Expanding Memory in XP with ECD Creator

[oldguy]

Ran out of memory (512MB) in XP while creating a video after virtual memory kicked in. Wanted to set priority for ECD Creator in Task Manager to High and temporarily turn off selected processes to complete the video creation. Get warning messages of potential systems instability if this is done (didn't do).
Has anyone done this and what happened?

There were 33 processes running in Task Manager (including ECD Crreator), all, except ECD Creator, were opened automatically when PC turned on. There should be some I can turn off to free up memory without effecting the session but I can't interpret the descriptions.
I'm a new user of XP; has anybody had experience with attempts to temporarily increase XP memory in this manner?
oldguy

[impmon2]

List the process you have running and we can tell what each are and whteher you need them or not. In most cases you can unload everything that is not listed as 'SYSTEM' under user.

[oldguy]

impmon2 - thanks for the response.

Following processes running (when I first boot up) in addition to VideoImp.exe (all show .exe except the last two):
msmsgs Dad 1184K
Directcd " 3916K
hphmon03 " 2504K
hpztsb04 " 2088K
WFXSNT40 " 1196K
WFXSWTCH " 1216K
Navapw32 " 4692K
mm_tray " 1712K
DellMMKb " 2772K
WkUFind " 748K
EXPLORER " 16492K
VideoImp " 208K (Open only - no creation)
NOPDB SYSTEM 2264K
nsvc32 " 912K
NPROTECT " 3880K
Navapsvc " 1412K
Nhksrv " 900K
SPOOLSV " 4180K
SVCHOST LOCAL SERVICE 3160K
SVCHOST NETWORK SERVICE 2384K
TASKMGR Dad 3480K
SVCHOST SYSTEM 14804K
SVCHOST " 3260K
LSASS " 1112K
SERVICES " 2772K
OSD Dad 2036K
WINLOGIN SYSTEM 1320K
CSRSS " 2720K
SMSS " 348K
WkCalRem Dad 1156K
System SYSTEM 220K
SystemIdleProcess " 20K

I've been told I should not turn off EXPLORER.
Do you know if setting VideoImp to a HIGH Priority in Task Manager will help or is it likely to cause problems?
Also, after I complete the video session and shut down, will the processes I shut off be restored when I turn on the PC or do I have to manually turn them back on?
Finally, it appears that with XP (unlike Win 98) memory is automatically increased thru Virtual Memory/Paging File. Is there another way of increasing memory temporarily with XP other than the above?

Thanks for your help.
oldguy

[impmon2]

Sorry my replay's a bit late. I didn't have the reply notification on and I didn't notice your reply.

msmsgs Dad 1184K

You can turn this off. It's a messenger, not needed at all

Directcd " 3916K

Part of Easy CD.

hphmon03 " 2504K
hpztsb04 " 2088K
WFXSNT40 " 1196K
WFXSWTCH " 1216K

I'm not sure about these 4 programs.

Navapw32 " 4692K

Antivirus program. Defiantly turn it off when burning CDs.

mm_tray " 1712K
DellMMKb " 2772K

You should be able to turn both off. You may lose some extra functions on your keyboard like email or internet button but they are not needed for CD burnings.

WkUFind " 748K

???

EXPLORER " 16492K

Leave it on.

VideoImp " 208K (Open only - no creation)
NOPDB SYSTEM 2264K
nsvc32 " 912K

???

NPROTECT " 3880K
Navapsvc " 1412K

Both also part of antivirus programs so you can turn them off

Nhksrv " 900K

???

SPOOLSV " 4180K
SVCHOST LOCAL SERVICE 3160K
SVCHOST NETWORK SERVICE 2384K

Internet and networking. Turn it off.

TASKMGR Dad 3480K

The Task Manager. Just close the Task Manager window after closing all unneeded programs.

SVCHOST SYSTEM 14804K
SVCHOST " 3260K

More of internet and networking functions.

LSASS " 1112K
SERVICES " 2772K

???

OSD Dad 2036K

On screen display. Not needed.

WINLOGIN SYSTEM 1320K

Leave it on.

CSRSS " 2720K
SMSS " 348K
WkCalRem Dad 1156K

???

