WINside Help Contents
WINside Demo Version

Help Contents

Understanding the Resources of Windows™

How To...

View the Resources	Free Memory	Terminate an application

Menu Commands

Statistics	Compact	Options	Informations


Understanding the Resources of Windowsä
Understanding the Resources of Windows™

The WINside monitors four different Windows resources: USER resources, GDI resources, global memory, and disk space.

USER and GDI System Resources

The term USER resources refers to the heap space available to the Windows USER module (that is, USER.EXE, which is one of the core files containing the Windows system code). Windows uses this memory area to store data for program windows and menus. It contains the Windows manager and the messaging subsystem, on which applications that run in the Windows environment are founded. It also manages menus, controls, dialog boxes, timers and many other general services. The percentage of free USER resources decreases as programs create new windows and menus.

The term GDI resources refers to the heap space available to the Windows GDI module (that is, GDI.EXE, which is another of the Windows core files; it contains the code that supports the Windows graphics device interface). This area is used to store data for GDI objects (fonts, brushes, pens, bitmaps, and regions) as well as device context handles. GDI provides the visual link between Windows and the outside world. It manages the display and other output devices by communicating with device drivers. These device drivers can be display drivers or printer drivers. The percentage of free GDI resources decreases as programs create GDI objects and obtain device context handles for displaying text or graphics on devices.

It is important to monitor the percent of free USER and GDI resources; if one or both of these resources falls to a low level, you may get an unexpected out-of-memory error message, or Windows programs may fail in various ways without warning. Note that the total amount of space available for these resources is fixed under a particular version of Windows; the space does not depend upon the amount of memory installed in the machine. Therefore, even if you have a large amount of memory, the number of programs you can run may be limited by the available USER and GDI resources.

Note

The system resources percent that Windows reports when you choose the About command from the Program Manager or the File Manager is either the percent of free USER resources or the percent of free GDI resources, whichever is currently lower.

Global Memory

Global memory is the total amount of memory in your system. Free global memory is the amount of memory currently available for loading Windows and DOS applications and for providing global memory allocations that are requested by Windows programs.

If you are running Windows in Standard mode, the total global memory reported by the WINside is the total amount of physical memory--Conventional plus Extended--that is installed in your machine, and the free global memory is the amount of physical memory that is still available.

If, however, you are running Windows in 386 Enhanced mode, the total global memory reported by the WINside  is the total size of the virtual memory space provided by the Windows virtual memory manager (VMM), and the free global memory is the amount of virtual memory that is still available. By using a swap file (temporary or permanent) the virtual memory manager is able to create an effective memory space that is considerably larger than the amount of physical memory installed in your machine.

Note 1

The memory amount that Windows reports when you choose the About command in the Windows Program Manager or File Manager is the same as the amount of free global memory reported by the WINside

Note 2

The Compact memory command of the WINside is useful only for the Windows 3.x versions; because in Windows95 version the mode of memory is 386ench by default.

Disk Space

Finally, the WINside  reports the total amount of space, as well as the amount of free space, on any disk (floppy or hard) that is installed in your machine. You can choose the Select Disk command on the Options menu to select the disk that is monitored.


How to View the Resources

The WINside  provides four different ways to view the resources that it keeps track of.

First, the main program window provides a bar chart indicating the free percentage of each resource. The percentage of the resource that is currently free is printed above each bar. Also, the position of the horizontal black line within the bar visually indicates the free percent: if the line is at the top, the resource is 100% free, and if it is at the bottom, the resource is completely exhausted.

If, as the resource is depleted, the black line descends into the warning level at the bottom of the bar, the program beeps and displays a warning message (you can adjust the height of the warning level by choosing the Set Warning Levels command on the Options menu). The WINside  will generate the warning even if it is not the active program and even if it has been reduced to an icon. After the warning appears, you can take action to replenish the depleted resource before problems arise. If you are out of USER or GDI system resources or system memory, you might terminateone or more applications. If you are out of global memory, you might terminate applications or attempt to release memory using the commands on the Compact menu. If you are out of disk space, you might back up and delete unnecessary files.

As a second method of viewing resources, you can view more detailed information on a particular resource by choosing one of the commands on the Statistics menu, or by clicking on one of the bars displayed in the main window. The Statistics dialog box will appear, showing the total amount of the resource, the amount free, the amount used, as well as the percents free and used.

Note

When viewing the USER and GDI resources, you should pay more attention to the free percents than the free amounts. The WINside  obtains the percent values directly from Windows; it then calculates the free amounts by assuming that the total amount of free GDI resources is 64KB (since the GDI module uses a single heap and the maximum size of a memory segment that can contain a heap is 64KB), and it assumes that the total amount of free USER resources is 128KB (since the USER module uses two heaps, one for program windows and one for menus).

Third, when you minimize the WINside  window, the program icon displays a bar for one of the resources. You can designate the particular resource that is shown by choosing one of the items on the Icon Shows: submenu of the Options menu.

The last way of viewing one the resources is to press the appropriate resource button above the bar chart. Then the relative statistics dialog box will appear on the screen

Tip

If you choose the Always on Top feature on the Options menu, the program icon will remain visible even if another window is placed over it. You can then easily monitor the level of a particular resource. Of course, you can move the icon to whatever position on the screen suits your needs at the moment.


How to Free Memory

(This option works only to the registered version)

You might be able to increase the amount of free global memory by choosing one of the commands on the Compact menu.

If you choose the Compact Memory command, Windows will rearrange global memory to provide larger blocks of contiguous memory and at the same time it will eliminate discardable memory segments. This command is especially useful when running Windows in Standard mode, which does not provide a large virtual memory space.

