problems with understanding of the memory parameters in the xml file

Hi guys, despite reading hours and hours in the internet i'm still struggling with "memory", "currentmemory" and "maxMemory". Maybe you can help me to sort it out. My idea is that a guest has an initial value of memory (which "memory" seems to be) when booting. We have some Windows 10 guests which calculate some stuff and i would like to increase memory during runtime until it reaches a fixed maximum value. My hope was that a higher "maxMemory" could solve this, that the guest claims more memory and gets it. I didn't get it. Is my idea wrong ? Do i need a balloon driver for that ? What i find concerning ballooning is that it doesn't work automatically but has to be adjusted manually. Is that right ? Balloon drivers for windows are available. Is my idea right, does that work basically ? If yes how do i have to set the parameters ? Is the memory released after the guest has e.g. finished his calculation ? Does that work automatically or do i have to adjust that manually ? Thanks. Bernd -- Bernd Lentes Systemadministration Institute for Metabolism and Cell Death (MCD) Building 35.34 - Raum 208 HelmholtzZentrum münchen bernd.lentes(a)helmholtz-muenchen.de phone: +49 89 3187 1241 phone: +49 89 3187 3827 fax: +49 89 3187 2294 http://www.helmholtz-muenchen.de/mcd Perfekt ist wer keine Fehler macht Also sind Tote perfekt Helmholtz Zentrum München Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen Deutsches Forschungszentrum fuer Gesundheit und Umwelt (GmbH) Ingolstaedter Landstr. 1 85764 Neuherberg www.helmholtz-muenchen.de Aufsichtsratsvorsitzende: MinDir.in Prof. Dr. Veronika von Messling Geschaeftsfuehrung: Prof. Dr. med. Dr. h.c. Matthias Tschoep, Kerstin Guenther Registergericht: Amtsgericht Muenchen HRB 6466 USt-IdNr: DE 129521671