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109 lines
3.7 KiB
109 lines
3.7 KiB
15 years ago
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<?xml version="1.0" ?>
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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN"
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"dtd/kdex.dtd" [
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<!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
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<!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE" > <!-- change language only here -->
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]>
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<article lang="&language;">
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<title>Memory Information</title>
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<articleinfo>
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<authorgroup>
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<author>&Mike.McBride;</author>
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<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
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</authorgroup>
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<date>2002-02-13</date>
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<releaseinfo>3.00.00</releaseinfo>
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<keywordset>
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<keyword>KDE</keyword>
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<keyword>KControl</keyword>
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<keyword>memory</keyword>
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<keyword>system information</keyword>
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</keywordset>
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</articleinfo>
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<sect1>
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<title>Memory Information</title>
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<para>This module displays the current memory usage. It is updated
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constantly, and can be very useful for pinpointing bottlenecks when certain
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applications are executed.</para>
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<sect2 id="memory-intro">
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<title>Memory Types</title>
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<para>The first thing you must understand, is there are two types of
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<quote>memory</quote>, available to the operating system and the programs
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that run within it.</para>
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<para>The first type, is called physical memory. This is the memory located
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within the memory chips, within your computer. This is the
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<acronym>RAM</acronym> (for Random Access Memory) you bought when you
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purchased your computer.</para>
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<para>The second type of memory, is called virtual or swap memory. This
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block of memory, is actually space on the hard drive. The operating
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system reserves a space on the hard drive for <quote>swap space</quote>.
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The operating system can use this virtual memory (or swap space), if it
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runs out of physical memory. The reason this is called
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<quote>swap</quote> memory, is the operating system takes some data that
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it doesn't think you will want for a while, and saves that to disk in
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this reserved space. The operating system then loads the new data you
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need right now. It has <quote>swapped</quote> the not needed data, for
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the data you need right now. Virtual or swap memory is not as fast as
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physical memory, so operating systems try to keep data (especially often
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used data), in the physical memory.</para>
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<para>The total memory, is the combined total of physical memory and
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virtual memory.</para>
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</sect2>
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<sect2 id="memory-use">
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<title>Memory Information Module</title>
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<para>This window is divided into a top and bottom section</para>
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<para>The top section shows you the total physical memory, total free
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physical memory, shared memory, and buffered memory.</para>
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<para>All four values are represented as the total number of bytes, and
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as the number of megabytes (1 megabyte = slightly more than 1,000,000
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bytes)</para>
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<para>The bottom section shows you three graphs: </para>
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<itemizedlist>
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<listitem><para><guilabel>Total Memory</guilabel> (this is the combination of physical and virtual memory).</para></listitem>
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<listitem><para><guilabel>Physical Memory</guilabel></para></listitem>
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<listitem><para>Virtual memory, or <guilabel>Swap Space</guilabel>.</para></listitem>
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</itemizedlist>
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<para>The green areas are free, and the red areas are used.</para>
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<tip><para>The exact values of each type of memory are not critical, and
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they change regularly. When you evaluate this page, look at
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trends.</para>
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<para>Does your computer have plenty of free space (green areas)? If
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not, you can increase the swap size or increase the physical
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memory.</para>
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<para>Also, if your computer seems sluggish: is your physical memory
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full, and does the hard drive always seem to be running? This suggests
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that you do not have enough physical memory, and your computer is
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relying on the slower virtual memory for commonly used data. Increasing
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your physical memory will improve the responsiveness of your
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computer.</para></tip>
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</sect2>
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</sect1>
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</article>
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