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‘Operating Systems’ Category

  1. Mozilla Firefox vs. Google Chrome vs. Internet Explorer memory usage (Windows 7 64-bit), part two

    January 31, 2012 by Andrew Block

    In the first post, we took a look at the memory usage between Firefox, IE9, Chrome, Safari — and the oddball, Outlook — on Windows 7 32-bit. However, I only had one tab open in each browser, so it wasn’t a very good test. I should also note: this time around, I’m using Windows 7 64-bit.

    So for test #2, we’re opening eight tabs in each browser! And we’re getting rid of Safari and Outlook, because frankly — who cares? To be fair, I opened the same websites in each browser, which were:

    1. Google
    2. ESPN
    3. download.com
    4. eBay
    5. Lifehacker
    6. ign.com
    7. Wikipedia
    8. Facebook

     

    So will Firefox remain the king of bloat, as we saw the first time around? Or will it be succeeded by a surly rival?

    OK, you’re sick of drama. Without further ado, here is the memory usage of each browser, all of them running with eight tabs open for about 15 minutes:

     

    The facts:

    • Firefox used 197,812 KB or 263,412 KB (193 MB – 257 MB), depending if you count the plugin-container.exe that it seemed to spawn (when I killed Firefox, it went away).
    • Internet Explorer 9 gobbled up 419,568 KB (410 MB) (!) when running with eight tabs open.
    • Chrome consumed 300,572 KB (294 MB)

     

    My, how the tables have turned! The trend reverses, and IE9 becomes the memory hog, and Firefox becomes the most “lean” by a long shot!

     

    Contrast this to the chart from Part 1 (remember, this was 32-bit Windows):

     

    So what does this mean? One of two things:

    • Browser memory usage is wildly different on 32-bit Windows vs. 64-bit Windows
    • Firefox is much more efficient when the amount of tabs increases

     

    I’ll let you draw your own conclusions! If I do another test, I should definitely stick to either 32-bit or 64-bit, to remove that variable. What do you think? Has your experience of the browsers’ memory usage been consistent with my test, or different?

    Category Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Web Browsers, Windows | Tags: ,,, | 1 Comment

  2. Firefox vs. Internet Explorer 9 vs. Chrome vs. Safari vs. Outlook memory usage (Windows 7 32-bit), part one

    January 23, 2012 by Andrew Block

    So which browser is the ultimate memory hog? Is Outlook really as “bloated” as everyone complains it is? Is Chrome as lightweight and fast as it claims to be? I dunno…let’s find out!

    Here are the rules:

    1. Each browser had only 1 tab open to google.com; Outlook had no child windows opened.
    2. I fired up each browser/application, waited about 10-15 seconds, and then took a screenshot of task manager.
    3. I tested in the latest versions as of this writing, which are: IE9, FF9, Chrome 16, Safari 5.1, and Outlook 2010 w/ service pack 1 applied.

     

    First off, the qualitative results. IE9 and Chrome launched the fastest, coming up almost instantaneously (I couldn’t tell which was first, so I’m calling it a tie). Safari came up second, and Firefox dead last (for the browsers) by quite a long shot. Outlook pretty much tied with Firefox for last, coming up just after Firefox loaded.

    Now for the good stuff — memory usage.

    The facts

    1. Firefox was by far the most bloated, weighing in at 110,288 K (108 MB!). In Firefox’s defense, I do have about 5-6 plugins installed. I need to re-do this with a clean install, but I’d guess most people have a plugin…or five.
    2. Safari used the second-most memory, at 53,984 K (53 MB). Safari spawned WebKit2WebProcess.exe, if you’re wondering where I got my number.
    3. Internet Explorer and Outlook practically tied for third-most memory used, at 37,456 K (37 MB) and 37,012 K, (36 MB), respectively.
    4. Chrome used the least memory at 33,224 K (32 MB).

     

     

    Observations

    This wasn’t a very scientific test. I should have done more testing with multiple tabs, a clean install of Firefox, let them all run for some time, etc. But it does shed some light on how these applications use your system resources. The biggest surprise  — to me, anyway — is how little memory Outlook uses compared to the browsers (side note: I have seen Outlook consume closer to 90 MB after it’s been running all day, but I’ve also seen Firefox push upwards of 200 MB or more).

    It is surprising how much memory Firefox uses, but I’ll be honest — it doesn’t matter all that much. Most machines have plenty of free RAM these days, and unless you’re running hardware that’s more than 5 years old, I don’t think it’s going to affect you very much. Firefox is still my browser of choice, although the snappy loading of Chrome is IE9 is nice. And Safari on Windows…meh.

