Newbie questions re: RAM upgrade and undeletable files

[ElJimador]

Hi folks. I just started working w/HD video files recently and I'm afraid I must have overtaxed my setup. I had MakeMKV decrypting a BD, Handbrake converting another file from M2TS MKV to H264 MP4, and AVCHDCoder authoring an ISO from an H264 MKV, all at the same time and left them running overnight to find in the morning a BSOD telling me there was a memory dump and that I should check for "faulty or mismatched memory". Although I followed all the advised steps and the BIOS memory check came back OK, I still ordered from Crucial a RAM upgrade from my current 6GB to 16 hoping that will prevent the problem going forward. So that's my first question: is it likely that only 6GB RAM really was the culprit and that 16GB will be sufficient for this kind of work going forward? Because that's the max RAM my laptop will allow and it would seem a waste to have a "quad core" i7 if I can't get it to process 3 projects like that at the same time without it crashing.

Second question is that the crash left on the network drive to my NAS (WD MyBookLive) a couple of partial files that I can't find any way to delete -- one for the BD that MakeMKV was decrypting and the other for the file that Handbrake was converting. I tried deleting through CMD in Safe Mode and with the explorer.exe process turned off and it still tells me that the files can't be deleted because they are being used by another process. So then I uninstalled all the tools I mentioned so far + ImgBurn and the other programs AVCHDCoder uses in background (AviSynth, Haali, etc) and downloaded Unlocker and LockHunter to try those also. Nothing works. So any other suggestions on how to delete those? Or failing that, does anyone see a risk if if I move all the other files that are currently in those folders out and then just rename and permanently hide those folders? The files were ripped from a BD and DVD that I own so I'm not really worried about any virus. I just don't want them to be a constant drag on my performance if they really are tapping some system process that doesn't need to be running.

Appreciate any feedback. Thanks!

[jagabo]

It's more likely the CPU or some other component overheated.

Files on your NAS are opened by the NAS. Reboot it.

[ElJimador]

It's more likely the CPU or some other component overheated.

Files on your NAS are opened by the NAS. Reboot it.

Thanks. I should have mentioned that the BSOD also gave me an error code relating to the Intel Graphics driver which I also upgraded to the latest version after the crash. Unfortunately it's integrated instead of a stand alone graphics card or I'd consider more of an upgrade than that. So if that's the bottleneck I guess I'll just have to live with it and stick to just 1 or 2 of these programs running simultaneously going forward.

I'll also reboot the NAS and see what I can do to delete the files that way. I was just hoping there would be a way to do it through Windows since I've had some issues w/the NAS and w/WD support in the past.

[jagabo]

Laptops are notorious for overheating when taxed. Try adding a notebook cooler.

Since the computer crashed with open files on the NAS the NAS still has those files open, waiting for the programs to close them. Shutting down the NAS (don't just unplug the power, go through it's shutdown procedure) will close the files. When it boots again they will no longer be open and you'll be able to delete them.

[jman98]

Your PC details do not say WHICH version of Win 7 you have, so I want to point out that 32 bit versions of Windows cannot access more than 4 GB of memory. If you have a 32 bit version of Win 7, then increasing the memory won't help.

Your motherboard may have requirements such as it may have 4 memory slots that are arranged in 2 groups of 2 and each pair must contain the same kind and size of memory. You could have bad memory or it's actually fine but not installed correctly. You can use Crucial's site to get more info on how your memory needs to be installed.

I have seen files that simply cannot be deleted under Windows, but you can try using the NAS to try to remove them. I have a friend who brought me an XP laptop to work on and there were some files on it that I could not get removed by anything, not even by booting a Linux live distribution CD. If you can't get rid of them after you bring up the NAS, you may try searching for software programs that can delete files under Windows that resist deletion. In my case I think I ended up just shrugging and telling him there was nothing I could do about those files as I didn't want to buy special software to try to get rid of them and he didn't offer to pay for it either.

[ElJimador]

Laptops are notorious for overheating when taxed. Try adding a notebook cooler.

Since the computer crashed with open files on the NAS the NAS still has those files open, waiting for the programs to close them. Shutting down the NAS (don't just unplug the power, go through it's shutdown procedure) will close the files. When it boots again they will no longer be open and you'll be able to delete them.

Excellent tips. Thanks jagabo. Stupid that something as simple as a laptop cooler never occured to me but I mostly use my laptop at my desk and until I started playing around with these video files I never did anything where overheating seemed like much of a concern.

[ElJimador]

Your PC details do not say WHICH version of Win 7 you have, so I want to point out that 32 bit versions of Windows cannot access more than 4 GB of memory. If you have a 32 bit version of Win 7, then increasing the memory won't help.

Your motherboard may have requirements such as it may have 4 memory slots that are arranged in 2 groups of 2 and each pair must contain the same kind and size of memory. You could have bad memory or it's actually fine but not installed correctly. You can use Crucial's site to get more info on how your memory needs to be installed.

I have seen files that simply cannot be deleted under Windows, but you can try using the NAS to try to remove them. I have a friend who brought me an XP laptop to work on and there were some files on it that I could not get removed by anything, not even by booting a Linux live distribution CD. If you can't get rid of them after you bring up the NAS, you may try searching for software programs that can delete files under Windows that resist deletion. In my case I think I ended up just shrugging and telling him there was nothing I could do about those files as I didn't want to buy special software to try to get rid of them and he didn't offer to pay for it either.

I have 64 bit Win 7 and the laptop has 2 memory slots which will take up to 8GB each. Per the responses so far it sounds like lack of RAM may not have had anything to do with the BSOD but if that's the case I still don't regret ordering the memory upgrade from Crucial. I had considered it when I got the laptop last year and bought the Crucial 128GB SSD to move the SATA drive that it came with to the 2nd hard drive bay. It's been a great mix having SSD speed but w/the extra local storage of the SATA and I figure no matter what more RAM certainly can't hurt.

I'll see how it goes deleting the files through the NAS but if it comes to it I think I'd rather just hide those folders than download any more special software to try to delete them, especially if it's not freeware. It's just an annoyance more than anything I guess. Anyway, thanks for the feedback.

[jagabo]

I'll see how it goes deleting the files through the NAS but if it comes to it I think I'd rather just hide those folders than download any more special software to try to delete them

Again, the NAS is in control of those files. Until the NAS allows it no Software on your laptop will be able to delete them.

[ElJimador]

I'll see how it goes deleting the files through the NAS but if it comes to it I think I'd rather just hide those folders than download any more special software to try to delete them

Again, the NAS is in control of those files. Until the NAS allows it no Software on your laptop will be able to delete them.

Yep, you were right. All I needed to do was reboot the NAS and they deleted no problem.

I love after reading these forums a while but never posting my first tech support question is answered correctly with REBOOT. LOL.