Re: [solved, mostly] CSRSS.EXE uses alarming amount of VM when Emacs is running

[Eric Hanchrow]

On a hunch, I started cmd.exe, and changed its default "layout" from
9999 rows and 9999 columns to 80 and 25 respectively.  (I had earlier
set it to those large numbers because I don't want things vanishing
off the top of my cmd.exe screens!)  That cured it.

Apparently, Emacs was starting a number of invisible cmd.exes, each of
which was allocating a ton of memory for its window ... despite the
window's being invisible ;-|

(And I wasn't imagining the slowdown -- starting three or four such
cmd.exes would pretty much bring the computer to a halt)

If anyone wants to repro this, here are the exact steps.  Note: I'm
using Windows 2000 SP4; the exact key sequence will probably be a bit
different for Windows XP.

* Hit the "Windows" key.

* Hit "R" for "Run".

* In the "Run" window, type "cmd".  Hit Enter.

* In the cmd window, right-click the little icon in the upper-left
  corner.

* Choose "Defaults".

* In the "Screen Buffer Size" group, in the "Width" field, type
  "9999".

* Similarly, in the "Height" field of that group, also type "9999".

* Click OK.

>From now on, every cmd.exe -- and Emacs -- that you start will cause
the VM usage of CSRSS to jump about 180 megabytes.

(To see the VM usage of processes, start the Task Manager by typing
Ctrl+Alt+Del T; click the "Processes" tab; click the "View" menu;
choose "Select Columns"; check the "Virtual Memory Size" checkbox.)
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