But -- if it's my system, wouldn't it happen all the time?
No, because your computer's memory usage is always in flux. However, if the problem was with the forum, it would happening to everyone all the time. The forum doesn't pick and choose how it's going to behave with different visitors - the exact same scripts are always in control. Differing behavior is most often a result of a given browser, the computer that browser is running on, and the computer's Internet connection. The exception would be if there was a server problem. But again, any problem with the server would occur for everyone who happened to access the forum while the server was experiencing the problem. And at any rate, the slide is completely unrelated to the server because, as I've mentioned, it's handled internally by each person's computer's memory.
if ... the system hasn't been reset for awhile, things get bogged down. I think the memory gets full of crap 'cause we don't have the proper memory management program installed.
This is an excellent point, Connie. If a computer doesn't have the correct memory management settings, it can easily get bogged down because many Windows programs/processes don't return memory to the system when they're done with it. In fact, DLL files can remain in memory LONG after someone is done with them.
One really good FREE memory utility is Cacheman. Here's an excerpt from a recent PC Magazine review:
"Memory-optimizing utilities are a dime a dozen, but the one that includes the most effective tweaks for enhancing drive and memory usage is Cacheman. A wizard interface helps users change settings in the Windows file system that can noticeably improve system speed. Cacheman's options cover a lot of territory and best of all have some very detailed wizards to make sure you know what you are changing. Also, any changes are easy to undo if you goof up."A free download of Cacheman 5.11 (the latest version) is available from
PC World. The installation file is only 856KB and using a dial-up connection it shouldn't take more than 4 or 5 minutes to download.
You'll also find links to several other useful utilities on that same page.