Processes using a lot of memory! Help!

[jimiller43]

Recently, my PC began allocating very large amounts of RAM for certain system processes.

The most noticeable are svchost.exe, MsMpEng.exe, and explorer.exe.



I never had this problem before, and now I can't even play a game (Dragon Age) without noticeable frame skips.

I have run CCleaner, Malwarebytes, Microsoft Security Essentials, and Advanced SystemCare Pro [I personally have had very good experiences with ASC].

I do notice that the svchost.exe memory hog is due to the Superfetch service. When I stop the service, svchost.exe drops to 20,000 K rather than 150,000+ K. The only thing is, I have never had to do this before and I would like my PC fixed without this step.

My PC:

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
ASUS M4A78-e Motherboard
AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition 3.4Ghz [quad]
4GB Corsair DDR2 [had 8GB, removed faulty RAM within the past month or so]
NVidia GTX 460 Graphics
Onboard sound
SATA HD

[patio]

[had 8GB, removed faulty RAM within the past month or so]

Sure you got the bad ones ? ?
I'd run MemTest for 2 hours just to be certain...

[Broni]

With today's computers rather large amount of RAM, RAM usage shouldn't be an issue at all.
All you have to worry about is CPU usage, which in your case is barely over 1% (if I read it right from your screenshot).
Not to mention, that Vista and 7 handle RAM in a very different way than previous Windows versions.

[jimiller43]

Thank you for the replies!

patio: I'm fairly sure, I ran memtest on each 2GB stick individually as well as in current and past configurations, though I did the 5 minute check.

Broni: I only wonder why my PC's performance is taking a hit...? I have not had these processes using so much memory at any time in the past.

Thanks again!

[Broni]

What is actually wrong with your computer, aside from Task Manager numbers?

[jimiller43]

A noticeable drop in performance, increased load times. It might not sound like a dire problem, but this is a gaming computer built for high-end gaming and it can't run average games!

[Allan]

Boot time has nothing to do with increased ram usage - nor is it anything with which you should concern yourself. As for a "drop in performance" - please explain EXACTLY what the issue is.

[jimiller43]

Not boot time, load times in applications. I have never had frame rate issues in games before, and I am suddenly experiencing terrible frame stuttering. As I use my computer, I feel that it is constantly being taxed on memory. I have also never seen these processes use anywhere near this much RAM before.

[Allan]

Open msconfig and on the General tab choose "selective startup" (uncheck all three items) and reboot. Does the problem still occur? If not, start adding items back to msconfig one or two at a time, rebooting after each change, until the problem reappears and you'll have identified the offending process. This is clearly a time consuming procedure, but it is the best way to determine if some process loading with the system is the cause of your problem.

[Broni]

You may also...

Download Autoruns for Windows: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
No installation required.
Simply unzip Autoruns.zip file, and double click on autoruns.exe file to run the program.
Go File>Save, and save it as AutoRuns.txt file to know location.
You must select Text from drop-down menu as a file type:



Attach the file to your next reply.