Ram usage ballooning up by 1GB without new processes (Win 7)

I have a work computer that shows strange symptoms. Main issue seems to be unusually high RAM usage. For example I reboot the system on a Friday and it shows RAM usage of 2.28 GB and I leave the computer on for the weekend then I check it on Monday and it shows RAM usage of 3.58 GB when I log in. The only item that is running by me is TASK MANAGER. Somehow RAM usage ballooned by 1.3 GB.

I had noticed unusual slowness and noise from fan/hard drive activity for a year. Now my guess is that since the PC came with 4 GB RAM it is likely that the computer was running out of memory and was trying to use HD to compensate. (Since then I have added 4GB of memory and this behavior has gone away. But now the computer shows an error message indicating hard drive about to fail.)

This is a Win 7 Pro PC Dell OptiPlex 9020 64bit Core I5-4590. It is a work computer and I do not have admin privileges on it. Certain software I can run certain others I cannot. For example I could not run RAMMAP. Could not get help from IT.

Maesumi

Posted 2016-10-03T16:26:10.517

Reputation: 121

1What do you mean you could not get help from IT? If its a work computer and the hard drive is failing, they need to fix that. And then they need to address the rogue process. There may be malware. – None – 2016-10-03T16:39:16.587

"I had noticed unusual slowness and noise from fan/hard drive activity for a year." - This means your HDD is starting to fail more then likely. "Now my guess is that since the PC came with 4 GB RAM it is likely that the computer was running out of memory and was trying to use HD to compensate." the OS would use the HDD for the page file, even if you had 32GB installed, so your guess is incorrect. "But now the computer shows an error message indicating hard drive about to fail" - So replace the HDD. – Ramhound – 2016-10-03T16:43:54.953

1"t is a work computer and I do not have admin privileges on it. " - This problem cannot be fixed by you, since you don't have admin permissions on the machine, your machine has a memory leak which can only be solved by an Administrator. – Ramhound – 2016-10-03T16:44:42.563

The information I would need to explain exactly what is causing it, would require RAMMAP, which you cannot run. RAMMAP is the only program I personally trust, to provide the exact information, to explain the memory usage. You will have to contact your IT administrator for assistance, I realize you have tried that, but there is nothing that can be done by you to fix this problem. – Ramhound – 2016-10-03T16:48:39.953

ask your IT to replace the HDD and also upgrade the RAM to 8GB – magicandre1981 – 2016-10-04T06:47:48.640

Answers

Your hard drive is failing. That's not unusual at all. Make sure you have a backup and, ideally, replace the drive as soon as possible.

The RAM usage is normal. Modern operating systems make no effort to minimize their usage of RAM because RAM is free. A system with 4GB of RAM can't use 3GB today in order to use 5GB tomorrow. If you only use 3GB today, that's 1GB you could have used that's capacity forever lost.

If you're thinking "I don't want to use the RAM now so that it's free in case I need it later", that makes no sense. Using the RAM now actually makes it easier to use it later because it doesn't have to be moved off the free list. Modern operating systems transition RAM directly from one use to another without any need to make it free in the interim.

Adding more RAM was probably not necessary, though it's inexpensive and can't hurt. The main problem is likely the failing hard drive. Noise and slow access are classic signs of such a failure.

David Schwartz

Posted 2016-10-03T16:26:10.517

Reputation: 58 310

I agree with this answer, but I do believe, the user does describe a posible memory leak that might exist. "I reboot the system on a Friday and it shows RAM usage of 2.28 GB and I leave the computer on for the weekend then I check it on Monday and it shows RAM usage of 3.58 GB when I log in." – Ramhound – 2016-10-03T17:02:11.227

@Ramhound That's always possible, but not particularly likely. In any event, even if that is happening, it doesn't seem to be related to his actual issue. – David Schwartz – 2016-10-03T17:03:33.797

You are right, the primary issue, is that the author's HDD that about to kick the bucket. What caught my eye, is the memory usage is increasing, without the system being used over the weekend. – Ramhound – 2016-10-03T17:06:30.987

@Ramhound Things like virus scans and other kinds of routine maintenance operations like checking for updates often enlarge the size of various caches that reside in RAM. – David Schwartz – 2016-10-03T17:08:33.117

Your immediate challenge is to be sure that all original material, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, code, etc. are backed up, because your drive is going to fail. Since this is a work computer where you have User access, you may already have all of this backed up to a shared drive on which you store your work. If you don't know, you'll want to ask an associate who does.

Your next challenge is IT assistance. It's odd that you couldn't get help from that department, but as a Standard User there is not a lot you can do to diagnose or remedy the situation. Certainly IT will get involved when your HD crashes - since your supervisor probably won't want you spending too many days working on the crosswords while your computer is down. You may want to insure that your supervisor immediately knows that your computer is malfunctioning, which is hampering your work, and that it has raised a critical warning of immanent failure.

Steve B.

Posted 2016-10-03T16:26:10.517

Reputation: 11