The Task Manager provides information about programs and processes running on your Windows 2000/XP computer. The following are categories of memory displayed by the Task Manager:
Total Physical Memory Total physical memory is the total RAM installed in the computer.
Available Physical Memory Available physical memory is the portion of installed RAM that is not allocated to a program or process.
Commit Charge Commit charge is memory allocated to programs and processes. The Commit Charge may be larger than the total physical memory because it includes used virtual memory.
Kernel Memory Kernel memory is memory used by the operating system.
Handles The Handles value indicates the number of object handles (instructions handled).
Threads Threads are objects that run program instructions. Threads allow more than one program instruction to be run at one time.
Processes Process are tasks that are currently active.
System Cache System cache is the current physical memory used to map pages of open files.
Paged Memory Paged memory is memory used in the paging process. Paging is the process of moving infrequently used parts of a program from RAM to a storage medium.
Non-Paged Memory Non-paged memory is operating system memory that is never paged to disk.
Upon completion of this lab, you will be able to:
Use the System Information folder to examine memory
Use the Task Manager to examine memory usage
For this lab, you will need a working computer with Windows 2000/XP installed.
In this lab, you will use the System Information dialog box and the Task Manager to examine memory usage in a Windows 2000/XP system.
To use the System Information dialog box to examine memory resources,
Use the following sequence to open the System Information dialog box:
Start All Programs Accessories System Tools System Information
Select the System Summary and record the following information:
Total Physical Memory:
Available Physical Memory:
Total Virtual Memory:
Available Virtual Memory:
Page File Space:
In the System Information dialog box, click the plus sign by Hardware Resources to open the hardware tree. In the hardware tree, click I/O and record the I/O address (I/O Range) used by COM 1:
In the hardware tree, click Memory and record the memory addresses used by the system board:
In the hardware tree, click Conflicts/Sharing and list memory address that are shared:
To use the Task Manager to examine memory,
To open the Task Manager, right-click the Taskbar and select Task Manager.
Click the Performance tab and record the following information:
CPU Usage:
Paged Usage:
Physical Memory Total:
Physical Memory Available:
Commit Charge Total:
Without closing the Task Manager, use the following sequence to open the Paint program:
Start All Programs Accessories Paint
Without closing the Paint program, open Control Panel:
In Windows 2000:
Start Settings Control Panel
In Windows XP:
Start Control Panel
You should now have the Task Manager, the Paint program, and Control Panel running. Record the following information:
CPU Usage:
Paged Usage:
Physical Memory Total:
Physical Memory Available:
Commit Charge Total:
When you compare the values from step 5 with the values from step 2, you should find that opening the two tasks caused an increase in resource usage. If the usage exceeds 70 percent, the computer is likely to have difficulty.
Click the Applications tab and record the displayed tasks:
Click the Processes tab and record the memory usage of the Paint program (MSPAINT.EXE):