Of the programs that you mentioned, only sysmetrix and windowblinds would use any memory at all.
The problem definitely seems to be a memory problem. I think you probably knew that all along but you wanted help to avoid it. Sorry, my friend. There is really no way. Those memory manager programs really don't work.
You can never have enough memory when you want to run many programs. I learned that a long time ago. I always maxed out my memory on my systems. My first maxed out at 128MB(PII 200 mhtz) and my second system maxed at 384MB (PIII 750mhtz). I had three 128MB chips in that one.
Now, I have a P4 3.0 ghtz with 1GB Ram. This is the way to go. You'll want a least a GB on a P4 system. Most P4 systems allow you to have as much as 2GB to 4GB of memory. I have absolutely no problems with memory, but my processor helps too. I can run everything now and I still stay way above 500MB free ram.
I suggest that you get two 512MB chips. They are the most common. You can combine them with your 128 chips. I assume that you probably have two 128 chips in your system, and four memory slots(2 available). I wouldn't waste money getting two more 128 MB chips. Because, then you can't upgrade further without losing two chips and therefore wasting your money. If you ever want to run some of the more memory extensive programs,(DesktopX or Games, or Autocad rendering), you'll want at least a GB of memory. Your system will take memory based on what's available too. You might not notice a big change in available memory if you get 512MB(128x4) on your system. This is because your programs no longer have to settle for virtual memory with the swap file. Memory is cheap these days too. If you get two 512MB, you can still upgrade further too. Plus, until you do, you will have a total of 1.2 GB of RAM.
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