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Comments on: Reclaim your RAM

We've been longtime fans of RAMBooster at CNET Download.com, but it's not the only RAM cleaner out there. Here are two other options in case that perennial favorite is causing more problems than it's worth.

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by kingsmind April 1, 2008 7:02 PM PDT: Another good program is FreeRam XP Pro. It shows the amount of memory that is free right in the quick launch bar. I don't know if the other ones listed here do that though.; Like this Reply to this comment


by AussieRodney April 1, 2008 11:55 PM PDT: I install Cacheman from Outer Technologies on every machine that I run up. Apart from being able to recover used RAM, automatically or on demand, it also displays one or two windows in the toolbar, containing such essential data as RAM free & CPU usage.

And it's free.; Like this Reply to this comment


by chettyharish April 2, 2008 6:07 AM PDT: i got 3gb ram so i hardly think abut it; Like this Reply to this comment


by yoko bono April 2, 2008 8:17 AM PDT: Why isn't FreeRam XP Pro mentioned here?; Like this Reply to this comment


by JonathansToolBar&Grill April 2, 2008 8:21 AM PDT: I have tried lots of these programs, most showing little or no benefit, and my vote goes to Instant Memory Cleaner. I explained my reasons, and how IMC works, quite recently in post #62 (15 March) of my utilities blog.

I hope this is helpful.; Like this Reply to this comment

by Software Tester April 2, 2008 10:51 AM PDT

These programs only slow down you computer instead of speeding it up. I have tried all the free ones and some paid for ones dont waste your time with these programs. All you have to do is have a good antivirus I like the Internet Security ones and a good antispyware program and defrag your computer regularly. Adding more memory is always a good idea if you have the extra cash to do so but anyway this is what I do and it works for me.

Like this Reply to this comment


by Lerianis May 26, 2008 11:46 PM PDT: You are right on the money there. All of these programs only take up memory on your computer and give you NO benefit for that.... don't even BOTHER with them, just UPGRADE YOUR DANG MEMORY!
I shopped around for my notebook, and it was only about 100 dollars to TOTALLY upgrade the memory to 4GB's. ANYONE should be able to afford that for something that you will only have to do ONCE in the life of your notebook computer.
It was even LESS for my parent's computer. I found 4GB's of memory in a 4 pack of 1GB's sticks for less than 80 dollars.; Like this


by jdbell63 April 2, 2008 3:06 PM PDT: Hi there. I love free programs. I would have to agree with Software Tester here though. I have used many ram claiming programs myself. At first they seem to do the job, but after some time my machines seem to get slower and slower. This was prior to my purchasing my current Vista machine, 3GB RAM and 1GB ReadyBoost USB. Nothing really to complain about but hey, I might just give one of these a go anyhow.; Like this Reply to this comment


by Golden swan April 2, 2008 3:45 PM PDT: I have been using freeramXPpro for over 3 years and its a fantistic program the fact that it hasnt been updated for 2 years is testament to the programmers of the software.. it cant get any better...Im actually suprised that you didnt metion it as you can dowload it from cnet downloads..

I recommend it for all XP users holding onto XP before the big switch to vista..; Like this Reply to this comment


by nightt_wolf April 3, 2008 3:56 AM PDT: don know wat 2 say; Like this Reply to this comment

by hexpunK April 3, 2008 5:24 AM PDT

Having just 1GB of RAM on windows vista, and not having the money to upgrade (but I do know what sort I want/need) means my PC is vulnerable to constant slowdowns, even playing Half Life 2 can cause lag, and that has one of the most performance friendly game engines I have ever seen. So, are any of these programs any good for Vista? and if so which would give me the best increase in performance if any that is.

Like this Reply to this comment


by Lerianis May 26, 2008 11:48 PM PDT: Don't bother with these programs. The only thing that is going to make your computer move faster is upgrading the memory, period and done with.; Like this


by Lerianis May 26, 2008 11:49 PM PDT: Don't bother with these programs. The only thing that is going to make your computer move faster is upgrading the memory, period and done with.; Like this


by scorpion_1980 April 3, 2008 8:16 AM PDT: thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx; Like this Reply to this comment


by jdbell63 April 3, 2008 10:35 AM PDT: Hi again. To be fair after my last comment I installed RAM Idle LE on my WinXP machine. Minutes later while opening windows and programs my PC was slower than my old Win95 machine! Remember those? Task manager didn't give me any info, I couldn't even log off reboot nothing because of such a slow response time. I had to force quit the program and immediately uninstall. Learned my lesson again. No ram software crap for me!; Like this Reply to this comment


by andrewbaggins April 3, 2008 5:11 PM PDT: Windows 98 shortcoming was that it allowed memory leaks so restarts were necessary to avoid frequent freezeups or crashes. Windows XP is supposed to have cured that problem, automatically recovering memory when needed by another program or task. However, a search of Windows XP Knowledgebase reveals two dozen or more situations where memory leaks may occur. This suggests that a memory optimise/recovery program could help improve performance. On the other hand, I've used Windows XP with Service Pack 2 for several years on several different computers with very, very few freezeups or crashes as long as they have 512MB of memory or more installed. Perhaps a work station computer doing heavy multi-tasking with lots of Remote Procedure Calls, etc. is more vulnerable to memory leaks, but typical home computers rarely experience such problems as far as I know.; Like this Reply to this comment


by Dango517 April 3, 2008 10:09 PM PDT: Currently, I'm using WinCleaner Memory Optimizer. I've used many Memory optimizers and this one works very well. After a problem with FreeRam XP Pro I was forced to switch and this is the program I settled on. The program works well and can free up 1600 MB of my 2000 MB (2 GB).RAM This maybe one of the few free programs to free this much RAM. The user interface is simple and direct yet it gets the job done. My OS is Vista Business. I'd rate it very good, four out of five stars.

RAM memory leaks, data bits literally fall out of them, this is a fact. A truly good one is hard to find but keep trying till you get one that works for you.; Like this Reply to this comment


by firefoxluva95 April 6, 2008 7:49 PM PDT: It is good for your system to consume most of your RAM. If not used properly, these programs could hamper performance, not increase it. You should only use these programs if your system uses up most of your RAM and starts hanging. If your system doesn't hang, let it use the RAM. This was useful when I had 1GB of RAM on Vista Home Premium because I was frequently out of RAM. However, I lost the need for these programs after upgrading to 2 GB. Be careful and good luck at performancing your PC.; Like this Reply to this comment


by Siegfried Schtauffen April 15, 2008 8:03 PM PDT: These programs SLOW the computer down by forcing cached data to be saved to disk. They free the RAM, true, but they miss the point as to why the memory is being used. Don't use them!; Like this Reply to this comment


by Rádi Pál April 16, 2008 4:22 AM PDT: RAM / advanced Windows Care 3 beta1.1 smart ram /auto on/off /this is smart ram advanced Windows Care 2.71/my name is pal/; Like this Reply to this comment


by GRAND BOY May 26, 2008 3:45 AM PDT: I have a dell inspiron6400 windows vista with 1gb ram and a 120gb hrddrive.... Im like a sixteen yaer old witha crappy computer... My computer is so slow that I ahve to wait until the next century for it to restart or shutdown and my mediaplayer is like the slowest turtle ever! My media player never opens quickly and all programs make my computer laggy what should I do and do you people even read these comments I mean I never heard anyone responding to them! Contact me on shehryarkhan1991@hotmail.com I wnt a freewre software devloped for speeding up my computer atlest upto a decent speed....; Like this Reply to this comment