Windows XP support for monitoring system memory

Sometimes while working with your Windows XP operating system, you might be required to monitor your system memory.  You can do this by adding counters to the program responsible for system monitoring. The program for this is called “Performance” and is inbuilt in your Windows XP. Using this tool you will be able to analyze your memory usage, processor and subsystems. In order to do this all you have to need is to add counters and leave the system to do the rest. This article contains Windows XP support instructions to do the same.

Windows XP support instructions

Follow the instructions mentioned below and you will be able to monitor the system memory of your Windows XP operating system.

1. Start off by clicking the Windows “Start” button.
2. Select “Run” from the start menu. This will open up the run dialog box.
3. Type “perfmon.msc” in the run box and click on the “Ok” button. This will open up the “Performance” window.
4. Continue by right clicking on the right side of the “Performance” window and select “Add Counters”.
5. 

   Monitor Windows System Memory

   Click on the option labeled “Select counters from computer” option.

6. From the Performance object drop-down list choose “Memory”.
7. From the counter list box choose “Available Mbytes” and hit the “Add” button.
8. From the performance object drop-down list, choose “Paging File” option.
9. From the counter list box select “%usage” option and hit the “Add” button.
10. Now click the “Close” button and you will be given a graph displaying the usage of your computer memory.
11. Try generating some activity by doing something. Say for example open and close the help and support window two times. You will be able to view spikes in your Memory>Pages/ Sec counter. The second time when you opened the help and support window will result in a lower spike. This is because, the first time computer had to retrieve the information from your hard disk and in the second case the information was already in memory.
12. Note the counter for Paging>%Usage. You are using excessive package if your counter is below 99%.
13. Look at the Memory>Available Mbytes counter and if it’s showing above 4 MB, it means that you have sufficient RAM.

That’s all with the instructions provided by Windows XP support team for monitoring system memory.

Reinstalling Drivers in Windows XP

Windows XP undoubtedly continues to be the most sought after OS of the times, thanks to its ‘user friendliness’ and stability. Despite the advent of advanced platforms such as Windows Vista and Windows 7, XP remains a favorite for many, owing to its sheer efficiency and lesser number of errors. However, just as in other platforms, Windows XP may too yield some kind of error or the other at some point of time. One of those issues, which we’re going to discuss here, is about the faults that could occur with your hardware devices and the methods to rectify them.

Hardware Issues in Windows XP

As you might be well aware, the “Plug and Play” feature in Windows XP is intended to automatically detect and install new hardwares. It can also be used to simplify troubleshooting issues with your devices. As the Windows XP support team says, the Device Manager utility in Windows XP helps you to reinstall the erring device driver. Let’s see how!

The Procedure

How to Reinstall XP Drivers

According to the Windows XP support team, the following steps are in order for resolving the issue in question:

1. Commence the procedure by logging in to your Windows XP PC as an Administrator.
2. Enter “devmgmt.msc” in the “Run” box and hit “Enter“, whereby the “Device Manager” window will appear.
3. Click on “View“, followed by “Show Hidden Devices”.
4. You may now select the “+” button next to the header name that most closely categorizes the driver you wish to reinstall. For example: if you’re looking for your Sound Card Driver, click on the “+” adjacent to the option “Sound, video and Game Controllers“.
5. As the Windows XP support team says, click once on each instance of the device you wish to reinstall, followed by the “Action” menu and then “Uninstall” in the subsequent menu.
6.  Click on “OK” to confirm the removal of your erring device.
7. You may now click on the “Action” menu at the top of the Device manager window. Select the option “Scan for hardware changes” from the subsequent menu.
8. Your OS shall now start detecting and reinstalling the device driver.

Here, it’s to be noted that the hidden devices that were uninstalled will not be reinstalled.

The above account would surely prove helpful in removing and reinstalling any erring drivers on your Windows XP computer.

In the unlikely event that any issues persist, feel free to get in touch with Windows XP support.