System Performance Tweaks - Unload DLL's to Free Memory

Windows Explorer caches DLL's (Dynamic-Link Libraries) in memory for a period of time after the application using them has been closed. This can be an inefficient use of memory.

To change this, follow the next steps:

  1. To open the Registry Editor click on the Start button on your taskbar, then click on Run and type "regedit" and click on OK to start the utility (see picture 1).

    Picture 1
  2. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer (see picture 2).

    Picture 2
  3. Create a new DWORD value named "AlwaysUnloadDLL" and set the default value to equal "1" to disable Windows caching the DLL in memory (see picture 3 and 4).

    Picture 3
    Picture 4
  4. The modifications you made will be in effect after you reboot your PC.
     
  5. I tried this after running a intense program, then watched the task manager memory (Ctrl+Shift+ESC) recovered it self (see picture 5).

    Picture 5

 


Author:

Lex van der Horst

Date Added:

06-11-2004

Last Reviewed:

06-11-2004