts in view at one time. If short-term memory fills up, your brain sometimes is able to refresh it from facts stored in long-term memory. A computer also works this way. If RAM fills up, the processor needs to continually go to the hard disk to overlay old data in RAM with new, slowing down the computer's operation. Unlike the hard disk which can become completely full of data so that it won't accept any more, RAM never runs out of memory. It keeps operating, but much more slowly than you may want it to.

How Big is RAM?
RAM is small, both in physical size (it's stored in microchips) and in the amount of data it can hold. It's much smaller than your hard disk. A typical computer may come with 256 million bytes of RAM and a hard disk that can hold 40 billion bytes. RAM comes in the form of "discrete" (meaning separate) microchips and also in the form of modules that plug into holes in the computer's motherboard. These holes connect through a bus or set of electrical paths to the processor. The hard drive, on the other hand, stores data on a magnetized surface that looks like a phonograph record.
Most personal computers are designed to allow you to add additional RAM modules up to a certain limit. Having more RAM in your computer reduces the number of times that the computer processor has to read data in from your hard disk, an operation that takes much longer than reading data from RAM. (RAM access time is in nanoseconds; hard disk access time is in milliseconds.)

Why Random Access?
RAM is called "random access" because any storage location can be accessed directly. Originally, the term distinguished regular core memory from offline memory, usually on magnetic tape in which an item of data could only be accessed by starting from the beginning of the tape and finding an address sequentially. Perhaps it should have been called "nonsequential memory" because RAM access is hardly random. RAM is organized and controlled in a way that enables data to be stored and retrieved directly to specific locations. A term IBM has preferred is direct access storage or memory. Note that other forms of storage such as the hard disk and CD-ROM are also accessed directly (or "randomly") but the term random access is not applied to these forms of storage.
In addition to disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM storage, another important form of storage is read-only memory (ROM), a more expensive kind of memory that retains data even when the computer is turned off. Every computer comes with a small amount of ROM that holds just enough programming so that the operating system can be loaded into RAM each time the computer is turned on.

it's a very good system utility, more than a simple RAM cleaner.
I will keep it. THANKS GAOTD.

@BuBBy

Wow..
In other words:you cannot compare defragging a HD to defragging RAM (or a RAM drive)?

Still not convinced about the Red Baron though.And I never tried defragging a mouse yet. :)

@All

But I still believe the program is a nice swiss knife to a lot of windows features.
Watch Processes accessing Internet ? This feature doesn't seem to work.

Agree with #2.
For all these tasks you can use AnVir Task Manager Free. It's better than today GAOTD and free.
http://www.anvir.com/taskmanagerfree

What Muppet of a Programmer decided you couldn't change the window size!!!??? *I'm TOTALLY AGOG* That alone is SO ANNOYING that it might well get it uninstalled!

PS: Indeed I agree: defragging will in the end USE UP MORE TIME than it 'saves'!

From Homepage of SweepRam ( http://88.191.26.34/computers_are_fun/sweepram/ ):
"I do not believe that resident RAM cleaners are any useful, it is actually a good thing to have (most) your RAM being used. This is the best way to get things done fast, because your RAM is without question faster than your CD/DVD drives or HDD, no matter how recent & fast they can be."

I agree with most issues pointed out on the mentioned homepage!!!
(But one point to add: better don´t even run prgs at startup, which you are not sure you WILL NEED this session - keep your machine and startup clean, rather than 'optimizing' any unnecessary shit as: watchers/loaders/optimizers, e.g. form Adobe, your printer manufacturer, office kick-starters, etc. etc. - THEY are the crime...!)
___________________
(german)werwölfchen

There is a huge difference between Ramoptimizers.
Some apps page unused files .This one defrags ram!

So all ram will be used more efficiently.
And this seems a nice optimizing feature to me (even if you have lots of ram available).

@BuBBy
You have the eloquence to explain this.Go for it!

From BuBBy: Memory "Optimizers" only make a difference if you want to believe (kind of like believing in fairies). I could explain memory management in XP or Vista, or how allocated memory is protected from other processes. I could give URLs of documents explaining why Memory Optimizers/Cleaners/Defraggers are unnecessary on XP/Vista.

Memory fragmentation does occur - but inside each individual application. Other applications cannot know what the memory in other applications should look like, what is used or unused. Windows allocates a block of memory to a program. The program doesn't know (or care) where that memory comes from - from the programs viewpoint there is no mapping to any physical location. So "fragmentation" is only virtual, and only the program that owns that block of memory has any way of knowing if the memory is affected by fragmentation or segmentation. (because either the program or the user caused it)

When the program "decides to" or when the program "finishes" - that memory is returned to windows to be used for other purposes. So Program A cannot know what parts of memory that Program B has, that are being wasted or fragmented. It doesn't even have any way to directly inspect the memory contents even if it did have a memory roadmap of Program B. ('A' doesn't know about 'B's good data from bad, leaked from current and valid - If there is a problem in B, then B has to fix it or release it).

Probably the logical answer I could give to somebody who doesn't want to know the geeky details:-
Do you think, that if fixing all memory leaks, fragmentation and segmentation problems in all programs, could be done with a third party program that is hocked for $20 or $30 to anyone who "will only believe" - would Microsoft with all of their millions (billions?) of dollars in research and development - have come up with an equivalent in Windows? In fact surely such an earth shatteringly amazing development would've been bought out/taken over by Microsoft and patents filed? (Even if they only used it on their own code) :P

But hey, if "defragging" your memory or your mouse or whatever, makes you happy - if you think it's making you go faster - That's great, I wish you well (I hear wrapping a scarf around your head makes you go even faster if it is blowing behind you like the Red Baron). It's not going to blow up your PC or give you cancer (at least it can't be proven to be linked) - but for goodness sake - use this one today, or grab a free one from somewhere (doesn't matter which - they are all as fantastic as each other). Just keep your money for something useful... extra RAM would be my suggestion.