REGAIN LOST PC SPEED
Why you must prioritise RAM
Ifyou’re having problems with your PC, free program Process Lasso could be the solution. It monitors all running processes on your PC and shows you which ones might be slowing it down or causing it to crash. You can then assign more PC resources to
problematic programs, so that they run more smoothly. The latest version of the program lets you apply these priority settings permanently, meaning you no longer need to re-apply them every time you restart the program or your PC.
STEP 1 Before installing Process Lasso, you need to find out whether your PC is 32bit or 64bit. Right-click My Computer/this PC (on your Desktop, File Explorer or via the Start Menu), then click Properties. In the ‘System type’ section 1 check whether you have a 32bit or 64bit PC. To download Process Lasso, go to www.snipca. com/27353, then, below ‘Version 9 for Workstations’, click the relevant download link for your PC.
STEP 2 Open the downloaded setup file, click Yes, OK, I Agree, then Install. On the Startup Options screen, you’ll see options to start the program when anyone logs in, or only you do. Make your selection, then click Next. Finally, select the European date format 1 , then click Finish 2 . Minimise the program and use your PC as you normally would for some time, so that Process Lasso can start monitoring it.
STEP 3 When you reopen the program, you’ll see a live graph of your PC’S performance 1 , including its CPU and RAM usage 2 (as you can see, our PC had very high readings). Below that, you’ll see all running processes on your PC 3 . Click the ‘Active processes’ tab 4 to see a live bar chart of which ones are using the most CPU resources. At the bottom, you’ll see an ‘Action log’ detailing when each new process starts and ends, and which ones may be slowing down your PC 5 .
STEP 4 Before going any further, there are a few default settings you should tweak. First, click the Options tab 1 , move your cursor to ‘Probalance settings’ 2 , then click Enable Probalance. This manages your PC’S CPU usage automatically. Next, move your cursor to ‘Smarttrim settings’ 3 , then click ‘Smarttrim enabled’ 4 . This automatically optimises your PC’S RAM usage. Finally, click the Forced Mode option 5 , then OK to ensure Process Lasso doesn’t revert to its default settings. You’ll see the benefits of these tweaks in Step 5.
STEP 5 Continue using your PC for some time. You’ll notice that the live graph 1 , CPU and RAM graphs 2 should now be much lower than before (see screenshot in Step 3). The ‘Restraint history’ column 3 in the ‘All processes’ tab 4 lists programs that are being ‘restrained’ by Process Lasso because they were using up too much of your PC’S resources. We’ll show you how to assign additional RAM and CPU resources to these programs so that they run smoothly. First, click the ‘Restraint history’ column header 5 to sort these processes.
STEP 6 You’ll see all the programs that are being controlled and how many times each one has been ‘restrained’ 1 . Check in the ‘Application name’ column that none of these are Microsoft programs because these are needed for Windows to run smoothly. Right-click any nonMicrosoft program to display a pop-up menu with several options. If it’s a background process, click Terminate 2 , then OK to close it. If that doesn’t close it, click Terminate NOW 3 .
Step 7 To assign more resources to a particular program, right-click its process entry, move your cursor to ‘Priority class’ 1 , then Current 2 . By default, all programs are assigned a Normal priority, meaning they are allotted equal RAM and CPU resources. To prioritise a program, set its ‘Priority class’ to ‘Above normal’ 3 . Or if that program has been known to crash your PC, set it to ‘High priority’. Finally, tick ‘Windows dynamic thread priority boosts enabled’ 4 . Move your cursor to the Always column 5 and repeat this setting.
STEP 8 Next, move your cursor to ‘CPU affinity’ 1 , Current 2 and ensure that all your CPU’S cores are ticked 3 . This ensures the program is assigned maximum PC resources. Move your cursor to Always 4 and tick the same core boxes. Next, move your cursor to ‘Memory priority’ 5 . Ensure that both its Current and Always memory profiles are set to Normal. Repeat Steps 7 and 8 for any resource-hungry programs on your PC. These programs should no longer slow down or crash your PC.
STEP 9 There’s an easy way to quickly check whether the changes you made are having the desired effect. Click the ‘Active processes’ tab 1 to see the live bar graph of running programs 2 . You should see that they are using less PC resources than before. If you see little change, it’s a good idea to save your PC’S Action Log as a spreadsheet and send this to someone who can help you. To do this, click the View tab 3 , then click Open Log Viewer.
STEP You’ll see all the program’s action logs since 10 you switched on your PC. To save this as a spreadsheet, click the File tab at the top of the program window, move your cursor to ‘Export View to CSV’, name the spreadsheet, choose where you want to save it, then click Save. You can then send this to whoever is helping you. Finally, click the Updates tab 1 , move your cursor to ‘Check for updates every...’ 2 and select how often, such as ‘1 week’ 3 . If you want to reset Process Lasso to its default settings, click the Options tab 4 , click ‘Reset all configuration to defaults’ at the bottom, then click Yes. ●