Fix: For out of memory error, when your not!

[DAH]

I was often running into a situation where I could no longer open a new Internet Explorer window when I clicked on a link. I purchased an extra 1 GB of memory to fix this problem but on my T60p it had no effect. Sometimes I would click on a tab on say a driver setting window, and the tab would disappear!

I've got Google Side Bar running, Outlook, Outlook Express, and Internet Explorer running as a rule. Sometimes I was limited to just 12 Internet Explorer windows open at a time. At other times I could have as many as 22 ~ 24 open before I would start to see this.

I did some investigation and found this.

1. Run Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
2. From the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE subtree, go to the following key: \System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems
3. Select the Windows value.
4. From the Edit menu, choose String.
5. Increase the SharedSection parameter.

SharedSection specifies the system and desktop heaps using the following format:
SharedSection=xxxx,yyyy
where xxxx defines the maximum size of the system-wide heap (in kilobytes) and yyyy defines the size of the per desktop heap. The default value of the per desktop heap under Windows NT 3.5 (512K) can support approximately 2,500 windows. Increasing the desktop heap by 256K or 512K normally provides enough memory to correct "Out of Memory" errors messages.

I have;

%SystemRoot%\system32\csrss.exe
ObjectDirectory=\Windows
SharedSection=1024,3072,512 <==Changed to 768
Windows=On
SubSystemType=Windows
ServerDll=basesrv,1
ServerDll=winsrv:UserServerDllInitialization,3
ServerDll=winsrv:ConServerDllInitialization,2
ProfileControl=Off
MaxRequestThreads=16

While the article gives

%SystemRoot%\system32\csrss.exe
ObjectDirectory=\Windows
SharedSection=1024,3072
Windows=On
SubSystemType=Windows
ServerDll=basesrv,1
ServerDll=winsrv:GdiServerDllInitialization,4
ServerDll=winsrv:UserServerDllInitialization,3
ServerDll=winsrv:ConServerDllInitialization,2
ProfileControl=Off
MaxRequestThreads=16

I took a chance and increased the 512 value given above by 256 to 768 this has allowed me to open up to 32 Internet Explorer windows at the same time, before I got bored with opening IE windows. In windows Task Manager I have about 92 ~ 95 processes running at any given time with out seeing windows failing to open.

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. I cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. I accept no responsibility for anything you might do based on these instructions. If your computer dies, it's your problem not mine.

[Kamika007z]

Great find! Thanks!

[christopher_wolf]

Good job on locating that article and applying it correctly.

This applies to more than just the T60 as well.