                    METZ FreeMem version 4.21            May 13, 1991

  METZ Software                        Sales & Support (206) 641-4525
  P.O. Box 6042                        Fax             (206) 644-6026
  Bellevue, Wa., 98008-0042, U.S.A.

  GEnie: A.METZ    Compuserve: [73567,1637]

                             Overview
     METZ FreeMem is a Windows 3.0 utility which will display and
monitor the percentage of free system resources and the amount of
free memory available.  With FreeMem you can monitor your Windows
memory usage and avoid "Out of memory" messages.

                     Version 4.2 Update Notes
     Memory used for system resources often gets fragmented or
broken up into many chunks consisting of occupied space and free
space used for resources.  It was possible that FreeMem 4.1 was
inaccurate if the resource space was heavily fragmented.  This
version should be very accurate, especially after a long Windows
session involving many applications.
     Freemem now displays the percentages of User and Graphics
Device Interface resources free in the configuration dialog.
Double click on FreeMem or press F1 after switching to FreeMem
to access the configuration dialog.

                                 **

                 Memory, Resources, Windows, and You

     Memory under Windows is comprised of real and virtual memory.
Real memory is comprised of the base memory up to 640K (655,360 bytes).
Virtual memory is a combination of extended memory and the memory
which is swapped to disk by Windows.  You can increase virtual memory
by increasing the amount of extended memory you have and/or by
increasing the size of your Windows swapfile.  (See your Windows
users guide for more information on the swapfile.)  Since memory
prices have dropped so much recently, it is advisable to install
at least 4K of memory on your system, more is better.  FreeMem
displays the amount of free memory on the right portion of its window.
    Besides memory, applications also use system resources.  Windows
has a limitation on the amount of system resources available, and
this limitation generally causes the "Out of memory" error when several
applications are loaded and the system resource usage limit has been
reached.  Since the amount of memory available for system resources
is limited, you will usually run out of system resources before running
out of memory.  FreeMem displays the percentage of free system resources
on the left portion of its window.  The memory available for system
resources consist of two 64K pools, one for the User Interface, the
other for the Graphics Device Interface, for a total of 128K memory.
    We have a growing concern about the number of Windows applications
which are using extraordinary amounts of resources and memory.  As users
and developers we need to police application resource and memory usage
to prevent further "Out of memory" messages.  Remember when 640K was
supposed to be plenty of memory?  If we're not careful, 4096K won't
be enough before long!
    You can determine application resource and memory usage using
METZ FreeMem as follows:
    1.  Configure FreeMem to Check Memory every 1 second.
    2.  Configure FreeMem to Compact Memory every 1 second.
    3.  Close any unnecessary applications.
    4.  Note the percentage of resources and amount of memory free
        displayed by FreeMem.
    5.  Run the application to be tested.
    6.  Note the change in resources and free memory.
    7.  Close the application.
    8.  Check to see if the resource and free memory amount returned
        to the level of that noted in Step 4.
   Using the above procedure you can determine several things about
the application in question.  First of all, the amounts displayed in
Step 8 should match those of Step 4.  If not, the application is not
cleaning up used memory like it should.  Second, if the application
uses an extraordinary amount of resources and/or memory noted in
Step 6, it better have a good reason!
   We ran a simple test comparing different applications and observed
the following:

                             Resources used      Memory used
Program Manager                  15%+               17K
MSDOS Executive                   1%                34K
Microsoft Excel 2.1c              9%                11K
METZ Task Manager                 5%                33K
METZ Desktop Navigator            2%                35K
METZ Desktop Manager              3%                32K

   These values will vary from system to system depending on their
configuration, but well behaved applications are essential for optimal
use of your system and software, so don't hesitate to question your
developers about unusual resource and/or memory usage!
   The percentage of system resources free displayed by FreeMem
may vary slightly from that of the Program Manager.  Our calculation
is more precise because it takes into account even the smallest
blocks of free memory available for system resources.

   For normal use under Windows, set your FreeMem options as follows:
    1.  Configure FreeMem to Check Memory every 3 to 5 seconds.
    2.  Disable the Compact Memory option.

                                 **

                       Configuration options

Check memory every ## seconds:
   FreeMem will calculate the amount of memory available every ##
   seconds.

Compact memory every ## seconds:
   FreeMem will tell Windows to compact memory every ## seconds.
   This is useful when you wish to see how much memory a particular
   application requires.  Check the amount of memory displayed before
   and after an application is run to see how much memory it consumes.
   When Windows compacts memory, is frees up blocks of memory no longer
   being used by an application.  These blocks are kept in memory for
   performance reasons, so the Compact option may decrease your
   system performance.  Some users have reported better system
   performance with the Compact option enabled.

Invert Window:
   Choose Invert Window to display white text on a black background.
   This looks good with screen savers or a black desktop background.

Stay in front:
   Select this option if you want FreeMem to always be visible and in
   front of any other application.


                                 **

                          Application notes

- If EMS is detected the amount free is displayed along with
  conventional memory free.  A plus sign separates conventional from
  expanded, with expanded on the right.  Note, Windows does not
  recognize expanded memory in Enhanced mode, so this value will never
  be displayed.
- FreeMem will keep itself on top of other windows so that it is always
  visible.  (Unless the Stay in front option is deselected.)
- With the left mouse button, click and drag FreeMem to move it to the
  desired location on your screen.  This position will be stored
  in the current FREEMEM.INI for subsequent startups. (The default startup
  position is the upper left corner of your screen.)
- Add FreeMem to the LOAD or RUN line of your WIN.INI.
- As a Windows applications developer I have found FreeMem to be a
  useful tool for detecting memory managment problems within applications.
  Since FREEMEM remains visible, tracking memory usage is simplified.
- As a Windows user, I am concerned about the amount of memory that some
  applications use under Windows.  Now that Windows 3.0 has opened
  up the amount of memory available, it seems that some applications
  are taking free reign with their memory usage.  So, guess what?  It
  won't be long before 4 meg won't be enough memory!  A reasonable amount
  of memory for an average application to use is 10-30K.

                                 **

-Non-mouse windows users can interact with FreeMem.
   When FreeMem has the input focus the following function keys work:
   (Alt+Tab to shift focus between windows, since FreeMem has no caption
    bar it is difficult to tell if it does have the focus, see the
    Microsoft Windows Users Guide for more info.)

   F1     - displays the about box, which contains configuration options.
   ALT+F7 - allows you to move FreeMem with the keyboard arrow keys, press
            enter when done.
   ALT+F4 - closes FreeMem.

Mouse users:
   FreeMem can be moved with a click and drag motion.
   The right mouse button clicked on FreeMem will close it.
   A double click on the FreeMem window will display the About box containing
      configuration options.

Payment for FreeMem is optional and completely up to you regarding
an amount.

                                 **

     Information in this document is subject to change without notice
and does not represent any commitment on the part of METZ Software.  No
warranties of any kind are associated with this product.

     Your comments and suggestions are always welcome, and help make
this application a better product.

     METZ Software currently has several applications available for
Microsoft Windows 2.x and 3.0.  Please contact us at the above location
for more information.


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