SSD Low Memory Error?

[mccoady]

I bought this my first SSD drive about 2 1/2 years ago http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820147138

I put it in an older Dell Studio 15 (1535) laptop with an Intel T5750 Processor, 3GB's of RAM and Windows 7 Home. This is used mainly for browsing the net but I have Office, etc. installed though don't feel I'm ever taxing the Processor... bought this drive 07/24/2012.

After doing some research at the time of purchase it was considered as one of the more stable SSD's but guess I'm just unlucky. Mine started randomly locking up shortly out of warranty... you have no choice but do a hard shutdown. Lately I've been getting this "Low on Memory" error screen doesn't matter what program is open and running it asks to close it/them.

1. First I've never had a low memory error screen before (maybe for 2 or 3 months) so do you think this is related to the laptop randomly locking up?

2. Since I probably need to replace the drive would you recommend going back with a SSD or go back to a regular HD...I can get by with a 128-256 GB? If I go back to an SSD I need something very stable at a great price. Recommendations?

3. Am I correct in my thinking that I can just replace the HD and still have a very useable laptop for my browsing needs rather than buying something new?

[nic2k4]

How much free space is there on that drive? If you're getting a low memory message you should check your virtual memory settings, it's probably best if you have it to managed by Windows. OTH, if the drive is full, that could account for all your problems. SSD's should always have at least 50% free space for long life and good performance.

[redwudz]

What size is the SSD? Your Newegg link is apparently broken. But I would guess also that there isn't enough free space. That will kill a SSD fairly quickly.

I wouldn't hesitate to replace it with a newer SSD of at least 120GB or more.
But you do have to carefully manage your free space when you only have one drive.

[mccoady]

Sorry about the link not working but it's a SAMSUNG 830 Series MZ-7PC256N/AM 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) Notebook Upgrade Kit http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147138

In researching when I bought I bought the drive I just realized it has a 3 year warranty so it still should be covered.

Ok the drive has 168 GB free out of 238 GB. I don't know much about virtual memory but I followed your link to check on it and it is set at 3069 MB. Is this a recommended setting?

The Samsung SSD has software called Samsung Magician which lists all the parameters of the drive although I understand very little of it. It does list the Drive Health Status as "Good" though. I started Magician to see what it listed and then did a OS Optimization which ran fine. Afterwards though my computer froze and I couldn't do anything and had to do hard shutdown.

I'm hoping someone can tell me if the hard drive freezing and low memory are connected and if one is causing the other? Even though the Health Drive Status is "Good" can the drive still be bad?

[newpball]

Sorry I must have missed something what does a "low memory" message have to do with an SSD hard disk?

Low memory to me means you simply do not have RAM memory for the tasks at hand.

By the way you completely wasted your money because you connected the SSD to a SATA I port.

[roma_turok]

What error message look like?
like this?:

Change Virtual Memory to Automatically manage paging file.. and restart computer

Also don't use OS Optimization in Samsung Magician software
they change Windows configuration, that may make problems
specially that change Virtual Memory:

[mccoady]

What error message look like?
like this?:

[Attachment 29422 - Click to enlarge]
Change Virtual Memory to Automatically manage paging file.. and restart computer

Also don't use OS Optimization in Samsung Magician software
they change Windows configuration, that may make problems
specially that change Virtual Memory:

[Attachment 29423 - Click to enlarge]

Yep that's the error screen ok I will have Windows Auto manage paging file and reboot. So is not having Windows manage them why I'm getting the low memory error?

Guess I don't know how to unuse the Samsung OS Optimization?

Also is the paging file thing also causing the laptop to lockup or is this a separate issue?

[newpball]

I suspect the problem is the obvious, a slow processor and too little memory.

Also the laptop is over 9 years old!

[mccoady]

I suspect the problem is the obvious, a slow processor and too little memory.

Also the laptop is over 9 years old!

Worked great for close to 1 1/2 - 2 years so I think you're wrong on this! It boots and loads programs pretty fast as long as I don't get an occasional lockup. By the way it's way faster than the regular HD that came with it. I did some asking around on computer forums before I bought the Samsung and most agreed it would be a worthwhile improvement with my laptop... they were right.

Yes it's an old computer but pretty fast with the SSD!

Now I hope we can get back to some helpful responses I would appreciate it!

[newpball]

Now I hope we can get back to some helpful responses I would appreciate it!

Frankly I think you do not want to hear the truth.

I think you want to hear this:

Your laptop is great, nothing wrong with it it is all due to this bad SSD, just throw new hard disk money at it you will be completely satisfied, you laptop will run as smooth and fast as can be!

Have it your way!

[mccoady]

No I come here quite a bit and have gotten a lot of good advice but apparently the ones that usually help are busy watching football (me included). Actually my laptop is closer to 6-7 years old and I think Samsung Magician is reading my SATA wrong because I believe it's a SATA 2.

Anyway I'll see if someone else chimes in never hurts to have a second opinion.

[racer-x]

Seriously I've held back ambitions about changing from Disk Type HDD to SSD because I've had reservations about the longevity of said SSD. This post helps re-enforce that belief. Thank you...

[mccoady]

Seriously I've held back ambitions about changing from Disk Type HDD to SSD because I've had reservations about the longevity of said SSD. This post helps re-enforce that belief. Thank you...

Racer-x I wouldn't base anything said here on whether or not to get a SSD. I'm not even sure my problem has anything to do with my SSD it could just as easily be a Windows issue.

