Windows 7 Memory Usage?

Ryss

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Dec 21, 2012
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I have been having a lot of problems with system lag here in the past week. I'm running Windows 7 64bit, with 2Gb of DD2 RAM and and Intel Quad Core processor. This is the same build I've had for around a year now with no problems, but here lately I've been experiencing a lot of memory lag. Even on a clean start with minimal start up processes my computer is using 1.6Gb of memory, but when looking through the Processes listed in the Task Manage I can only account for the 0.6Gb, and there seems to be a whole gig in use but unaccounted for.

This obviously only gets worse when I start trying to open programs, and even as I'm trying to type this up I'm fighting around system lag to do so.

I've long sifted through Tom's Hardware for information on other computer problems, but this one really has my stumped, so I finally made an account and thought I'd ask if anyone has any idea where I can look to find and clear up this mysterious 1Gb?
 

pit_1209

Distinguished
well, i´m using windows 7 hp 64 bits and rigth now with 46 processes most of them by the system, ff, rocketdock and sidebar, in short low profile tasks and using 2 gb of ram without ff almost 1.6, no lagging because 8 gb total.

before i had 2 gb ddr2 but using w7 x86 and no problems with the same programs and task even while gaming, 64 bits consume more ram by default maybe you should spend in more ram (ddr2 is pretty expensive in fact) or downgrade to x86.
 

If the memory lags only started recently, then the question becomes :"What changed?" If you have not added any new software, then I would suggest running a virus scan or run MalWareBytes to see if you have picked up an infection.
 

Ryss

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Dec 21, 2012
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A quick scan of Malwarebytes shows nothing, I'll try running a full scan overnight however. The only thing that's changed is that I downloaded and installed the Steam client, but this problem persists even when the client is not running. I can try uninstalling it and seeing if that has any kind of effect, however.

I am trying to save up and get another 2 or 4 Gb, but as a dependent college student it's still a ways off yet. At the moment I just want to be able to go back to running more than one program at a time.
 

cl-scott

Honorable
Just to help explain the "missing" 1GB, it basically amounts to all modern operating systems following the mantra: Free RAM is wasted RAM.

Rather than have it sitting there, idle, doing nothing, the OS will load a bunch of things into memory that will help improve performance. It will then similarly jettison that data if the space is needed by some other program. So you can't just go simply by free vs used RAM.
 

The_OGS

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Jul 18, 2006
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Memory is at all-time historic low prices!
You can buy 4GB @ 1600MHz for the price of a meal...
I don't think I've ever seen a rig with Win64 and only 2GB.
But the question is interesting none-the-less - where does the memory go?
Win7 32-bit is really stingy with memory.
I should think that 2GB is below the amount that a 64-bit OS would require to work well, though...
 

Ryss

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Dec 21, 2012
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That would be because I made a mistake, I have 4Gb of DDR2 memory, I had the 2Gb stuck in my head from rounding up how much it's using idle, and while I'm aware that Windows 7 keeps memory in standby to put to use, it doesn't seem to be giving any of it up when I open say Firefox or World of Warcraft.

$40 for 2x1 DDR2 memory would be reasonable, but at this moment I have no steady income, and until the past week I've had absolutely no trouble with this build, and my operating system is still recognizing that I have 4Gb total memory, so I'm pretty sure one of the sticks isn't going bad. I'm just can't seem to figure out why this problem started so suddenly.