System SYSTEM 220K
SystemIdleProcess " 20K

The last 2 needs to stay on. Idle process only shows the available processing power. If it still reads low, you might have a hidden background program somewhere.

And everything will be restored automatically when you restart so you can safely turn off many just to burn CDs. Then reboot to get all of the functions restored.

[shiver24]

You shouldn't be running out of memory with 512MB of Ram. You really should check your virtual memory settings.

I have my swap file set up on a SCSI drive to increase my performance. You may want to checkinto doing this as well. In general you will notice a big difference if you move your swap file to a different physical hard drive than the drive you are actually editing or encoding your video on.

You should generally keep your virtual memory set at twice your actual physical ram size. This means that if you have 512MB of Ram in your computer then you should have a minimum of 512MB and a maximum of 1024MB of vitual memory.

In XP, you can adjust this from your control panel. You must be the administrator or have admin rights in XP!!!

From the control panel:
1) Double-Click on the system icon.
2) Click on the Advanced Tab.
3) Click on the top Settings Button in the performance section.
4) Click on the Advanced tab.
5) Make sure that Processor scheduling and memory usage are set to programs
6) The bottom section is where the virtual memory settings are located, click on the change button in the virtual memory section
7) At the top of the window is a list of all your hard drives, choose the one that contains your swap file (page file)
8) Make your adjustments to the swap file in the middle section and click on the set button after you are done.
9) the bottom will show you the total size of your virtual memory
10) Like I said above, if you work on your video files on the C: dive then put your swap file on another drive. If you don't have another drive then you will have to use your C: Drive.

Optional(If you are really looking for performance):On the visual effects tab, select Adjust for best performance

My setup-
I store my video files on my V: drive and work on them on my W: drive and have my swap file on E: drive while windows XP is on my C: drive. This may seem extreme but I can load 2 hours of video from my camcorder and convert it to a VCD in about an hour. My system is a Athlon 850mhz, 392MB Ram, 20GB, 20GB, 4GBSCSI, 120GB, 80GB. I will even watch another video, download from Kazaa, burn a CD, and encode from AVI to MPEG at the same time.

Repost if you are having problems with your memory.

Good Luck!!
Shiver24

[oldguy]

4/8/02
impmon2 & shiver24

Thanks much for the info -- I'll use your suggestions. Nice to have knowledgeable folks around.
Regards,
Oldguy

[druss2001]

I may be able to shed some light on some of the processes:

hphmon03
hpztsb04

Do you have an HP printer? These look like part of the HP printing system.

wfxsnt40
wfxswtch

Do you have WinFax installed? It may have come with a modem. Looks like WinFax services.

Nprotect
Navapsvc

Nprotec is your Norton Recycle Bin protection. The second file is part of Norton Anti-virus.


HTH,
Dave

[mrebman]

Do yourself a Favor, Junk that Easy CD Creator, It S***s for doing Videos! Get yourself a copy of Nero 5.5, I have done LOTS of Video Burns with Nero & Never had a coaster & always works good. You can pick up a brand New OEM copy of Nero 5.5 on Ebay for only like $16, you can't beat it for Video Work!
-Mike-

[oldguy]

impmon2:
Turned off the processes you suggested. When I turned off SVCHOST SYSTEM, I got an error message and the PC shutdown. Should I not turn off System processes?

shiver24:
Changed Virtual Memory to 1024 and selected Adjust for Best Performance as you suggested. Attempted to create the following video in Video Impression: 231 JPEG images averaging 400K, 10 audio tracks, 7 second interval and text (titles) on 60% of images. I ran out of memory at exactly the same place as before I made the changes (image 180 with text on 108 of them). After shutting down, I then created the same file without the text, saved it (47 minutes) burned it, and played it on my DVD/TV without problem (play time 27 minutes). It appears that Text eats up gobs of memory -- do you know if this is true?

druss2001:
Yes, I have a HP Printer and WinFax. Thanks for the info.

mrebman: (Mike)
I've seen other posts of those liking Nero 5.5 for video-- I'm not familiar with it but plan to check it out. Will it allow me to do the things indicated above? I would like to be able to add Text to some images but it appears it may be prohibitive if it does use large memory resources. I really don't want to have to add more memory or drives if avoidable. Thanks for the tip.

All: Appreciate your help.
oldguy