You can choose the Free Clipboard command to free the contents of the Clipboard, thereby freeing global memory (Clipboard data items are stored in global memory segments). If the Clipboard contains data when you choose this command, the program asks you to confirm that you want to erase the data.


Statistics Menu Commands

These commands display statistics on the resource, including the amount and percentage of the resource that is free, and the amount and percentage of the resource that is used.

A.	USER Resources...

B.	GDI Resources...

C.	Global Memory...

D.	Disk Space


Compact Menu Commands

(This option works only to the registered version)

These commands may enable you to increase the amount of free global memory.

Compact Memory

Rearranges global memory to provide larger blocks of contiguous memory, and eliminates discardable memory segments.

Free Clipboard

Releases the contents of the Clipboard, thereby freeing global memory.


Options Menu Commands

Set Warning Levels...

Displays the Set Warning Levels dialog box, which allows you to set the resource levels that revitalize warning messages.

Select Disk Drive Disk...

Displays the Select Disk Drive dialog box, which allows you to choose the disk that is monitored.

Set Update Frequency...

Displays the Set Update Frequency dialog box, which allows you to specify how frequently the program checks the resource levels.

Icon Shows:

Choose one of the items on this submenu to specify which resource is displayed when the program window is minimized.

Always on Top

Enable this option to force Windows to display the WINside  window or icon on top of other windows, even when it is inactive.


Set Warning Levels Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to specify the free percentage of each resource that will cause the WINside  to issue a warning. For example, if you set the warning level for global memory to 20%, the program will warn you when the amount of free global memory first goes below 20%; also, the warning level area will fill the bottom 20% of the bar for the global memory resource in red color. If you assign a warning level value of -1, the WINside  will not issue a warning (even if the resource level goes to 0), and the warning level area will be removed from the bar.


Select Disk Drive Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to choose the disk drive that is to be monitored. You can select any of the drives--floppy or hard--that are installed on your system.


Set Update Frequency Dialog Box

This dialog box allows you to specify the number of seconds that elapse between each time the WINside  checks the resources and updates the bar chart. You may enter a value between 1 second and 60 seconds. Specifying a small duration causes the WINside  to monitor the resources more closely. Specifying a large duration saves overhead. If you are monitoring disk space on a floppy disk, you will probably want to enter a large value, since the program spins the disk each time it checks for free space


WINside
WINside - Demo Version

The WINside is a software package developed by Wired Software ltd.It gives the user the ability to treat hard Windows problems, such as the low resource problem. Since there in no better solution available in our days than warn the user when the system will not able to meet the user resource requirements in a proper and safety way, the Authors of the WINside developed their program in a way that continuously inspects the Windows resources in an accurate and sophisticated manner.

Furthermore, it gives the user the ability to get deeper into the Windows resource system and learn what happens behind the scenes. The informations provided by the WINside can be used in many different ways. The most important one is to decide which application to terminatein order to generate additional memory. After the user makes his decision the WINside allow him to terminatethe application within the WINside, in a very simple and precise way.

Finally, the WINside have the potential to increase the amount of free memory either by compacting global memory or by releasing the contents of the clipboard.

Additional Informations:

   Order


Terminate an application

(This option works only to the registered version)

To terminate an application you have to press the Terminate Application Button from the Consumption list dialog box. Then WINside  enters in a message box based loop asking the user for confirmation of deletion for each of concurrent applications encountered

.


Informations Menu Commands

(This option works only to the registered version)

List of applications

Displays the concurrent application with their relative paths

Consumption List

Displays the size of each concurrent application. This size refers to the applications .EXE file and it is indicative for the overall size of the application. You can use this number in order to decide which application to terminate for generating additional memory

Technical Informations

Displays all the technical Informations about the Windows™ memory. You can obtain informations such as the size of the memory page, the size of the Windows™ swap file etc.


Path of an application

(This option works only to the registered version)

The path of an application is specified by the location in the systems storage unit of the executable applications file. As an example if you have installed and an application called MYAPP the executable file of it's might be MYAPP.EXE. So, the path is the location in the storage unit (usually hard disk) of the MYAPP.EXE file.

The path can be as 256 characters long and can contain directories and subdirectories. As an example the C:\APP\TEST\MYAPP.EXE could be the path of the MYAPP.EXE file.


Wired software ltd.

This software package is developed as an ultimate Windows utility, that deals with hard problems such as the resources consumption problem. Wired Software ltd. is a software developing company which makes Windows utilities programs that help native users as well as high end users to treat problems that may occur during their Windows session.


Authors

The Authors of the WINside are software developers with experience at the Windows programming scheme. They have deep knowledge of the advantages and the disadvantages of the operating system which has change the standards in computing. On the other hand their first touch with the Windows system and their programs was from their software programs reviews as technical editors at several specialized computer magazines. They encourage any new ideas and suggestions that will give them the potential to develop new utilities.


Order

The order form of the program can be found at the following address: http:\\www.eexi.gr\~ykalfog\wired.htm

The process of ordering the registered version is as follows:

First you have to fill the order form of the program you choose.

This order form must be send via e-mail to the following address: ykalfog@aurora.eexi.gr

Then you have to send $30 with international postal cheque payable to:

Yannis Kalfoglou

Wired Software ltd.

10, Dionissiou Areopagitou str.

GR-10558

Athens - GREECE

Finally, please allow us a minimal delay until the reception of the payment and consequently we will send you the registered program via Internet to your e-mail address.

Any queries or suggestions can be send at the following e-mail address: ykalfog@aurora.eexi.gr