How to Find Memory PHP.ini in a WordPress Hosting Account

April 7, 2023 By WP Helpline Off

WordPress is a popular open-source website creation platform that is used to build everything from small personal sites to large portals such as TechCrunch. It is particularly suited for creating websites that require a lot of interaction with users, as it comes with a lot of features that allow for usability and user experience (UX).

A website’s performance is largely determined by how its PHP.ini is configured. A poorly configured PHP.ini can lead to excessively long load times, unresponsiveness, and other issues. Fortunately, you can easily find and fix PHP.ini problems in just a few minutes by following a few simple steps, which we will discuss in this article.

Step 1: Open the Windows Registry

The Windows Registry is a massive database that is used to keep track of all the settings and configurations for Windows. It is mainly composed of 32-bit and 64-bit registry values that can be accessed and changed using either the Registry Editor or a specialized app.

To find and edit the memory_limit value in the PHP.ini file, you will need to open the Windows Registry. To do this, click the Start button and then click the Registry option on the Start Menu. Alternatively, you can use the Keyboard Shortcut to quickly open the Windows Registry: Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard. When the Registry window pops up, click the OK button to confirm the restart of Windows devices.

Step 2: Search for the Memory PHP.ini file

The next step is to search for the PHP.ini file, which you will need to manually edit in order to change the memory_limit value. You can do this using any web browser or the Windows Finder. Simply enter the following URL in the address bar:

http://[your-site-url].com/php.ini

Depending on your system settings, this may bring up a lot of results, as the PHP.ini file is frequently used by other applications on your system. In addition to web browsers, the Registry Editor and the Finder can help you locate the PHP.ini file.

Step 3: Double-check the results and click on the first match.

Once you have found the file, you need to double-check the results to see if indeed it is the PHP.ini file that you are looking for. You can do this by clicking on the file in the list, or you can use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move to the next result and then click on it. Alternatively, you can use the * button on your keyboard to enter a search query and then click on the first result. If you are unsure which file to change, double-check the results for both files and then click on the one that you think is the correct one.

Clicking on a match in the results list displays additional information about that file, including the location of the physical file on your system. If you have changed the location of the PHP.ini file since installing WordPress, double-check the results before continuing.

Step 4: Navigate to the PHP.ini file’s location on your system and open it

The final step is to navigate to the specific location of the PHP.ini file that you have found. This is the folder that will contain all of the configuration files for your WordPress site. Once you have navigated to this folder, you can double-click on the file to open it in the Windows Editor (notepad). Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut to open any file in the Windows Editor: Press the Windows key + E on your keyboard. When the Editor pops up, locate and then click on the PHP.ini file to open it in Notepad.

You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the section that contains the memory_limit value. Once you have found it, you can see that it is set to a rather high value. You will want to change this to a lower number, as a lot of applications and services in WordPress rely on a fast and responsive server to function properly. A low number may also improve the performance of your site. So, to change the value, simply find the 128 megabyte mark and then scroll to the bottom of the page. You should see the following two lines of code:

memory_limit = 128M upload_max_filesize = 128M

Change the value that is next to memory_limit = to a lower number (for example, 64 megabytes or 32 megabytes), and save the file. Exit the Notepad Editor and then reopen it to check your changes.

If you have followed these instructions, you should now be able to change the memory_limit value in your PHP.ini file to a lower number. You can then proceed to the next step to verify that the change took effect.

Check the Site’s Performance

Once you have changed the memory_limit value in the PHP.ini file, it is a good idea to check the site’s performance using a tool like Load Runner, which is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

You can use the Performance Wizard to find and fix critical points in your site’s performance. This tool will monitor your site’s performance during a specified time period and then display a report with all of the results, along with suggestions about what you can do to further improve the performance of your site.

The time period for the report is set using the Wizard’s settings. You can choose to monitor your site for a specified number of hours or days. The report generated by the Performance Wizard is extremely easy to understand and can help you pinpoint areas in which your site needs improvement. In addition, you can use the Startup Wizard to detect errors in the beginning of your website’s life cycle, when it first starts to see a lot of traffic. This is a great tool for finding problems before they happen and then fixing them before the end user even notices that the site is experiencing issues.

Both tools are completely free and can be downloaded from the official Website of the company that makes them. Once you have downloaded the tool, simply run it, and then click the Start button in the upper left corner to begin analyzing your site.

Step 5: Restart your Web Server

If you have changed the memory_limit value in the PHP.ini file, it is a good idea to restart your web server in order to make sure that the change took effect. You can do this for Windows and Mac OS X servers using the following commands:

For Windows: shutdown.exe -r -t 0

For Mac OS X: sudo shutdown -r now

The -r switch shuts down the computer. The -t switch gives it time to restart, which we want to avoid. The 0 parameter turns off the message box that will appear after you enter this command. This is extremely important, as we do not want to be bothered by any message boxes while trying to locate and fix PHP.ini issues.

Step 6: Re-assess the Site’s Performance

After you have changed the memory_limit value in the PHP.ini file, it is a good idea to re-assess the site’s performance using a tool like Load Runner, which is available for both Windows and Mac OS X.

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