We now have a Customer Support Forum on MacNET and on CompuServe in Section 4 of Apple Vendors Forum A. Type “GO APVENA” at almost any CompuServe prompt to go directly there. Customer support forums on other online services will be opening in the near future, and we will announce them as they become available.
System Memory allocation, do the following:
• Copy HeapFixer onto your startup disk and eject the QuickMail Update disk.
• Double-click the HeapFixer icon.
• When the program’s menu bar appears, select “Heap Size…” from the FILE menu.
• A dialog box will appear asking you to select the disk you wish to alter the System Heap size on. Use the DRIVE button, if necessary, to select your startup disk. Then click the SELECT button.
• Another dialog box will appear explaining how much memory is used for your current “System Heap” and how much space is free. We recommend keeping AT LEAST 25% or more free. If you have a lot of RAM or use MultiFinder, you might want to keep at least 50% free. You will then shown how much larger than “normal” your System Heap memory currently starts out as. Normal was defined as 48K of RAM when HeapFixer was first written.
Apple has increased the initial size of the System Heap several times since the System was released and HeapFixer was first written. System Software version 5.0 started with 64K allocatedto the System Heap (16K larger than “normal”). System Software 6.0 and 6.0.2 started with 128K allocated for the System Heap (80K larger than “normal”) .
INIT files can cause the size of the System Heap to be expanded beyond the inital allocation, if necessary. The final size of the System Heap is indicated by the figure shown in the “About the Finder” memory chart that we examined earlier.
• To increase the initial allocation point of System Memory beyond the point it is being expanded to by INITs, type the number that we had you write down earlier (from the “About the Finder memory display) into the entry field in the dialog box, replacing whatever is there. You may even want to give it a little extra to make sure.
• Click the “OK” button.
• The changes you have made will take effect the next time you restart your Macintosh. DO SO NOW!
• After your Macintosh has restarted, check the “About the Finder” memory display again. If you still do not have 25% or more space free, use HeapFixer again, as described above, to further increase the amount of System Memory. It is also possible in some situations to have allocated too MUCH memory to the System Heap - if you have more than 50% free, use HeapFixer again to REDUCE the amount of memory allocated to the System Heap.
WARNING: Increasing System Heap memory reduces the amount of memory available to run application software. If you are using only a 1-megabyte Macintosh or if you have a LARGE quantity of INIT files, or are using INITs such as print spoolers, RAM caches, “beep sound” programs, or other INITs that can take large amounts of System memory, you may reach a point at which you must remove some of your INITs in order to have enough memory to run all your application software. Check the RAM cache setting in the Control Panel (under “General”) - we recommend having no more than 32-64K unless you have many megabytes of RAM.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Installing or reinstalling the System Software with Apple’s Installer program will change the startup allocation amount back to what it was before you used HeapFixer! If your problems start to recur, check the “About the Finder” memory display immediately. We have found that shortage of System Memory is THE NUMBER ONE cause of Macintosh crashes.
