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Question

Windows 10 high memory usage (memory leak suspected)

Sep 21, 2015 9:08AM PDT

Since I upgraded my laptop (MSI GS70-2PE) to Windows 10, I've got an huge memory usage, gradually growing over time until laggy computer (+90% memory used) and sometimes bluescreen because others applications cannot access to enough RAM anymore.

Well, today is the day I must do something about it. I launched poolmon and suspected "Proc" line to be the culprit because while my computer is idle, it does not stop increasing (and as you can see, it does not free any as well.)

http://imageshack.com/a/img538/1527/Rp9Zo3.png

My computer skills stop here because I don't know how to find which driver or application this tag is bound with. I did try a findstr command though, but the result is an infinity (almost mean it) of random numbers and letters...

I hope to set this fix up ASAP, and I would appreciate help from anyone who is omnipotent to this. Grin

Many thanks

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
I looked into the "Proc"
Sep 21, 2015 9:19AM PDT

And that looks like the sum of all items below that. However Poolmon noted at https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/177415 looks to be last updated in 2008 so I'd forget that and look at task manager again.

Sort it by memory and what's at the top?

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"Proc" goes crazy
Sep 21, 2015 9:33AM PDT
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Answer
First of all you should look at
Sep 21, 2015 9:39AM PDT

the task manager and see which process is using the memory. I would also look at your startup tap and see what app run at startup.

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As requested :
Sep 21, 2015 9:57AM PDT
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Memory use does increase in all Windows I've seen
Sep 21, 2015 10:21AM PDT

I would be duplicating prior discussions why this is. But Windows caches things, even trivial things and Antivirus scans don't help this as Windows memory sweeps (another dive into how this OS works!) may cause items to get cached.

I see TORRENT so I fear the worst. Torrent users continue to show the worst issues. It's so bad that often I find it easier to reload the PC.

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Regarding torrent
Sep 21, 2015 10:52AM PDT

I'm not used to launch it, only when I need to download some stuff, and in that case I did only today, but it does not seem to be involved in this matter. Though I agree with you, that's why I barely use - even launch - torrent (:

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Answer
Time to change tools.
Sep 21, 2015 10:04AM PDT

Look at this with procman which has been around for a very long time. Poolmon is pretty dated and I can't see any reason to worry about proc so far.

-> Keep in mind that in a VM OS (which Windows is) the root process may claim all RAM which is normal. I can't hold classes on OSes here but you can find plenty on the web about how OSes work.

Here my advice is to give me the PSLIST sorted by memory.
https://www.google.com/#q=pslist+sort+by+memory

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Looks sorted by PID
Sep 21, 2015 10:59AM PDT

And it's screen dumps so I can't search or sort. Torrent is still there. Who knows how that infected this PC. Good hunting but my choice on Torrent machines is to reload and do over.

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PS. Just a tip. Don't complain about this when torrenting.
Sep 21, 2015 11:13AM PDT
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Oh sorry
Sep 21, 2015 11:13AM PDT

How do I sort ? and what do you want me to sort ?
Well I understand you seem totally against torrent machines but as I said, I use it barely 1 or 2 days a month, and I can assure you this is not the problem here !

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Why are you claiming it's not a problem?
Sep 21, 2015 11:16AM PDT

It's in your dumps.

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Because
Sep 21, 2015 11:20AM PDT

it does not seem to eat a lot of memory in my dumps, well, from what I can see..

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And due to how Windows works
Sep 21, 2015 11:24AM PDT

It will cause memory use to climb. It appears that you will be stuck for some time to come. The torrent causes memory use to climb is well done. I see no reason to repeat that here.

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Answer
How I fixed my Win 10 memory leak
Nov 16, 2015 7:20PM PST

I have an MSI GE62 with 16GB RAM, and here's how I fixed my Win 10 memory leak.

1. As shown below, update your Registry, then your Virtual Memory in the Control Panel, then reboot. This can significantly slow or stop your memory leak.

2. If the above do not solve the problem, the CleanMem app runs Microsoft's memory management tools that are built into Windows. This should non-disruptively free up excess RAM that is not actively being used, even while your apps are running.

REGISTRY UPDATE
* Start > regedit (Click Start then type the word regedit)
* HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Session Manager > Memory Management
* Right click ClearPageFileAtShutDown > Modify > change Value Data to 1.
* Reboot (either now or after Control Panel Update below)

CONTROL PANEL UPDATE
* Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings > Performance > Settings > Virtual memory
* Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives"
* Check "System managed size" button
* Reboot

CLEANMEM
* Install CleanMem v2.5 or higher from pcwintech (freeware)
* By default, CleanMem will run every 15 minutes (can be changed or disabled in Windows Task Scheduler)
* Can be run manually at any time by clicking on CleanMem.exe
* In CleanMem_Settings.exe, I clean both my Mem and System File Cache
* Running Mini_Monitor.exe adds CleanMem to the System Tray so you can monitor memory use, change settings, run the app manually, etc.
* NOTE: CleanMem runs in less than 3 seconds from start to finish, so you won't actually see the app but should notice a change in your memory usage

I used CleanMem for several weeks as a temporary fix until I found the Registry and Control Panel updates. I then disabled CleanMem in Task Scheduler and the other fixes seem to be keeping my RAM usage at normal levels.

Finally, I have seen detailed poolmon and procmon instructions on other sites to identify and fix the RAM problem, but the details dive pretty deep into the system and I was hesitant to screw something up.

Hope this helps!