Windows Desktop Heap Tweak Guide Posted!

Dashken · 17th Jul 2005, 10:53 PM

Ever had problems opening or running applications even when your system has a LOT of free memory? Isn't it puzzling to get "Out Of Memory" errors when you evidently have a lot of free memory??

What you are actually facing is a lack of desktop heap! Today, we will show you just how to fix this annoying problem once and for all!

Link : Windows Desktop Heap Tweak Guide!

SAMSAMHA · 18th Jul 2005, 02:02 AM

nice article, very informative.

GarPhreak · 18th Jul 2005, 08:52 AM

Yup, informative, never even heard of the desktop heap before this!

A couple of questions:

1. What does it mean to "create more desktops" [point #5. in the Solution]? Isn't there only one desktop i.e. the one on the screen?

2. Why would there be an additional number in the SharedSection values? Opened up regedit on this college PC and found the values to be 1024,3072,512,512.

peaz · 18th Jul 2005, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarPhreak

Yup, informative, never even heard of the desktop heap before this!

A couple of questions:

1. What does it mean to "create more desktops" [point #5. in the Solution]? Isn't there only one desktop i.e. the one on the screen?

2. Why would there be an additional number in the SharedSection values? Opened up regedit on this college PC and found the values to be 1024,3072,512,512.

2. I think the fourth value is actually invalid. THere's no reference of a fourth value anywhere at all. i think it got there by an installation of an application that added a ",512" to that value which already had a thrid value.

Adrian Wong · 18th Jul 2005, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarPhreak

Yup, informative, never even heard of the desktop heap before this!

A couple of questions:

1. What does it mean to "create more desktops" [point #5. in the Solution]? Isn't there only one desktop i.e. the one on the screen?

2. Why would there be an additional number in the SharedSection values? Opened up regedit on this college PC and found the values to be 1024,3072,512,512.

1. What they mean by creating more desktops is referring to interactive desktops. For example, screensaver or a user login. Yes, even a screensaver is considered as a separate desktop.

For each user, Windows will create a separate desktop. Therefore, if you increase the amount of desktop heap, then fewer user logins can be created. This is because the total desktop heap must fit within the fixed 48MB system-wide buffer.

2. Yeah, I think that fourth value is invalid. As far as I can tell, only the first 3 values have any purpose.

GarPhreak · 19th Jul 2005, 12:58 AM

Thanx for the replies.

Still don't really understand the desktop thingy though.

Do screensavers only count as desktops while they're running? What other forms of interactive desktops are there? Isn't a larger desktop heap at the expense of creating fewer user logins not such a big deal? I mean, how many people are usually logged in to one PC anyway?

Adrian Wong · 19th Jul 2005, 01:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GarPhreak

Thanx for the replies.

Still don't really understand the desktop thingy though.

Do screensavers only count as desktops while they're running? What other forms of interactive desktops are there? Isn't a larger desktop heap at the expense of creating fewer user logins not such a big deal? I mean, how many people are usually logged in to one PC anyway?

Yes, I suppose the screensaver is only counted as a desktop when it runs.

There are three kinds of interactive desktops. You can check them out here - http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;EN-US;184802

Well, it's not a big deal for end-user machines. But remember, this is not a problem only for Windows XP. This problem affects Windows NT, Windows 2000 and even Windows Server 2003! So, increasing the desktop heap may not be a desirable option if you are running a server that needs to service many clients.

Bestia(ry) · 19th Jul 2005, 01:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Adrian Wong

... even Windows Server 2003!

True, true.
Modified the heap but it's still not enough to run 3DSMax, SolidWorks and SoftImage at the same time.

But that's not the guides fault, it looks like it's just not possible. ^^

peaz · 19th Jul 2005, 02:11 AM

think of desktops as user sessions

each user logins will have their own desktop/sessions.

Adrian Wong · 19th Jul 2005, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestia

True, true.
Modified the heap but it's still not enough to run 3DSMax, SolidWorks and SoftImage at the same time.

But that's not the guides fault, it looks like it's just not possible. ^^

How much more did you add to the desktop heap?

Are you sure it's not due to the lack of memory??

17th Jul 2005, 10:53 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dashken Administrator! Join Date: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Penang Posts: 29,496 Reputation: 2105 Rep Power: 56	Windows Desktop Heap Tweak Guide Posted! Ever had problems opening or running applications even when your system has a LOT of free memory? Isn't it puzzling to get "Out Of Memory" errors when you evidently have a lot of free memory?? What you are actually facing is a lack of desktop heap! Today, we will show you just how to fix this annoying problem once and for all! Link : Windows Desktop Heap Tweak Guide! __________________ \| Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 @ 3.2Ghz \| ASUS P5B-E Plus \| G.SKILL 2x1GB DDR2 800 \| 6 HDDs (2TB+ only ) \| NVIDIA GeForce 7600GT \| Dell E248WFP 24" Widescreen \| Blog : Dashken's I-Blog Gallery : Dashken's I-Paintings

19th Jul 2005, 02:11 AM	#9 (permalink)
peaz ARP Webmaster Join Date: 13 Oct 2002 Location: http://atpeaz.placidthoughts.com/ Posts: 8,462 Reputation: 1633 Rep Power: 30	think of desktops as user sessions each user logins will have their own desktop/sessions. __________________ Ken Ng Tech ARP Visit my web gallery - Ken's Digital Canvas Shoot and Earn Money from Stock Photography Sterling@PJ Community Forums

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18th Jul 2005, 02:02 AM	#2 (permalink)
SAMSAMHA Super Active Join Date: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 2,356 Reputation: 197 Rep Power: 7	nice article, very informative.

18th Jul 2005, 08:52 AM	#3 (permalink)
GarPhreak Super Active Join Date: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 1,061 Reputation: 249 Rep Power: 7	Yup, informative, never even heard of the desktop heap before this! A couple of questions: 1. What does it mean to "create more desktops" [point #5. in the Solution]? Isn't there only one desktop i.e. the one on the screen? 2. Why would there be an additional number in the SharedSection values? Opened up regedit on this college PC and found the values to be 1024,3072,512,512.

19th Jul 2005, 12:58 AM	#6 (permalink)
GarPhreak Super Active Join Date: 18 Oct 2004 Posts: 1,061 Reputation: 249 Rep Power: 7	Thanx for the replies. Still don't really understand the desktop thingy though. Do screensavers only count as desktops while they're running? What other forms of interactive desktops are there? Isn't a larger desktop heap at the expense of creating fewer user logins not such a big deal? I mean, how many people are usually logged in to one PC anyway?