BULLETS, DEFINITIONS, AND NUMBERED LISTS

MemTurbo(tm) v2.
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Thank-you for using MemTurbo!

All of the information you need to effectively use MemTurbo to increase your performance can be found in these pages.
If you have questions not answered here, or suggestions for future versions, please visit the MemTurbo web site at http://www.MemTurbo.com.

MemTurbo Introduction

MemTurbo strives to increase your system performance by performing four critical functions:

Defragmenting your physical RAM
By defragmenting your physical RAM, the layout of your virtual memory more closely matches the layout of your physical memory. This increases your memory cache hit rate and improves locality of reference for data, thereby increasing the efficiency of the L1 and L2 caches present on your processor or motherboard.

Increasing the amount of RAM available
MemTurbo attempts to reclaim RAM from the operating system and applications, so that when the application you are currently using needs memory, it is readily available. This avoids costly swap file access and paging, decreases load time and improves application performance.

Recovering memory leaks
By recovering memory that was allocated and forgotten (leaked) by the operating system and poorly behaved applications, MemTurbo can increase the amount of both physical and virtual memory available for use.

Flushing unused libraries and DLLs
Many applications and portions of the operating system load libraries that are infrequently used or not used at all; to improve performance, MemTurbo safely flushes these DLLs and libraries out to the system paging file, freeing up the RAM normally used by them. While in this state, they are immediately and transparently reloaded if needed.

MemTurbo can do these things on-demand when you need it or automatically. See How to Use MemTurbo for more information.

What's new in Version 2.0?

  • Over 50% smaller, now only 216K!
  • Significantly faster memory recovery
  • A new deep-recovery RAM scrub mode that can recover memory that previously would have been missed
  • More thorough quick recovery, blasting past the 127M limit of MemTurbo 1.X
  • A new tray icon which shows the amount of RAM remaining and the recovery alarm status
  • Configurable speed for the main window graph
  • Fully resizable main window
  • Ability to limit recovery to CPU idle times
  • Ability to configure MemTurbo to do an initial RAM recovery when after Windows is fully completed its initial boot and loaded startup items
  • CPU Meter in main display
  • Adjustments for disk cache block size
  • Adjustments for direct memory access buffer size

How to Use MemTurbo

MemTurbo can do its memory defragmentation and recovery in three ways:

  1. On Demand
  2. When MemTurbo is running (even if hidden to the tray) you can trigger MemTurbo to compress and defragment by pressing its hotkey, which is by default CTRL-ALT-M (try it now!). You can also open the MemTurbo main window and click the "Run Now!" button.

  3. When RAM reaches a preset low level
  4. By adjusting the red alarm level on the MemTurbo graph and checking the "Recover RAM automatically when alarm level is reached" option, MemTurbo will kick in whenever that level of low RAM is reached.

  5. On a Timer
  6. MemTurbo can be set (via the Options page) to degfrag and recover every N minutes. Simply check the "Recover RAM automatically every N minutes", set the duration, and forget it.

    * Note that MemTurbo must be running in order for it to react. When MemTurbo is minimized, it hides to a small tray icon, so you can leave it running at all times.

    Regardless of which method is used to trigger MemTurbo into action, the result is the same: MemTurbo will defragment your RAM, recover as much RAM as possible (up to the level you have set), attempt to recover memory leaks, and flush unused DLLs out to your pagefile.

    If you opt for "On Demand" recovery, the best times to trigger MemTurbo are after Windows login/startup and before launching a new app. For example, before launching a memory-intensive game or application, press the MemTurbo hotkey and wait for it to complete. This will ensure the maximum amount of memory possible is available, reducing time-consuming paging.

    Setting your Levels

    In general, the mistake people make most often is setting MemTurbo too aggressively. The intent of MemTurbo is to ensure you never run out of RAM when you need it, rather than to recover as much as possible (extra RAM stolen from apps that could make use of it would be just as well off in your desk drawer!).

    We recommend a low alarm level: 1M for machines with less than 64M, 2M for machines with 64M or more. A good place to start for a target level is about 1/4 of your total RAM, but on a sliding scale. Thus, maybe 8M for a 64M machine, but only 12M for a 128M machine, 16M for a 256M machine, and so on.


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