    So the King of  Bloat award goes to Firefox; Outlook wins the Scapegoat Award. IE9 and Chrome both get the Snappy Award.

    Oh, and Safari gets the Who Cares award.

    Update: I’ve added a part two: testing with more tabs.

    Category Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Safari, Web Browsers, Windows | Tags: ,,,, | 3 Comments

  3. Suddenly can’t access USB hard disk in Windows 7: how to fix (reset permissions)

    January 10, 2012 by Andrew Block

    I fixed our neighbor’s laptop the other day, and I plugged my USB hard drive into it to transfer some files. After I plugged the drive back into my own computer, Windows 7 suddenly couldn’t access the disk (notice the drive space indicator disappeared in the first screenshot, below.

    No amount of fiddling with the security/permissions/owner would bring it back, either.

    This fix is to use the “icalcs” tool to reset the drive’s permissions. To do so, follow these steps:Launch the Command Prompt as an administrator (Start > Search for “cmd” > Right-click on “cmd.exe” and select “Run as Administrator”)

    1. Switch to your drive that is having problems (replace H: with your drive letter): CD /D H:
    2. Type: icacls * /T /Q /C /RESET
    3. Wait for a while. Mine took about 10-15 minutes.

    When it’s done, you should be able to access the drive as normal.

    Sources:

    http://lallousx86.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/resetting-ntfs-files-security-and-permission-in-windows-7/

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/318754

    Category Tech Tip, Windows, Windows 7 Tips | Tags: | 5 Comments

  4. Easiest way to clone a hard drive

    October 6, 2011 by Andrew Block

    I get asked a lot how to “clone” a hard drive, so here’s how. This scenario assumes you want to replace a current HDD in your system with a new one.

    1. Get yourself a SATA/IDE to USB adapter, like this one. It makes this so much easier.
    2. Get yourself a copy of Acronis True Image Home 2012.
    3. Install Acronis True Image Home 2012; reboot.
    4. Plug the new hard drive (the one you want to clone to) into the USB adapter, and connect the adapter to one of your PC’s USB ports.
    5. Make sure your PC recognizes the hard drive attached via USB.
    6. Fire up True Image, then click the “Tools & Utilities” tab. Click “Clone Disk.” The program walks you through the next steps. You may have to reboot to complete the cloning process.
    7. When the cloning process is complete, power down your PC, then remove the old hard drive and put the new hard drive in its place.
    8. Turn your computer back on.
    9. Optional: If you replaced a drive that contains Windows (assuming Vista or 7), your computer may not boot properly. Never fear! Just pop in your Windows disc, and choose startup repair. It should automatically fix the problem.

    And that’s all there is to it. I know this isn’t the free route, but it’s the most painless. I’ll look into posting a free solution if people are interested.

    Category Hard drives, Hardware tips, PCs & Hardware, Tech Tip, Windows, Windows 7 Tips, Windows Vista Tips | Tags: ,, | 1 Comment

  5. Delete Windows 7 Temp Files Auto – magically

    August 28, 2011 by Andrew Block

    This is a dead simple trick to delete those pesky temporary files that build up over time in Windows 7 — and the best part is you can set it and forget it.

    Step #1 — Create a new text document on your desktop, then rename it to cleanup.bat (or a name of your choosing, but keep the .bat extension). Note: you need file extensions enabled to do this…My Computer > Organize > View tab > uncheck “Hide extensions for known file types.”

    Step #2 — edit your new file (right click and choose “Edit”) and add these commands:

    @ECHO OFF
rmdir %TEMP% /q /s
mkdir %TEMP%

rmdir %WINDIR%\TEMP /q /s
mkdir %WINDIR%\TEMP

rmdir %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files /q /s
mkdir %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Temporary Internet Files

    Don’t forget to save your file!

    Step #3 — create a shortcut to the file in your startup menu. Or since it’s so tiny, you could just move the file into your startup folder.

    Step #4 — enjoy as temporary files are cleaned each time your system boots up.

    Notes:

    • You can also add the batch file as a scheduled task, if you’d like to change the conditions that cause it to run (at a certain time, for example). Press Window key + R to bring up the run menu, and then enter taskschd.msc /s.
    • CCleaner is a great program that really scrubs your system for unneeded/unwanted files.

    Category Internet Explorer, Operating Systems, Tech Tip, Windows, Windows 7 Tips, Windows Vista Tips | Tags: ,, | No Comments

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