[roma_turok]

Just curios what Speccy report on Used Transfer Mode:

[nic2k4]

Roma_Turok way to carry the football Mccoady, there's nothing wrong with your laptop and OS combination, you have more than enough memory to satisfy the OS' requirements. Setting the virtual memory to a fixed value can lead to the problem you had. You probably have a program with a memory leak, I remember seeing something about Chrome having it so bad that even 16GB of RAM wasn't enough. There was something about Samsung SSD having slowdown issues, all I can find is related to the 840 series and was fixed with a firmware update. Tom's forum has an informative thread on performance issues with the 830, worth the read. It seems the solution is to run the latest version of Samsung Magician.

[roma_turok]

Roma_Turok way to carry the football

I said "I just curious"
I think it just OS configuration
By the way, he not the only one who had problems after changing configuration with Samsung Magician:
http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/48/computer-technical-help/low-memory-after-installi...g-ssd-1403367/
http://superuser.com/questions/611402/disable-os-optimization-for-samsung-magician

[mccoady]

Roma_Turok way to carry the football Mccoady, there's nothing wrong with your laptop and OS combination, you have more than enough memory to satisfy the OS' requirements. Setting the virtual memory to a fixed value can lead to the problem you had. You probably have a program with a memory leak, I remember seeing something about Chrome having it so bad that even 16GB of RAM wasn't enough. There was something about Samsung SSD having slowdown issues, all I can find is related to the 840 series and was fixed with a firmware update. Tom's forum has an informative thread on performance issues with the 830, worth the read. It seems the solution is to run the latest version of Samsung Magician.

Thanks finally someone agreeing with me it has nothing to do with my computer being too old and not enough memory... just common sense for most people. I still don't know though if it's my SSD, program memory leak, or Windows issue and if the locking up and memory error are even connected.

Roma_turok's second link does maybe suggest the SSD & error message are linked although nothing being mentioned about computer lockups. I am running the latest Magician but I'm not entirely sure what the settings should be there seems to be disagreement by the experts on how some are set.

A little confused now on the paging files should it be set for Windows to manage or not?

[nic2k4]

Let Windows manage the virtual memory. The thread on Tom's Hardware forum I linked to mentioned something about deleting files to get TRIM to kick in, I only skimmed it so I'm short on details, that's your homework. BTW, don't these Dell Studio have a second drive bay? If it does get a spinning drive and move the page file to it. While you're there move your documents folder and Temp folder. That should reduce the writes to the drive and make it last longer.

[roma_turok]

Did you change to Automatically manage paging file.. and problems still exist?

[mccoady]

Yes I changed it so now it's a wait & see will report back. Thanks!

[Poppa_Meth]

I had the same issues with my new Samsung SSD. Magician sets page file size way too low. I put it is the mode closest to what I want and then tweak certain settings like page file size.

[fritzi93]

Yeah, if the page file is the source of the problem, Magician must have set the page file size pretty darn low, maybe even disabled it. I have the minimum and maximum page file size set to 800 MB and have never seen that message. But then again, I have 16 GB RAM, and McCoady has 3 GB. It would be silly to leave my page file size the same as physical RAM, which Windows 7 wants to do by default. (Doesn't XP want 1.5X RAM for page file?) Some people simply move the page file to a secondary hard drive, typically a platter drive. I don't see much point in that, you got the SSD to make your system faster, right?

One often repeated SSD optimization tip on various sites is to set the page file to a low fixed size (1024-2048 MB), both to save some wear on the SSD, and also to force Windows to use more RAM. Some folks even advocate disabling the page file, but others will caution that Windows wants to use at least some minimum size page file, whatever that is.

Here's a link that shows the wide divergence of opinion on this subject:

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232456

[Poppa_Meth]

Yeah this old machine has 4GB or RAM and Magician sets page file to 2000MB. I switched it to Windows Managed and no more memory errors.

[mccoady]

Yeah this old machine has 4GB or RAM and Magician sets page file to 2000MB. I switched it to Windows Managed and no more memory errors.

Poppa since I am now letting Windows manage the page file should I leave it at the default settings?

I am using Magican 4.5 and have the OS Optimization set to Maximum Performance what are your settings?

[Poppa_Meth]

I have it set to auto and it's allocated 4259 MB currently. 4GB of RAM is standard these days and 6-8 are becoming more common. I'd leave it at system managed for no more RAM than you have. Like fritzi93 said, if you have 16 GB it's pointless to have a huge page file, but at 3-4 GB a decent size page file will be put to good use.

[Poppa_Meth]

In Magician OS Optimization I have Advanced profile running the following.
Hibernate: Inactive
Virtual Memory: Windows Manged
Indexing: Active
Prefetch/Superfetch: Inactive
Write-cache buffer: active.

[fritzi93]

I agree: let Windows manage it and see. Your SSD is plenty big enough, and SSDs are exceptionally good at the small reads/writes of a page file.

I wonder if perhaps you have an old poorly written program with a memory leak?

[EDIT] Ah, I see nic2k4 already mentioned the possibility (probability?) of a memory leak.

[mccoady]

In Magician OS Optimization I have Advanced profile running the following.
Hibernate: Inactive
Virtual Memory: Windows Manged
Indexing: Active
Prefetch/Superfetch: Inactive
Write-cache buffer: active.

Thanks!

[Mephesto]

Dude turn indexing off, why the hell do you need that on an SSD? If you're worried about write cycles, that's the number one way to kill wear out your SSD.

[fritzi93]

Well, if you think you won't miss being able to search the drive, you can disable indexing. Or move it to another drive: Control Panel -> Indexing options -> Advanced.

That's another one of those things for which you can easily find arguments for both sides of the question. Do a search on "turn off indexing on ssd drive".