Software Forum

Hey everybody, I love Ace Utilites, it's the best program I have found for cleaning up my computer and optimizing it and have used it on my families home computer.

Just recently I got an old computer for myself (Windows 98, AMD K-6 350MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, 4GB hard drive, and a 32x CD-ROM) and installed Ace Utilites on it but when I try to launch the program by double clicking the Ace Utilites icon on my desktop or going into the Ace Utilites program folder and double clicking au.exe the program does not load. An hourglass is displayed next to the mouse cursor for about 3 seconds then goes away. I have checked by clicking Crtl-Alt-Delete to see if the program was running but not coming up on my desktop and it was not listed among the running programs.

I thought at first my computer didn't meet the minimum system requirements but I found this in the readme.txt:

System Requirements
* Windows 98/ME, Windows 2000/XP or later;
* About 10Mb of free space on your hard drive;
* Minimum 32 Mb Ram (64 or more recommended)
* At least 800 by 600 screen resolution

If anyone has any suggestions of what might be wrong with my computer I would really appreciate it!!! Thanks.

patrickw wrote:Hey everybody, I love Ace Utilites, it's the best program I have found for cleaning up my computer and optimizing it and have used it on my families home computer.

Just recently I got an old computer for myself (Windows 98, AMD K-6 350MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, 4GB hard drive, and a 32x CD-ROM) and installed Ace Utilites on it but when I try to launch the program by double clicking the Ace Utilites icon on my desktop or going into the Ace Utilites program folder and double clicking au.exe the program does not load. An hourglass is displayed next to the mouse cursor for about 3 seconds then goes away. I have checked by clicking Crtl-Alt-Delete to see if the program was running but not coming up on my desktop and it was not listed among the running programs.

I thought at first my computer didn't meet the minimum system requirements but I found this in the readme.txt:

System Requirements
* Windows 98/ME, Windows 2000/XP or later;
* About 10Mb of free space on your hard drive;
* Minimum 32 Mb Ram (64 or more recommended)
* At least 800 by 600 screen resolution

If anyone has any suggestions of what might be wrong with my computer I would really appreciate it!!! Thanks.

Did you try un-installing it and then do a fresh install?
_________________

Cal wrote:Did you try un-installing it and then do a fresh install?

Yes I've tried that two times. This same problem happened when I installed Spybot - Search and Destroy. I try to launch the program and an hourglass is displayed next to the mouse cursor for about 3 seconds, goes away, and the program doesn't load.

hi patrick,

I think I got an email from you about this, am I right ?

Try this first: Extract the file

http://www.acelogix.com/downloads/mfc42.zip

to the folder c:\program files\ace utilities



If this does not work, send me an email from http://www.acelogix.com/support.html
I will send a debug file that can tell more about the error.

Also see what version of internet explorer you have.

Pa****k
You might try re-installing the Windows Installer also..
All the info should be on this page..

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... 3BB768148F


jazz..................

May be the 32 MB ram is the problem, it might work if you increase it to 64 MB at least.

hari wrote:hi patrick,

I think I got an email from you about this, am I right ?

Try this first: Extract the file

http://www.acelogix.com/downloads/mfc42.zip

to the folder c:\program files\ace utilities

If this does not work, send me an email from http://www.acelogix.com/support.html
I will send a debug file that can tell more about the error.

Also see what version of internet explorer you have.

I haven't emailed you about this but I just might send you one if I can't get anything else to work. I have Internet Explorer 6 SP1.

I tried extracting the file Mfc42.dll to The Ace Utilities directory and starting Ace Utilities but the program still does not start up.

jazzbodepew wrote:Pa****k
You might try re-installing the Windows Installer also..
All the info should be on this page..

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/deta ... 3BB768148F


jazz..................

I tried reinstalling the Windows Installer but a dialog box popped up when I tried saying that the "specified service already exists." Is there any way to uninstall the previous Windows Installer so I can install a new version?

hari wrote:May be the 32 MB ram is the problem, it might work if you increase it to 64 MB at least.

Yeah, I totally agree, more RAM would be nice but it's just not possible for me to do it right now.

Pat***K
Till you can increase the RAM in your computer Get this program called "RamPage 1.6"

http://www.jfitz.com/software/RAMpage/index.html

Of all the memory monitors/memory grabbers this one uses the least power to operate...

