ResourceFree v1.1
by Shay Fulton & Infamus Harding

Instructions, Setup, and Performance Tips

The first time you run ResourceFree, you see the screen below. This is the setup screen. You can get back to this screen to change your preferences later, if needed. 

The first option is for setting Virtual Memory use. This is only activated in Mac OS 9. This feature allows you to easily tell ResourceFree how to set your memory usage when you are going to be using your program. It is highly recommended that you either 1) turn VM to its lowest setting (1MB over your built-in amount) or 2) turn VM off completely. We found that turning VM off completely on iMacs and iBooks has a negative effect, so we recommend these users stick with option 1 (or any other user having difficulty with getting it to work with VM off). Setting this feature to 'Do Nothing' will tell ResourceFree to simply leave your VM settings the same at all times.

The second option allows you to tell ResourceFree to quit the Finder as it launches your program. Some programs need the Finder... And sometimes you may want it as well. But when using emulators, you'll hardly ever need it and the performance boost of shutting it down can be dramatic. Experiment! This is safe software... We really recommend you have the Finder quit when you launch any high-performance emulator. You will still be able to use open/save dialog boxes and access files from within your emulator/program! It (the Finder) will relaunch again once you quit your emulator/program and you'll be back in the regular Mac OS! 

The third pop-up menu provides an option to tell ResourceFree to quit all background applications. These little memory hogs take processor cycles to themselves and hurt performance. This feature will quit things like the Control Strip, Time Synchronizer, Folder Actions, Virus Scanners, macro utilities, and other 'hidden' programs that you never see or interact with (as well as other open apps). It can save you even more RAM, and RAM is really the key to good emulator performance. If you really need the Control Strip (if installed on your Mac) when you drop back out of your emulator, choose the final option and the strip will quit at program launch time but launch again once your program quits.

The Extensions/Control Panels box allows you to specify your preferred low-use set as well as your standard set. By turning this on, ResourceFree will automatically set and restore your extension/control panel sets before and after program/emulator use. Both options here are optional... Only turn them on if you want this feature enabled (we highly recommend it!).

If you own Conflict Catcher 8, you will want to turn on 'Use Conflict Catcher'. You must type the names of the sets in the boxes, as ResourceFree has no way of knowing which sets you currently have (or their titles). Again, this box only works with Conflict Catcher, as Apple's Extensions Manager is not capable of receiving application control (they never built that into it, for some reason). We highly recommend Conflict Catcher… Not just for these uses, but for all troubleshooting and overall system control.

If you do not have Conflict Catcher, but still want to set up a special low-RAM extensions set, turn on the 'Use Base Extensions' options. This process is simple but requires some configuration on your part (because we have no idea what extensions you want/need). With this option on, two new folders will appear in your system folder. These two new folders are titled 'Extensions (Disabled RF)' and 'Control Panels (Disabled RF)'. They are empty by default. After this setup and before your first 'Run' of your chosen program by ResourceFree (you only have to do this part once as setup), copy only the extensions/control panels you want enabled for emulator use to these new respective folders (copy them from your regular Extensions/Control Panels folder, don't move them... You need to have regular copies in your normal set). For best emulator performance, copy only the extensions and panels that you need to startup and use the emulator (see FAQ near the end of this page for tips). These extensions/panels will only be enabled during your emulator use, and will only be used when you use ResourceFree to set up program/emulator use. When you run ResourceFree and choose to setup for your program/emulator, ResourceFree swaps these files with your regular extensions set... Voila! One restart (ResourceFree will do this too if you want) and you are ready to go. When you use ResourceFree to restore your old settings, these files will be swapped again and all will be as it was before you ran your program!

Now you can choose which programs you want to use with ResourceFree. Hit the 'Add/Edit List' button. From here, simply add or remove applications to the list on the left of the window. Feel free to try any program with it, although emulators and CPU-intensive programs are ideal. Most games should work fine... In fact, setting ResourceFree to quit the Finder and background apps can shed several megs of RAM and free up the processor by as much as 15-20%! ResourceFree does nothing to the programs you list... They are just stored in ResourceFree prefs so that the program knows which programs you may want to launch and can do it for you in the proper way.

Note: Using any 'Virtual Memory' setting (other than 'Do Nothing') or turning on extension/control panel support will require a restart before the changes take place. When you run ResourceFree for the setup, it will offer to restart for you. 

