Try Freemeter which is a much better indicator of CPU, RAM and
other system resources.
http://www.tiler.com/freemeter/
Free
"Peter in New Zealand" <peterbalplug@xtra.co.nz> wrote in message
news:%23kckoaf2HHA.4672@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Hello. I have Vista Home Premium on a machine with an Athlon 2.2 Ghtz CPU,
> 1 Gbyte of RAM, and a 256 ATI graphics card. Everything about the machine
> is bog standard. My question stems from watching the little gadget on the
> Vista sidebar that reads the CPU and RAM usage. The CPU gauge bounces from
> one end of the scale to the other at times when the machine is real busy,
> and that's good. I feel I'm getting my money's worth out of the CPU. But
> the RAM gauge never, and I mean never, gets above 60%.
>
> Now, I am the sort of person who likes to think I am getting my $ worth
> out of the hardware. Am I really not using my full 1 Gbyte, or is the
> little gadget really just a very approximate indicator that doesn't give a
> reliable indication? Or is it just nor able to respond to the peaks of RAM
> use because they come and go too fast?
>
> I realise this is maybe a kind of tight-ass question, but I don't loose
> any sleep over it. Just love to know what's really going on in there. TIA.
>
> --
> Peter in New Zealand. (Pull the plug out to reply.)
> Collector of old cameras, tropical fish fancier, good coffee nutter, and
> compulsive computer fiddler.