Set it so when :
----------------------------------------------------
"Update Display every 1 second"

"Memory drops to 2MB"

"Try to free 6MB"

Check:
"Start Rampage when Windows Starts"

"Free memory even if last attempt fails"

"Defragment only when low."
---------------------------------------------------

You can experiment with the settings but After recovering memoryy you should NEVER have more than 25% of the installed amount..
In your case 32MBx25%=8MB.....

In my opinion If you ave les than 128MB RAM :Using Rampage will be much like doubling your memory..Cause it is an improvement on the "Windows Memory Mgr."

jazz.............

Jazz,

May be u should read http://www.winnetmag.com/Windows/Articl ... g/2/2.html

Hi Hari
I read this one and it is a good disscussion on the "Memory Grabbing" issue,I think...I don't know much but I tend to agree with "APK" on this topic...Paraphrased: When a Program open many of them call paged memory..This is the most memory they will likely use...The VMM can release some of it....

So I don't try to over explain beyond my understanding I say my simple observation why I agree with "APK"..I have emailed back and forth to "APK" ,on this subject and concluded,so far, that the value of a memory grabber is dependent on how much resources it consumes and the time it takes to grab"..
I always used two programs ,on lower memory machines(<128MB)..
These are "Cacheman(disk cache ) and Rampage(Memory"Monitor"/Grabber)..
The older versions of Cacheman showed a bar and readout of "Free Memory">...
I notice when I watch the "Free Memory" display(in Cacheman or whatever monitors it) and then I "Grab some memoryy with Rampage: It takes about 3 - 7 seconds for the memory to be "Grabbed" and the amount Grabbed is exactly as much as The Monitor reading changes...It appears,to me, that This shows the Disk cache is giving up what the Rampage is "Grabbing"..
With many Memory grabbers It seems they take too lomg to free the cache and deafeat the purpose.Like M.Russinovich says....
I optimize this by Grabbing the least amout of memory per time to grab..
By increasing the Disk cache sizee I keep the amout of "Free Memory" as low as possible cause if Memory is "Free" it is NOT bein used by programs..

I believe :When Rampage Grabs at a "Set point" (Like when memory free falls to eg) 2MB...The Win VMM waits for a Near Zero of "Freed" then starts looking for memory(Using processor) While the Rampage is grabbing; Windows is using the "2MB" at this time.....

I am certain(on older machines with less than 128MB RAM:
If I use The Cacheman /Rampage combo and tune it in for the machine it works pretty good...If I uninstall these two ,now, I say:"
What the heck happened to this Computer? It is freezing up and acting funny!
If you have more than 128MB(SDRAM Win98se) it is not so much difference....
I think the memory paging hold the key to this..
I am always so glad to hear disscussion on this subject..It is interesting.

Yesterday a friend had an enhanced CD that wouldnt playcorrectly..
The audio/video would lose sync,after a while and the video quits...The CD said "MinReq" 128MB RAM...That is what he has in there..
I adjusted him a bigger disk cache and tweaked Rampage "Grabbing"..Now the CD plays fine and in sync..

I know it aint scientific proof or logic like Russinovich and APK talk about..But it seems to be working, in this case''..

What do you think?
jazz.................

Hi Jazz, sometimes I use "MemTurbo" and it has a tendency to recapture quite a bit of RAM at times. But I don't use it very often though. I only used it simply because it was installed on my Windows 98 Machine. And I decided to install it on my Windows XP Pro system too just to see if it made a difference.

Greeting Cal!
Long time no see..
On Win XP :I dont think any extra memory tools are necessary..
Because XP does its own Memory paging and you can even control it (up or down) thru the GUI..

On Win9x ,it seems to depend on the program,memory installed and level of multi-task if a Memory grabber helps out,or not..
On Win98se What seems to work best for me(with <128MB RAM) is to ;set the mem pages to 16 - 32(I use Xsetup to do this) you must use use a fixed or "Jimb" swapfile, and 32bit disk access ,for the paging to work...
Then ,I think, sometimes the VMM can release some (zero use) memory from the cache from when the program started...

XP seems to do a very good job of memory mgt,far as I can tell...Even better if you set it for "Performance instead of "Appearance..

jazz.............................