I seem to have an open window limit: XP Pro

XP pro is being really buggy for me, it did the same on the previous install.

I currently have 3 Explorer (folder) windows open, 2 Firefox windows with a couple of tabs, one IE7 window, and utorrent open, I have a few things running in the background, but I've closed most of them, the only ones left are AVG and Ultramon.

I cannot open up another window. If I open up another folder instance, I will lose all of the folder navigation icons at the top and some folders will not load. If I open up another program, I will get the critical error sound and nothing will open up. I can close a folder window for another firefox window, or vise versa. If I reach my limit, I cannot get any right-click menus, navigate folders, or navigate webpages until I close at least one window or program.

It is as if the computer is COMPLETELY out of memory.

Here are my resources:
XP Pro SP2
Core2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66GHz
4GB physical ram (3.25GB avail, 32bit)
CPU usage is between 2-4% with Task manager open
48 processes open, nothing looks fishy
My Paging file is currently 3.25GB
Total available Memory is 6.50GB (swap + physical)
Memory currently used 1.38GB
Memory peak usage 1.83GB

Anyone know what might be wrong with my system?

Expand the following branch in the registry...


In the RH pane double-click the Windows String name, and in the Value data field look for SharedSection=1024,3072, 512. Increase the second of the comma delimited values (3072 -> 4096), which is the size limit of any particular desktop heap. So with the new value entered, the Value data should look like the following...

redduc900 said:

Expand the following branch in the registry...

Code:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems

In the RH pane double-click the Windows String name, and in the Value data field look for SharedSection=1024,3072, 512. Increase the second of the comma delimited values (3072 -> 4096), which is the size limit of any particular desktop heap. So with the new value entered, the Value data should look like the following...

Code:

%SystemRoot%\system32\csrss.exe ObjectDirectory=\Windows
SharedSection=1024,4096,512 Windows=On SubSystemType=Windows
ServerDll=basesrv,1 ServerDll=winsrv:UserServerDllInitialization,3
ServerDll=winsrv:ConServerDllInitialization,2 ProfileControl=Off
MaxRequestThreads=16

Click to expand...

Will give it a try when I get home, thanks.

Seems so far so good, I'll see how the computer acts over the next few hours.

For the record, I read up a little on it. I assume 4096 is plenty, but I'm curious, 1) does the number have to be divisible by 1064 (or 512)? 2) How much of a disadvantage is it to go bigger than that?

From what I read, I believe I gathered that increasing the size per desktop heap, you reduce the number of overall desktop heaps. I also assume it's one heap per user (including system, network service, and local service). That means that I'm usually using 4 heaps, am I correct?

The best articles I've read on the Desktop Heap are...

Desktop Heap Overview - Part 1
http://blogs.msdn.com/ntdebugging/archive/2007/01/04/desktop-heap-overview.aspx

Desktop Heap - Part 2
http://blogs.msdn.com/ntdebugging/archive/2007/07/05/desktop-heap-part-2.aspx

The default interactive desktop heap size has been increased on 32-bit Vista SP1
http://blogs.msdn.com/ntdebugging/a...e-has-been-increased-on-32-bit-vista-sp1.aspx