All RAM gets used up

[gmccleary11]

When I turn my laptop on the RAM instantly spikes and 98% of it says its being used. This lasts for about 10 minutes and during this time I can barely use my laptop. After those 10 minutes it happens once in a while while my laptop remains on. I have all current updates install and have Norton Anti Virus installed and after several different scans no viruses or malware of any kind. Please help

 

[Chairman Ray]

Could you open your task manager and find out which process is taking up the memory?

 

[aaab]

How much RAM have you got, and what operating system are you using?

 

[kelthic]

Sounds to me like your laptop is either getting a little long in the tooth, or did not ship with enough ram for the operating system chosen to begin with. The fact that you mention this happens at startup points to this. As your system ages, windows updates, programs update, you install new programs, etc., all of which take a larger and larger chunk out of your systems resources, making it necessary to upgrade or replace your system.

You might try to revert your laptop to factory settings, which would remove any unneccessary clutter that is eating into your ram. Make sure you back up all your personal files prior to reverting your laptop to factory settings. You will also have to reinstall any programs, etc. that did not originally come with the computer. Here is a link that would assist with this. http://www.ehow.com/video_4766635_reboot-computer-back-factory-settings.html

you might also try to upgrade your system with more ram. this isn't an easy process with a laptop and it isn't always possible depending on the specific laptop you have, so it's best for you to check with the original manufacturer either online or via tech support (if you still have this available) to make sure you 1) can upgrade the ram, and 2) get compatible ram for your laptop. Here is a link that will assist with that as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yirNejnzbEM

If your system is particularly outdated, it could just be that it is time for you to replace it with something a little more powerful. This is an option you would want to consider as well.


Hope this helps!

Kel

 

[smorizio]

power off the laptop and check that ram is seated in the ram slots. then boot into safe mode and check that you dont have two anti virus software or two malware programs running. I would also use msconfig and turn everything off in start up. i would run a hijackthis log and post it here plus ccleaner and defrag. if your hard drive is too full then windows may not be able ot make a swap file.

 

[gmccleary11]

Could you open your task manager and find out which process is taking up the memory?

As far as I can tell its a svchost.exe process

 

[gmccleary11]

How much RAM have you got, and what operating system are you using?

i have 8 gb of ram and am using windows 7 home edition

 

[gmccleary11]

Sounds to me like your laptop is either getting a little long in the tooth, or did not ship with enough ram for the operating system chosen to begin with. The fact that you mention this happens at startup points to this. As your system ages, windows updates, programs update, you install new programs, etc., all of which take a larger and larger chunk out of your systems resources, making it necessary to upgrade or replace your system.

You might try to revert your laptop to factory settings, which would remove any unneccessary clutter that is eating into your ram. Make sure you back up all your personal files prior to reverting your laptop to factory settings. You will also have to reinstall any programs, etc. that did not originally come with the computer. Here is a link that would assist with this. http://www.ehow.com/video_4766635_reboot-computer-back-factory-settings.html

you might also try to upgrade your system with more ram. this isn't an easy process with a laptop and it isn't always possible depending on the specific laptop you have, so it's best for you to check with the original manufacturer either online or via tech support (if you still have this available) to make sure you 1) can upgrade the ram, and 2) get compatible ram for your laptop. Here is a link that will assist with that as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yirNejnzbEM

If your system is particularly outdated, it could just be that it is time for you to replace it with something a little more powerful. This is an option you would want to consider as well.


Hope this helps!



Kel

my laptop isnt even a year old though. I have 8 gb of ram so that should be enough. Id hate to reinstall everything but maybe i should try the safe mode thing

 

[aaab]

i have 8 gb of ram and am using windows 7 home edition

You are running 64bit win 7? (I hope!) Is it all up to date?

 

[aaab]

my laptop isnt even a year old though. I have 8 gb of ram so that should be enough. Id hate to reinstall everything but maybe i should try the safe mode thing

This is what happens when you make assumptions. "It makes an ass out of you and me"

 

[gmccleary11]

power off the laptop and check that ram is seated in the ram slots. then boot into safe mode and check that you dont have two anti virus software or two malware programs running. I would also use msconfig and turn everything off in start up. i would run a hijackthis log and post it here plus ccleaner and defrag. if your hard drive is too full then windows may not be able ot make a swap file.

I have Norton and Windows defender each active at the same time. should I uninstall Windows Defender? Maybe this wld solve the problem?......

 

[gmccleary11]

You are running 64bit win 7? (I hope!) Is it all up to date?

sorry yes it is 64 bit and all updates are installed

 

[aaab]

If svchost is the culprit,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svchost

Have a look in the event viewer and see if you can see anything relevant.

 

[Pinhedd]

I have Norton and Windows defender each active at the same time. should I uninstall Windows Defender? Maybe this wld solve the problem?......

You shouldn't have two security software products installed at the same time because they can conflict with eachother.

You should uninstall Norton because it's a massive resource hog, mostly ineffective, and I almost guarantee that it's what's causing your problem.

Also uninstall Windows Defender, replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials.

 

[gmccleary11]

If svchost is the culprit,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svchost

Have a look in the event viewer and see if you can see anything relevant.

how do i go about this and what do i look for?

 

[gmccleary11]

You shouldn't have two security software products installed at the same time because they can conflict with eachother.

You should uninstall Norton because it's a massive resource hog, mostly ineffective, and I almost guarantee that it's what's causing your problem.

Also uninstall Windows Defender, replace it with Microsoft Security Essentials.

Im sorry, I meant to say i have Norton and Microsoft Security Essentials. I am hesitant about uninstalling Norton,... Isnt Norton better?

 

[arunphilip]

Open Task Manager, and go to the 'Performance' tab. Tell us the 4 values you see under 'Physical memory'. I want to rule out whether what you're seeing is just Windows Superfetch in action - this caches a whole load of files into RAM, so it will minimize the 'Free' memory, while increasing the 'Cached' memory. This is a good thing.

 

[math1337]

In task manager, go to view and select the "PID" column. Then note the PID of the offending svchost process. After that, go to the services tab and list all of the services with that PID.

 

[Pinhedd]

Im sorry, I meant to say i have Norton and Microsoft Security Essentials. I am hesitant about uninstalling Norton,... Isnt Norton better?

Norton is the TSA of security suites. The only reason it works at all is because it prevents you from doing anything at all.

 

[gmccleary11]

Open Task Manager, and go to the 'Performance' tab. Tell us the 4 values you see under 'Physical memory'. I want to rule out whether what you're seeing is just Windows Superfetch in action - this caches a whole load of files into RAM, so it will minimize the 'Free' memory, while increasing the 'Cached' memory. This is a good thing.

Physical Memory (MB)
Total: 8139
Cached: 323
Available: 310
Free: 0

 

[aaab]

Right click on 'my computer' and click manage. You should see the event viewer in there. I can't describe exactly where it is in windows 7

 

[gmccleary11]

In task manager, go to view and select the "PID" column. Then note the PID of the offending svchost process. After that, go to the services tab and list all of the services with that PID.

WinDefend has a PID of 9028

 

[gmccleary11]

Norton is the TSA of security suites. The only reason it works at all is because it prevents you from doing anything at all.

so what antivirus program should i use that gives me good protection?

 

[fizzle22]

so what antivirus program should i use that gives me good protection?

I use Avast but many people like AVG or, as mentioned earlier, Microsoft Security Essentials. Check out CNet for reviews if interested.

 

[gmccleary11]

I use Avast but many people like AVG or, as mentioned earlier, Microsoft Security Essentials. Check out CNet for reviews if interested.

thanks for the info