On Tue, 18 Jan 2011 07:30:04 -0500, Jeff Thies
wrote:

On 1/17/2011 9:04 PM, Higgs Boson wrote:
On Jan 17, 1:09 pm, wrote:
Higgs Boson wrote:
(Of course it isn't just the *computer* that has low memory these
days...g)

But seriously, could anyone give me a heads-up as to the least
expensive way to deal with this problem?

For the past 'n' weeks, I've been getting a pop-up at the lower r.h.
corner of the screen with HUGE flame-like chart visuals and a message
"High memory usage by Firefox". It used to create more virtual
memory, but that has stopped, so maybe the End Is Nigh? Am I heading
for a crash? First time I have run into this, so not a clue.

I just installed a new app (Norton Ghost - successor to GoBack), and
got the message that my memory was too low to run certain functions of
Ghost.

Yes, I can go out& buy new memory $$$, but I suspect something else
is at play. My modest usage is not a memory hog. What could be
draining virtual memory to this extent?

Would appreciate any input.

The message does NOT come from the operating system, it is a construct of an
application program (possibly Firefox).

Try using Internet Explorer for a while and see if the problem disappears.

That's probably a good idea anyway; Firefox has been known to give your cat
warts. (If you don't have a cat, you'll probably be okay. Except for the
flames, of course.)

The reason given meoriginally NOT to use IE was that it "leaked" more
than others. Is that true? Any test data on that -- not anecdotal?
Any data on that?

IE has a long history of memory leaks on certain javascript DOM calls.
That may, or may not be an issue depending on what is on the web page
you are viewing. Mostly this is mitigated by both MS and the people who
write problematic code, but not entirely.

It does use substantially less memory than FF, that is probably
because it is more tightly integrated in.

I'm a web programmer/developer. I do not like IE, none of us do
(buggy and incomplete implementation of web standards). But on a minimal
system, IE will work where FF will have problems.

With all that said, it really is Norton causing the trouble, not FF.

Jeff




TIA

HB


Hey!!! A kindred spirit???
Norton USED to be the best you could get. Norton Utilities was the
best disk editor, back when Peter Norton WAS Norton.The early Norton
AntiVirus was precedent setting.
But today there are so many products that are SO MUCH better than
Norton's offering - particularly in how little they interfere with the
real business of "computing"
Norton products today just get in the way of everything, consuming
resources in prodigious ammounts.