After the Setup

Okay, you've setup ResourceFree and are ready to run one of your selected programs. Great! Depending on your choices, there are two possible ways to do this:

If you only told ResourceFree to quit the Finder and/or background processes, you can simply launch ResourceFree, choose the program you want to use from the popup menu, and hit 'Run'. This will quit all open applications and background processes, quit the Finder, launch your app, and quit ResourceFree. Do this every time you want to run your program... You could be surprised by the results!

If you additionally told ResourceFree to change your VM settings or extension/control panels sets, you do pretty much the same thing. Run ResourceFree and hit 'Run'. ResourceFree will automatically set your VM settings and extensions set and ask you to restart (you can quit if needed and restart later… Just remember to restart before you run ResourceFree again for the final process). ResourceFree stores your old settings… After the restart, run ResourceFree again and you are confronted with a new window. This has three options. 'Restore Old' will do nothing but restore your VM and extensions settings back to the way they were before you prepared them. This is what you will use to instantly set your Mac back to the way it was. The 'Run' button will launch the program chosen in the popup menu (quitting the Finder and background apps if so chosen) and leave the settings as is… Such as for later use or subsequent launches. 'Restore and Run' will first restore the old settings and then run your chosen program (quitting the Finder and background apps if so chosen). This is the likely choice for most, since you will likely want to go back to the old settings on the next restart (after you've finished using your app). Remember that old settings will not go into effect until the next restart.

Remember, to go back to the regular settings and usage, all you have to do is run ResourceFree and hit 'Restore Old' and restart. Voila! Remember that you'll only see the 'Restore' features if you chose options that require a restart.

Note: Had a crash or hard reset and feel like settings got out of whack with ResourceFree? Have no fear... There is a built-in safegaurd auto-reset feature that will fix these troubled. Read question 3 below!

Performance Tips ( READ THIS! )

There are a few tips for getting the most out of ResourceFree:

Q: ResourceFree sometimes asks me to locate my  chosen application before running. Why?

A: If ResourceFree cannot locate your programs at times, it's time to rebuild your desktop files. Use Conflict Catcher or simply do the old Option-Command at startup trick... That should do the trick. 

Q: Which extensions/control panels do you recommend as a base set for low-RAM, low-CPU use? 

A: The bare minimum (Mac OS Base)... Consult your program guides. ResourceFree itself needs only AppleScript extensions. Games and such usually require the tough stuff: hardware drivers, 3D drivers, InputSprockets, QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, OpenGL, etc. Emulators hardly need anything, since the whole point of an emulator is to mimic another system. Virtual PC needs your CD-ROM drivers. SNES9X needs QuickTime. iNes really needs nothing special at all. But remember... For best performance - only what's needed and nothing more! Read the manuals. Turning off those pesky FileSaver & Crashguard (Norton), virus scanners, and screen savers will do wonders for your performance, especially in games and emulators.

Q: My program crashed and required a hard restart…  My Mac is still starting up from the low-RAM extensions set (and I'm not using Conflict Catcher)!

A: At any time that you feel the ResourceFree has gone out of whack (such as after a crash or hard restart), you can correct it easily. ResourceFree has a built in 'rebuild' process that wipes the slate clean and saves your base preferences. It does nothing to the program itself… It only sets itself back to the proper settings. To do this, simply hold down 'Option-Command' (Option-Apple) as you launch ResourceFree. This will rebuild the program 'memory'. You'll see a dialog saying that it was done and ResourceFree will quit. That's all there is to it… You can launch ResourceFree again to restart the process (your setup preferences are still there). If you use the 'Use Base Extensions' option (not Conflict Catcher), it will also make sure your normal extension set is enabled... If not, it will enable it again for you. Name another program that has this kind of safeguarding feature!

Q: Does ResourceFree support RAM Doubler in RAM management?

A: No. RAM Doubler 8 is not compatible with the needed software uses of ResourceFree. RAM Doubler 9 may well be... If so, we will update ResourceFree for it. Right now, however, RAM Doubler does not work with Mac OS 9 and offers no noticeable benefit for OS 8.5 or 8.6 users. Virtual Memory has come along way since 7.5 and has improved ten-fold.

Q: How does Virtual Memory effect high- performance apps?

A: When set to the minimum, it really does not do much damage at all. When set high (say, 10-20MB over your built-in), it slows things to a crawl. If possible, turn it off completely as a ResourceFree option! You can always use it (as recommended) during your normal Mac use.You'll make up for the RAM loss in increased speed, disk-performance, and Finder RAM (if you quit the Finder).

Purchase ResourceFree and continue use beyond the 10-day demo (next chapter)...