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Question

Computer Help! Computer uses too much RAM!

by Apr 24, 2015 6:58PM PDT

Basically what the title says. I have a very cheap computer with 2GB of ram. I won't even be doing anything or have any programs running and it will be using 1.70GB of ram for no reason and 0% CPU. I honestly have no idea what processes I can shut down safely. My computer slows down several times during the day and freezes up sometimes due to the fact its using all of its ram. My computer has a fan and it still gets really hot from running everything that its running even though there are no programs running. Ive scanned for viruses in safe mode w/ networking and Normally. Only a few adware that were not Computer life threatening showed up. Ive scanned with 4 different types of Anti-Malware/Anti-Spyware Programs. Microsoft Security Essentials, Super Anti-Spyware, Malwarebytes(Full version), and a Microsoft malware removal tool. No malware of any sort found within it. I honestly am stumped on how my computer uses 1.70GB of Ram without any programs running. The process that seems to use the most RAM is SVCHost.exe and it has 12 different instances open in the process tab in task manager and uses 119280K Ram. Please help me find out what processes I can stop, and help me fix this problem.

Discussion is locked

16 Posts
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Clarification Request
Has it always used 1.70 GB
by itsdigger Apr 25, 2015 11:47AM PDT

I've always heard that unused RAM is wasted RAM
Digger

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Answer
RAM Usage
by Apr 25, 2015 12:36AM PDT

I had the same issue, used the same scans you did. My computer had used 22GB of RAM in 5 days. Avira antiv seems to have fixed the issue. It appears to be a trojan. Avira will pop up a warning to remove the problem if it reappears. I don't know how to get my RAM back, I'm just happy that the issue has stopped. GOOD LUCK!

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(NT) I believe you're talking about hard drive space and not RAM
by Steven Haninger Apr 25, 2015 12:42AM PDT
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same mistake in another thread too
by James Denison Apr 25, 2015 7:04AM PDT

by same poster.

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No Im not.
by MrGlasses123 Apr 25, 2015 8:02AM PDT

I know what the differences between RAM and HD are. I have 26GB of HD space left. But I only have 2GB of Ram memory.

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(NT) Pssst...he wasn't talking about you
by VAPCMD Apr 25, 2015 12:29PM PDT
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Answer
Re RAM
by Former Forum moderator Apr 25, 2015 1:08AM PDT

- Well, Windows runs, and that uses a lot of RAM. SVCHost runs the services in Windows. You can see which ones are running if you run services.msc from the run-box.
- When looking at running programs, it's best to look at the percentage of CPU used. That says much more than the RAM it uses. You'll see that most programs use 0% of the CPU, so just do nothing. If you sort the processes in the processes tab of task manager on CPU usage, what's the top 5?
- What's your OS (Windows XP, Vista, 7, Cool? 32 bits of 64 bits?
- What are your virtual memory parameters?
- It's strange indeed that it gets hot while using 0% CPU.
- Why not add 2 GB of RAM?

Kees

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And ...
by Kees_B Former Forum moderator Apr 25, 2015 1:14AM PDT

What programs are running at startup? Run MSCONFIG, go to the startup tab, and tell what's checkec.

Kees

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Answers to your questions
by MrGlasses123 Apr 25, 2015 8:14AM PDT

When looking at running programs, it's best to look at the percentage of CPU used. That says much more than the RAM it uses. You'll see that most programs use 0% of the CPU, so just do nothing. If you sort the processes in the processes tab of task manager on CPU usage, what's the top 5?
Apart from Chrome.exe(my default internet browser) nothing else is using any CPU besides Taskmgr.exe and thats because I currently have it open to look at the programs that are running.

What's your OS (Windows XP, Vista, 7, Cool? 32 bits of 64 bits?
OS: Windows 7 - 64bit

What are your virtual memory parameters?
Minimum: 16MB
Recommended: 2916MB
Currently Allocated: 1944MB

Why not add 2 GB of RAM?
Because this computer is not worth the upgrades. Its a low end Lenovo Thinkpad Laptop.
At some point I want to buy a new computer but I don't want to have to put up with the freezing and slowness of this computer for the meantime.

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Answer
1.70GB would be normal.
by Former Forum moderator Apr 25, 2015 8:25AM PDT

I just looked at my PC and it's at 2.9GB with a fresh boot and firefox open. 2GB is too slim for today's users. They will complain.

It would take a lot of work to slim this down so I don't hold much hope here.
Bob

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1.70GB is how much its using.
by MrGlasses123 Apr 25, 2015 11:34AM PDT

1.70GB is how much it's using. The problem seems to be that when nothing is open it uses a lot of memory. I won't even have Chrome open and it will use an absurd amount of RAM. Now this problem doesn't happen all the time. But when it does happen it freezes and lags my computer a lot. I don't know what's causing the RAM increase because to me it seems as though all the processes that are running are required for the computer to work properly.

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Even if it subtract what Firefox used.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Apr 25, 2015 2:11PM PDT

It's over 2GB. I guess you can explore every little item such as Windows Aero, antivirus and turn that off. But there are some million prior discussions so we know one thing. It's too low for today's users. You might do better with a light linux.
Bob

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I use Linux Mint, but....
by James Denison Apr 25, 2015 11:13PM PDT

I cold booted a computer with W7 which I just updated fully yesterday. This is from the Resource Meter in W7, so you can compare to yours.


In Linux Mint 17 from a cold boot, I'm using about half a GB usually, but right now using browser it's 739.6 MB RAM.

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Answer
About RAM usage
by Apr 25, 2015 2:36PM PDT

Hi,
Check if harddrave works in PIO regime.

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Answer
PS. Here's why such discussions are no longer repeated.
by Former Forum moderator Apr 25, 2015 3:04PM PDT
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ah yes
by James Denison Apr 25, 2015 11:15PM PDT

I should have mentioned the W7 I booted and took a RAM reading has all the special effects turned off in the Performance section, it is set for Performance instead of Appearance, which can reduce RAM usage quite a bit more.

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