Stack Messages Suggest Inadequate Memory
Q: Occasionally when I turn on my computer I get this message: “There are no spare stack pages. It may be necessary to increase the settings of MinSPs in system.ini to prevent possible stack faults. There are currently 5 SPs allocated. Press any key to continue.” Can you tell me what that means, what to do about it and how to do it?
A: Stacks are just memory reserved for hardware. An overflow or fault occurs when there is not enough memory to service certain hardware demands. Your system with its five overflow stack pages will function just fine unless there aren’t any spare stack pages.
You can eliminate the error message. But we’d suggest just living with it unless your system is hanging regularly, because it requires tinkering with some high-level stuff.
If you want to give it a shot, however, make sure you back up all your critical data before doing anything. You need to add a command in the [386Enh] section of the System.ini file.
To get there, click on Start in the lower left corner and select Run. Type “msconfig” in the box and click OK. You also can get where you need to go by clicking through Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, and then go to the Tools menu and pick System Configuration. Choose the System.ini tab, open the [386Enh] section. Press New and type “MinSPs=8” and then press Apply. Follow the prompts to finish up and reboot.
According to several technical manuals we consulted, you are supposed to add spare stack pages in increments of four (each spare stack page chews up another 4 kilobytes of memory), but because you’re already at the strange number of five, we’re figuring eight will work.
Q. I am retired and traveling the country with an RV. I am looking for an affordable way to get my e-mail. I am thinking about a laptop computer, but I need to know more about phone connections or cell phone hookups.
A. You can pretty much forget about a cell phone connection, which is extremely unreliable, painfully slow and quite expensive. Unless you’re going to be someplace where you absolutely can’t get to a land line, focus on getting a dial-up connection.
You’ve got a bunch of choices. You can set up an account with a typical Internet service provider, or ISP, which will offer you several phone numbers in your local area code. When you’re traveling, though, you’ll have to eat the long-distance charges.
Your second option involves finding an ISP that offers local dial-up lines all over the country. Large ISPs such as EarthLink offer thousands of dial-up numbers, which let you grab e-mail wherever you are without making a long-distance call.
You also can try using one of the free ISPs, which let you surf in exchange for staring at an ad banner and which often offer local dial-ups across the country or even an 800 number. The friendly geeks at Q&A; labs recommend avoiding free services. In our experience, the software you have to use can sometimes create problems with your system. But if you want to investigate, a list of free services can be found at https://www.free-isp-internet-access.net/isp.shtml.
And finally, the boys in the lab are very happy with a service called iPass at https://www.ipass.com. The service, which has more than 8,000 dial-up numbers, lets you connect to your ISP through a local dial-up in thousands of cities in the U.S. and throughout the world, saving you long-distance charges. You’d pay connect time charges, but it’s much less than you’d shell out for a standard long-distance direct dial.
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Dave Wilson is The Times’ personal technology columnist. Submit questions to Tech Q&A; at techtimes@latimes.com.
