Using MEM

Using MEM

The MEM command can be used to determine details about the physical and managed memory in a system. MEM does not display total XMS memory, but only the XMS memory available for a command-prompt session under these versions of Windows.

The following are MEM options for Windows 9x/Me:

 C:\WINDOWS\Desktop>mem/? Displays the amount of used and free memory in your system. MEM [/CLASSIFY  /DEBUG  /FREE  /MODULE modulename] [/PAGE]   /CLASSIFY or /C  Classifies programs by memory usage. Lists the size of                    programs, provides a summary of memory in use, and                    lists largest memory block available.   /DEBUG or /D     Displays status of all modules in memory, internal                    drivers, and other information.   /FREE or /F      Displays information about the amount of free memory                    left in both conventional and upper memory.   /MODULE or /M    Displays a detailed listing of a module's memory use.                    This option must be followed by the name of a module,                    optionally separated from /M by a colon.   /PAGE or /P      Pauses after each screenful of information. 

Windows NT/2000/XP's MEM uses the /C and /D options the same way as in Windows 9x, but the /P option displays program detail. The /F and /M options are not valid for MEM under these versions of Windows.

Here are some examples:

• MEM ” Displays total memory and free memory in the system (Windows 9x/Me); displays total conventional memory and free XMS memory available for the current command-prompt session (Windows NT/2000/XP).

• MEM/C/P ” Displays overall memory information as well as listing programs and devices running in conventional and upper memory blocks (Windows 9x/Me).

• MEM/PMORE ” Displays program details and overall memory information; MORE redirects the output to the MORE program, which breaks the output into screen pages (Windows NT/2000/XP).

If MEM indicates that no extended (XMS) memory is free, there is no XMS memory manager ( Himem.sys or equivalent) loaded, and Windows will not be able to run. This is most likely to occur if you start a Windows 9x system with the Safe Mode Command Prompt option. Restart the system normally to enable XMS memory and start the Windows GUI.