A tip for those of you with memory impairments. A tip for those of you with memory impairments ;)

One of the major faults of pre-XP versions of Windows is that when you close down an application, the memory which was allocated to that application is not automatically freed up for re-use. This means that the more programs you use, the slower your PC gets - eventually it will crawl along at such a pathetic pace that it will require a reboot before you can get anything done. However, by installing a memory management program, whenever you close down an application, the RAM that is no longer required can be reclaimed and recycled.

My favourite tool for this job is the tiny, and best of all free, Max Mem, available from www.analogx.com. With this installed, whenever you run and subsequently close down a memory hogging application, Max Mem will swoop down from the skies in its lycra costume, cape and bright red underpants to save the day, thus preventing your PC from grinding to a halt (yes I know I've watched too many Superman films!).