RAM footprint question

[Culpeper]

Okay I looked it up

InMem KB
Amount of physical memory (in kilobytes) used by the process.

Private KB
Amount of Virtual Memory used privately by the process. It usually corresponds to heap allocations.

Total KB
Total amount of virtual memory (in kilobytes) used by the process.

Okay, based on these finding above Avast Service and Email Scanner combined is 11,256KB of RAM (Not virtual memory).  The PrivateKB and TotalKB refer to virtual memory.  

So, my questions are what is the deal with Windows TaskManager?  Is it showing a combination of RAM and Virtual Memory as one total?  Could this be what is confusing a lot of new users concerned about the memory usage?

[Culpeper]

Well, I guess I finally reached the end of the internet with this one

[Lisandro]

In avast! Home/Professional, version 4.1.304 of November 26, 2003 is expected a reduced overall memory footprint of avast modules (see iNews).

Could the users posts any trouble with the new version, disregarding the ones from the last versions?  

For me, everything is right.
Vlk, could you confirm the new aswMon2.sys file was included in the version 4.1.304 ?  

[Culpeper]

With new version memory usage immediately after bootup:

Avast Antivirus Service:
InMemKB                      8052
PrivateKB                      6946
TotalKB                        19,808

Avast Email Scanner:
InMemKB                      4644
PrivateKB                      3844
TotalKB                          15,008


Avast is set up to run Internet Mail and Standard Shield.

Note: the changes to the new version "reduced overall memory footprint of avast modules".

I only took readings for internet mail and standard shield for the new version and previous version so I have no data for the overall memory footprint before and after.

[Lisandro]

Culpeper, everything seems ok...
I suppose your performance is ok with avast!  

[Culpeper]

Additional memory data from TaskInfo 2003:

[Current Process Pane]

CMD               = "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashserv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4
PID/Parent PID    = FFFFB12B / FFFF479B
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
Data KB*           = 6,480  in mem = 3,608  in use = 2,376
Code KB**           = 11,348  in mem = 3,072  in use = 2,556
Handles Count     = 111
Windows           = 4

=======================================


[Current Process Pane]

CMD               = "C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\AVAST4\ashmaisv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\
PID/Parent PID    = FFFC588B / FFFEEED7
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Data KB*          = 4,064  in mem = 1,940  in use = 1,396
Code KB**           = 11,184  in mem = 3,148  in use = 2,404
Handles Count     = 64
Windows           = 1

=====================================

*Data KB
Amount of memory used for data by current process (in kilobytes): total amount, in mem – in physical memory and in use – recently used. Available under Windows 9x (95/98/ME) only.

Copyright (C) 1998-2003  Igor Arsenin

**Code KB
Amount of memory used for executable code by current process (in kilobytes): total amount, in mem – in physical memory and in use – recently used. Available under Windows 9x (95/98/ME) only.

Copyright (C) 1998-2003  Igor Arsenin

======================================

[Culpeper]

*Data KB
Amount of memory used for data by current process (in kilobytes): total amount, in mem – in physical memory and in use – recently used. Available under Windows 9x (95/98/ME) only.

Copyright (C) 1998-2003  Igor Arsenin

**Code KB
Amount of memory used for executable code by current process (in kilobytes): total amount, in mem – in physical memory and in use – recently used. Available under Windows 9x (95/98/ME) only.

Copyright (C) 1998-2003  Igor Arsenin

======================================




Avast Version Dec2003 (4.1.319)




[Current Process Pane]

CMD               = "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashserv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4
PID/Parent PID    = FFFFB1E9 / FFFF4759
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
Data KB           = 6,504  in mem = 3,688  in use = 2,476
Code KB           = 11,364  in mem = 2,944  in use = 2,412
Handles Count     = 111
Windows           = 4

=======================================





[Current Process Pane]

CMD               = "C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\AVAST4\ashmaisv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\
PID/Parent PID    = FFFDC475 / FFFEF94D
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Data KB           = 3,844  in mem = 1,644  in use = 1,248
Code KB           = 11,184  in mem = 2,992  in use = 2,124
Handles Count     = 54
Windows           = 1

Total Avast memory use after bootup = 8260KB

[Culpeper]

After running for over 40 hours:

======================================

AVAST AV SERVICE

[Current Process Pane]

CMD               = "C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4\ashserv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\Program Files\Alwil Software\Avast4
PID/Parent PID    = FFFFB1E9 / FFFF4759
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM\MPREXE.EXE
Data KB           = 6,676  in mem = 3,532  in use = 1,660
Code KB           = 11,784  in mem = 2,820  in use = 1,156
Handles Count     = 115
Windows           = 4


AVAST EMAIL SCANNER

[Current Process Pane]



CMD               = "C:\PROGRA~1\ALWILS~1\AVAST4\ashmaisv.exe"
Curr Dir          = C:\
PID/Parent PID    = FFFDC475 / FFFEF94D
Started by        = C:\WINDOWS\EXPLORER.EXE
Data KB           = 4,084  in mem = 1,520  in use = 876
Code KB           = 11,204  in mem = 2,352  in use = 928
Handles Count     = 64
Windows           = 1

=======================================

TOTAL AVAST MEMORY IN USE = 4620KB

Avast is no memory hog program compared to the competition.

Avast has reduced it memory in use approx. 44% since bootup.

Activity on my machine has been using two different email clients, 3 different browsers, and Taskinfo 2003.  Total Physical Memory = 392,156K and Total Physical Memory Available = 15,404K

[Hornus Continuum]

Based on the Memory Usage statistic displayed by Task Manager, I too have noticed that avast!'s memory footprint is reduced by 40% - 50% after several hours.

Regards,
Hornus

[Culpeper]

One thing I noticed today while checking on something else is that available RAM dropped by approx. 30mb right after Avast Setup ran right after windows start up.   So I checked again and got the same result.