Memory problems freezing my windows 7/64bit - help please

[jayjayhache]

Hi - Can someone help me please! I've been a loyal user for years and love this app but now have a persistant problem:-

Background:-
I'm running build 2057 of NB 6.4 on windows 7/64 bit - 8GB ram, separate HDs for data, downloaded files and decoded files. Im on supernews and I have all headers stored for about 10 groups - some of which are enormous.

FYI Ive only had this problem for the last few months since upgrading to Win7 from Vista 64 - vista 64 ran fine.

The maching has highpoint hardware raid cards - and runs reliably if newsbin isn't running for days and days.

I'm also using Mcafee's latest / updated antivirus software suite.

The problem:- It downloads fine for a few hours after a fresh boot - maxing out a 120Mbit connection most of the time - but slowly ram is used up until it hits about 7GB used (using task manager to monitor it- it just continually slowly climbs up), then the machine shows memory running low / low resource type errors and error windows open then it freezes. Occasionally it blue-screens or reboots but usually just freezes.

It I quit before it freezes then the memory used DOESN'T free up or drop down - so if 6.5GB of my 8GB are used then it stays there until reboot.

Can you help me with this weird one? I can't go back to Vista -!!

[DThor]

I hear ya regarding vista. Nobody wants that.

So, a little clarification : when you say mem use climbs, I assume you were specifically tracking newsbin memory use? The reason I was questioning this is that you said you had to reboot to get the memory back. If newsbin did have a mem leak, quitting it would release that memory, so I'm wondering if you just meant free memory was shrinking, but you didn't track exactly what was using it? All the back end symptoms are pretty much what you'd expect in an out of memory scenario. When you call up the performance monitor, you actually see newsbin using, say, 6G? What happens if you quit newsbin?

I'm wondering if there's an issue with the raid driver that's grabbing the memory? Also, how hard are you pushing newsbin - how big is the download queue, are you auto downloading everything constantly? Just trying to gauge the metric...

Also, it's like a broken record with me, but always test completely disabling any antivirus. Those things update constantly and never fail to amaze with new and stupid ways to break things.

DT

[Quade]

The problem:- It downloads fine for a few hours after a fresh boot - maxing out a 120Mbit connection most of the time - but slowly ram is used up until it hits about 7GB used (using task manager to monitor it- it just continually slowly climbs up), then the machine shows memory running low / low resource type errors and error windows open then it freezes. Occasionally it blue-screens or reboots but usually just freezes.

If you exit Newsbin before you get to the terminal point, do you get your ram back or does it stay lost?

If it stays lost, then the problem is inside your windows. If it comes back, then it's Newsbin using the RAM.

Do you have any non-raid drives you can download to? As an experiment.

[jayjayhache]

Ok - extra info as requested, thanks DT:-

5/6 items in the queue, huge multipart (40 Gig) rared attached binary articles or lots of smaller 500MB articles or mixes of the same - enough to keep the queue running for a few hours...

In the task manager tool it doesn't show newsbin hogging the physical ram interestingly - it seems to be the system overall thats taking the ram - newsbin seems constant generally... Available ram just drops and drops but no programs are taking it up.

Weird huh!

I can try it without mcafee but that scares me to death! Still I'll give it a go and let you know Image link not allowed for unregistered users

Thanks again...

[jayjayhache]

If you exit Newsbin before you get to the terminal point, do you get your ram back or does it stay lost?

If it stays lost, then the problem is inside your windows. If it comes back, then it's Newsbin using the RAM.

Do you have any non-raid drives you can download to? As an experiment.

If I exit before the freeze I DON'T get the ram back... It stays lost.

I have the data folder on the boot disc (ssd non-raid), the download folder is on a 10k velociraptor drive (non-raid) then the decode folder is on the raid partition... I can change the last part to a non-raid drive to test it no problem...

Would you advise that I test the Mcafee removal first or the non-raid first Image link not allowed for unregistered users

[Quade]

If I exit before the freeze I DON'T get the ram back... It stays lost.

You've pretty much shown it's a windows issue.

- I'd suggest removing the virus scanner altogether, rebooting then trying some downloads. You can always re-install if it makes no difference. V scanners sit in the windows kernel so, they're always suspect.

- if that doesn't help, I'd download and unrar to the raptor instead of the raid drive and see what happens.

[jayjayhache]

Thanks (both) - looks like mcaffee is the problem - when uninstalled the memory-grab stops and everything has been stable since - but no virus scanner obviously!

Can anyone recommend a good compatable replacement for mcafee ? Image link not allowed for unregistered users

[Quade]

How about "Microsoft Security Essentials"?

It's free and I've never seen it cause issues with Newsbin.

[leftovers]

I prefer Outpost Security Suite since I can fine tune all the rule, it also has a virus scanner. The MS product actually works quite well too

[fleggett]

I hate to do a "me, too", but after installing the release build of 6.40, things have not gone well. I'm running Windows 7 x64 fully updated.

I'm also experiencing the system freeze issue, though I don't know if it's memory related. Every minute or two, the system just "goes away". The mouse pointer doesn't respond, I can't bring up Task Manager, and the tray clock doesn't advance. The rather odd thing is that there is no disk activity - neither on the drive hosting Windows nor on the drive accepting downloads (in my case, they're separate). The freeze can last ten seconds or a few minutes. When the system does start responding again, there's a flurry of disk activity.

The only firewall I"m running in the one endemic to Windows. I'm also using MSE for virus detection.

I've seen this behavior before in previous builds, but it hasn't happened in awhile. Unfortunately, this freezing is so frequent that it's impossible to have Newsbin running while doing anything else. As it is now, I'm going to have to restrict any downloading to when I go to bed.

I will say my hardware is a bit unorthodox. I'm running a Norco setup with Marvell SAS controllers in a JBOD configuration (no RAID). I also have a Ceton InfiniTV card installed along with a D-Link wireless PCI card, so it's a pretty stuffed system.

Newsbin does NOT do this on another machine I have in the house. There's something creeping in and out of Newsbin that triggers this behavior on my Norco box. No other program I've used on my Norco prompts this freeze, so it's something only Newsbin is tripping.

Are there any diagnostics I can run to help pinpoint the problem? I'd REALLY like to see this resolved. Thanks.

- Fred

[Quade]

Newsbin does NOT do this on another machine I have in the house.

Are you using Autoload-NZB? If yes, I'd change it to a mostly empty folder, then restart and see if you get the staggering. If you point autoload to a busy folder, it's going to be working hard looking for NZB's.

Procmon will tells you what Newsbin is doing on disk when it's staggering. You've already shown it's something specific to how that PC or Newsbin is configured.