Resource leak in the new version of YIM

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 10:16 pm

Has anyone noticed the that the new Yahoo Instant Messenger uses a lot more system resources then the previous versions, and it doesn't want to give you very much back when you close it out, which indicates to me that it has a resource leak?

Roody · Post by **Roody** » Sun Jun 20, 2004 11:11 pm

Hadn't noticed it so far.

zooner · Post by **zooner** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 1:41 am

i thought the new version had spyware?

I know the new version of aim does.

thank goodness for http://www.oldversion.com

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 6:19 am

and it doesn't want to give you very much back when you close it out, which indicates to me that it has a resource leak?

That is does not reture the resources once closed does not mean it has a resource leak. There is no such thing as a resource leak anyway. There is such a thing as a memory leak. But just cause an app does not return the resources it was using does not mean there is any leak, it just means that the app is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident app).

IE and OE are both TSR apps, as are WMP and almost all Office apps.

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 8:46 am

get trillian.. imho i think it uses next to nothing for cpu time and very little ram as far as todays software goes... http://www.ceruleanstudios.com/

_uNDeRsCoRE · Post by **_uNDeRsCoRE** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:16 am

trillian is a popular alternative to YM. but if u like an alternative for trillian... try EasyMessage (only 252kb)

http://www.easymessage.net

stevebakh · Post by **stevebakh** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 9:45 am

Or Gaim
or Miranda IM

Both of which support multiple chat protocols. Miranda seems to be taking off as a popular choice for windows users with it being so small/compact and the fact it supposedly uses minimal system resources. Personally, I have no experience with miranda, only GAIM, which does a great job for me

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 3:43 pm

TonyT wrote:That is does not reture the resources once closed does not mean it has a resource leak. There is no such thing as a resource leak anyway. There is such a thing as a memory leak. But just cause an app does not return the resources it was using does not mean there is any leak, it just means that the app is a TSR (Terminate and Stay Resident app).

IE and OE are both TSR apps, as are WMP and almost all Office apps.

What I'm referring to is a GDI resource leak. I know you don't get all the resources back, but the new messenger gives you next to nothing back.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=& ... tnG=Search

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 5:54 pm

OK, GDI Resources. But how exactly do you know that it is not returning these specific resources? Are you using a 3rd party tool that monitors GDI Resources, or are you going by Windows performance Monitor. I do not believe Perfmon monitors GDI Resources.

Roody · Post by **Roody** » Mon Jun 21, 2004 10:26 pm

_uNDeRsCoRE wrote:trillian is a popular alternative to YM. but if u like an alternative for trillian... try EasyMessage (only 252kb)

http://www.easymessage.net

Nice one. Thanks for the link.

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 12:23 am

But how exactly do you know that it is not returning these specific resources?

I'm using windows 98 SE, and I check it by right clicking the "my computer icon" clickin on properties, and then performance. I check it before I load YIM, and it uses approx 15%. After I close it, I only get about 5% of that back.

I've tried this with different programs, and none, except MS Word, does this.
I know I wont get all of it back, but I think I should be getting back more then that.

I also use the Resource meter when I want to check things like this, and it seems pretty accurate. The problem could be with the older OS.

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 8:16 am

All right then, you are just looking at system resources (All Resources) and not specifically at GDI Resources. YIM is a TSR program. You terminate it and some of it stays resident in memory. Win 98 cannot free this memory unless you use a 3rd party app that reads the TSRs and has the ability to remove them from memory.

I'll bet after you close YIM, and then use cntr-alt-del, you will still see it listed there. If so, end task on it there.

Else, try using http://www.sysinternals.com Process Explorer. You can kill processes with it.

Aslo see this:
What are resources in win98 systems?
http://www.infinisource.com/techfiles/w ... urces.html

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 2:10 pm

I'll bet after you close YIM, and then use cntr-alt-del, you will still see it listed there. If so, end task on it there.

I'm a step ahead of you. I had did that. Also, I ran adaware to see what processes were running, and it wasn't there. Like I stated, this is the only program that does this to this extent. The version I was using before this didn't do it, and it wasn't as resource intensive as the new version.

All right then, you are just looking at system resources (All Resources) and not specifically at GDI Resources.

True, but the resources that are shown in this way are for GDI.exe and User.exe.
The Resource meter will show you both percentages.

stevebakh · Post by **stevebakh** » Tue Jun 22, 2004 2:29 pm

Are there any features in the new version that you use that aren't present in the previous version that you had no problems with?

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 1:07 am

stevebakh wrote:Are there any features in the new version that you use that aren't present in the previous version that you had no problems with?

They added a good many new features. Some I use and others I don't. However, there's no way to disable these features. It's a nice improvement with a lot of extras, but it doesn't want to give you back but a fraction of the resources when the program is closed.

If all programs did the same thing to this extent, I'd have to restart my PC about every hour or so.

TonyT · Post by **TonyT** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 7:10 am

If all programs did the same thing to this extent, I'd have to restart my PC about every hour or so.

Not if you were running XP.
XP handles memory & resources differently than earlier versions of Windows. Perhaps YIM was coded w/ XP in mind because majority of systems now are running XP and all new systems ship w/ XP.

Download that app I suggested called Process Explorer. You can use it to kill running processes. In win98, not all running processes are shown in Task Manager and this app will show em all. You can then kill the Yahoo processes that are resident.

darlin · Post by **darlin** » Wed Jun 23, 2004 2:51 pm

Yeah, I pretty much figured it would do much better on XP, but they listed the supported platforms as 95- XP. I'll take a look at the software you recomended. I plan to build a new computer in the near future, and either go with 2000 or XP Pro. And I will probably use this pc for a Linux machine.