How to combat memory leaks in Windows 9x / ME ?

[TravisBickle]

this OS is outrageous. or maybe it's the fault of some of my startup programs. anyway, even with 256Mb or more just browsing webpages, or then doing some graphics work, memory is not returned to the OS when closing applications.
I have several startup tray items. is it really worth hunting around with msconfig startup manager?
this memory problem is real serious, I've been watching it with a Norton monitor.
i think a memory-freeing program is better. what's a good one?

 

[Elledan]

Your best bet is to either not close any programs or to reboot 2-3 times a day. Those programs which claim to free memory aren't perfect either. I've been using a few with Win98 for a while and it wasn't such a difference, although the swap files was being used far less often.

Take a look at download.com for such programs.

 

[Psychoholic]

1) Norton is a memory-hog and problem in it's own right.
2) There's not too much you can do. Certain software doesn't release memory right and the OS cannot adjust for this. Rebooting when resources or memory is low is really your only option.