Thank you for being a valued part of the CNET community. As of December 1, 2020, the forums are in read-only format. In early 2021, CNET Forums will no longer be available. We are grateful for the participation and advice you have provided to one another over the years.

Thanks,

CNET Support

Question

RAM Troubles

Oct 19, 2012 1:00PM PDT

The desktop customization program that I use, Rainmeter, has a module that shows the CPU and RAM usage. After a reboot on my laptop, I fired up Firefox just like usual and was honestly shocked to see that I was using 30% of my RAM. However, as you can see from the picture below, ALL I have open is Firefox and the Task Manager showing the processes, plus Rainmeter, which has never caused a spike in RAM before.

http://i48.tinypic.com/152c9b9.png

This is a serious thread. I've tried my basic troubleshooting, but it doesn't seem to do anything. Honestly, I'm just looking for some advice because I'm baffled :S

It really isn't a HUGE problem, because I have 8 gigs on this laptop, but the problem is that I have no idea what is eating 30% of it up with THREE applications :S

Discussion is locked

- Collapse -
Answer
Looks svelt to me.
Oct 19, 2012 1:12PM PDT
- Collapse -
About the processes count.
Oct 20, 2012 2:35AM PDT

The Count counts 92 or 94 here and not too sluggish at all. Some folk want to drive that down but I don't unless I feel the lag.
Bob

- Collapse -
Answer
109 processes
Oct 20, 2012 12:35AM PDT

That says you have a bunch of stuff loading at startup.

You might want to review your startup list and see if all that STUFF is really needed.

We all run are machines different.
As I'm writing this......using FF.......I see 26 processes open.

- Collapse -
I noticed that, but...
Oct 20, 2012 3:38AM PDT

I will try that as well, however, I usually boot up with that many process and it doesn't eat up that much memory.

I appreciate your input, however. I will go through and do a little cleanup. Thank you.

Additional input is still appreciated though Happy

- Collapse -
What you see is NORMAL ...
Oct 21, 2012 9:48AM PDT

because it is within the RAM that the running application resides so your processor can read and use it.

you have a page file that provides you with virtual memory (virtual RAM) into which non-essential processes can be paged to make room in the physical RAM for the applications to function in.

If RAM is not being used it is wasted. Position your Task Manager so you can see both it and the Firefox window. Now REFRESH the firefox page and you should see the memory increase rapidly for Firefox then after the page is loaded it will decrease again to what is required for the Firefox windows and tabs you may have open.