83% memory usage even though less than half is in use

[Jonathan Nguyen]

I noticed recently that my RAM usage has been relatively high. As a computer science major this tends to happen often and I keep watch on things when it starts to slow down.

I noticed recently that my RAM usage was high (which is pretty normal), but after examining the information the Task Manager under the users tab, I found that these were my stats:


CPU: 26%
Memory: 71% at 3536 MB
Disk and Network: 0%

The issue I have here then is that while I have 16gb of RAM, only 3564 of it is in use; however, task manager has me listed at 71%. What is the cause of this? And while there may be a lot of answers or this question may be too vague, perhaps I'll be able to narrow down the abstraction and provide more specific answers once I get some answers.

 

[lakimens]

Well, since you're a tech guy, I don't see this being the problem, but just in case. Are you using 64Bit windows?

 

[weberdarren97]

I've seen these sorts of errors before... Have you upgraded to 16GB from a previous 4GB?

Press Windows+R, type msinfo32, press Enter. How much RAM does it say you have?

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Well, since you're a tech guy, I don't see this being the problem, but just in case. Are you using 64Bit windows?

Yeah I am on 64-bit windows. And I'm not much of a tech guy; I don't really handle much hardware. Just software.

I've seen these sorts of errors before... Have you upgraded to 16GB from a previous 4GB?

Press Windows+R, type msinfo32, press Enter. How much RAM does it say you have?

This was a computer I built myself originally with 16 gb, and it also says I have 16gb of physical ram.

 

[weberdarren97]

I've seen these sorts of errors before... Have you upgraded to 16GB from a previous 4GB?

Press Windows+R, type msinfo32, press Enter. How much RAM does it say you have?

This was a computer I built myself originally with 16 gb, and it also says I have 16gb of physical ram.

Does the amount of Installed Physical Memory (RAM) match up with the amount of Total Physical Memory?

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

I've seen these sorts of errors before... Have you upgraded to 16GB from a previous 4GB?

Press Windows+R, type msinfo32, press Enter. How much RAM does it say you have?

This was a computer I built myself originally with 16 gb, and it also says I have 16gb of physical ram.

Does the amount of Installed Physical Memory (RAM) match up with the amount of Total Physical Memory?

More or less. The total physical memory is at 15.9GB while the installed physical memory is 16GB.

 

[weberdarren97]

I've seen these sorts of errors before... Have you upgraded to 16GB from a previous 4GB?

Press Windows+R, type msinfo32, press Enter. How much RAM does it say you have?

This was a computer I built myself originally with 16 gb, and it also says I have 16gb of physical ram.

Does the amount of Installed Physical Memory (RAM) match up with the amount of Total Physical Memory?

More or less. The total physical memory is at 15.9GB while the installed physical memory is 16GB.

Okay then I have one more question before I start suggesting troubleshooting methods. Are you sure that you're reading 3536MB usage and not 3536MB free? 29% of 16GB would be around that amount.

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Okay then I have one more question before I start suggesting troubleshooting methods. Are you sure that you're reading 3536MB usage and not 3536MB free? 29% of 16GB would be around that amount.

It seems like it because when I double click my name it lists it as a process and that I'm consuming 3395 mb.

 

[weberdarren97]

Okay then I have one more question before I start suggesting troubleshooting methods. Are you sure that you're reading 3536MB usage and not 3536MB free? 29% of 16GB would be around that amount.

It seems like it because when I double click my name it lists it as a process and that I'm consuming 3395 mb.

So you're in the Users tab of Task Manager? That only shows processes running under your account. Processes running under the name System will not show in that tab.

For an accurate list of processes and their resource usage, the Processes tab is your best bet.

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Okay then I have one more question before I start suggesting troubleshooting methods. Are you sure that you're reading 3536MB usage and not 3536MB free? 29% of 16GB would be around that amount.

It seems like it because when I double click my name it lists it as a process and that I'm consuming 3395 mb.

So you're in the Users tab of Task Manager? That only shows processes running under your account. Processes running under the name System will not show in that tab.

For an accurate list of processes and their resource usage, the Processes tab is your best bet.

Ah, okay. It's still the same even if I go to the processes tab.

 

[weberdarren97]

Press Windows+R, type resmon, press Enter. Familiarize yourself with the Windows Resource Monitor interface and take a look at what's eating your RAM.

It almost sounds like one of your programs has a memory leak. This means that a program won't clear the memory it's using even after you close it and you'll have to restart without the program running to get the issue to go away. Resource Monitor often calls leaked memory "Unknown" or "Closed Application".

I'm sorry it took me so long to respond. I found this new Anime called the Kantia Collection and I got like eight episodes in before I realized I forgot about you.

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Okay then I have one more question before I start suggesting troubleshooting methods. Are you sure that you're reading 3536MB usage and not 3536MB free? 29% of 16GB would be around that amount.

It seems like it because when I double click my name it lists it as a process and that I'm consuming 3395 mb.

So you're in the Users tab of Task Manager? That only shows processes running under your account. Processes running under the name System will not show in that tab.

For an accurate list of processes and their resource usage, the Processes tab is your best bet.

I'll give you a nod if things don't work out. I recently restarted and the issue went away so I'm waiting for it to reoccur.

 

[Jonathan Nguyen]

Press Windows+R, type resmon, press Enter. Familiarize yourself with the Windows Resource Monitor interface and take a look at what's eating your RAM.

It almost sounds like one of your programs has a memory leak. This means that a program won't clear the memory it's using even after you close it and you'll have to restart without the program running to get the issue to go away. Resource Monitor often calls leaked memory "Unknown" or "Closed Application".

I'm sorry it took me so long to respond. I found this new Anime called the Kantia Collection and I got like eight episodes in before I realized I forgot about you.

So it seems that in resmon I have reserved memory, which is why even though I'm not currently taking up 16gb of RAM, a lot of it is on hold!