99% Memory in Use per TaskMan

Win 11; 21H2; OS 22000.1281
Dell Laptop Core i7Gen9 2.59Ghz
64-bit OS; 16 GB Memory

Much to my surprise, after multiple searches on this site, I couldn't find a thread for this issue. It certainly was a common problem (for me anyway) with Win 10.

I never open multiple apps anymore or multiple sites on line, yet at least once a day, the machine almost stops functioning. Task Manager shows 99% memory in use despite the fact that whatever items appear in TM never come close to this memory usage. Closing any open apps and going offline, ejecting ext drives, etc. produces no improvement in memory usage. The only cure is a restart. Memory use then matches the "load" until the problem recurs...

Sounds like a memory leak, could be a specific app you use, a driver/ service or Explorer itself, some versions were known to have memory leaks associated with them.
A memory leak is at it's simplest an error in the code that causes the app/ driver to keep allocating a portion of memory each time it performs a task instead of clearing allocated memory and re allocating from scratch, so the amount in use just keeps creeping up.

DigitalGoat said:

Sounds like a memory leak, could be a specific app you use, a driver/ service or Explorer itself, some versions were known to have memory leaks associated with them.
A memory leak is at it's simplest an error in the code that causes the app/ driver to keep allocating a portion of memory each time it performs a task instead of clearing allocated memory and re allocating from scratch, so the amount in use just keeps creeping up.

Click to expand...

Heh, back in the early 70's a friend of mine wrote a program to do this to our Honeywell 6000 mainframe. He called it The Rabbit because it kept multiplying, but he did get in a sh*tload of trouble over it too, and then a new job writing programs to stop that sort of thing.

DigitalGoat said:

Sounds like a memory leak, could be a specific app you use, a driver/ service or Explorer itself, some versions were known to have memory leaks associated with them.
A memory leak is at it's simplest an error in the code that causes the app/ driver to keep allocating a portion of memory each time it performs a task instead of clearing allocated memory and re allocating from scratch, so the amount in use just keeps creeping up.

Click to expand...

So, I need to uninstall programs until the issue ends. If success still eludes me, remove drivers, etc. Explorer is my #1 suspect, but it's up to date, and to my knowledge it's running whether I open it or not. Any ideas as to how to eliminate it as a suspect?

Thanks for the info,

Tom

Prevent all non essential apps from running at Windows start up, use Autoruns to temporarily disable all non essential 3rd party drivers/ services/ tasks, no need to remove anything at the testing stage.
With all or as many 3rd party influences disabled see if the issue still happens, if not then re enable 3rd party apps/ drivers one at a time until you find the culprit, re booting between each change.
You might find the answer by searching any forums relating to your apps/ hardware to make the task easier.

Unfortunately only an update to the original code can prevent the 'leak' from happening.

Due to the wide variety of 3rd party apps and drivers, plus the variety of hardware/ software configurations deciding what is essential to your system is mostly down to you.
Best idea is to use something like Macrium to create a system image before disabling anything, just in case.

Ed McCauley said:

so, I need to uninstall programs until the issue ends.

Click to expand...

Why not eliminate problematic software conflicts by using clean boot. Brink's tutorial explains it in detail.

glasskuter said:

Why not eliminate problematic software conflicts by using clean boot. Brink's tutorial explains it in detail.

Perform a Clean Boot in Windows 11 to Troubleshoot Software Conflicts

This tutorial will show you how to perform a clean boot to start Windows 10 or Windows 11 using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs for troubleshooting application conflicts. Troubleshooting Windows can be a complex process due to the many different drivers, settings, and programs...

www.elevenforum.com

Click to expand...

While working on the above procedure, I discovered that every time my computer pauses for a few seconds following a command, Task Manager reports a 100% CPU usage. After 5-10 seconds the usage drops to a normal level and the computer immediately executes whatever command I had given. It happens even during a simple command such as opening a folder. This issue reoccurs fairly frequently, but not during every command.

To make sure I'm clear, you are saying that in clean boot with nothing but MS services running you get these memory spikes? You also say the problem also occurred in Windows 10. If that is correct, here are some things to try in no particular order. Resorting problems like this can be neither quick or easy. Backup your system before making changes.

1. Make sure you have no malware. Install Malwarebytes and run it. It installs as the trial premium version for 14 days. After 14 days it will revert to the free version. (Note: if you run any antivirus except Windows Defender, uninstall it before installing MWB) Download Free Windows 10 Antivirus | Malwarebytes

2. Cleanup unnecessary files. Run disk cleanup. Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 11 Tutorial

3. Optimize and defrag drives. Optimize and Defragment Drives in Windows 11 Tutorial

4. Check drives for errors Check Drive for Errors with CHKDSK (Check Disk) in Windows 11 Tutorial

5. Test your physical memory. Run Windows Memory Diagnostics Tool in Windows 11 Tutorial

6. Set Paging File Size for All Drives to be Automatically Managed. Use option 1 in this tutorial.
Manage Virtual Memory Paging File in Windows 11 Tutorial

7. Disable Sysmain service (formerly called Superfetch) Type Services in search box> Open services app>right click sysmain service>properties>Click on the “Stop” button. From the ‘Startup type’ select the “Disabled” option>Apply>OK.

8. Delete page files in the Registry. Search>Regedit>Run as administrator.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-> SYSTEM-> CurrentControlSet-> Control-> Session Manager-> Memory Management.

Right-click on the “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” and select “Modify”.
Change the Value Data from “0” to “1” and click “Ok”. Restart.

9. Increase Virtual Memory through Registry NDU

You can disable NDU from the Registry Editor of your computer.
Search>Regedit>Run as administrator.> Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-> SYSTEM-> ControlSet001-> Services-> Ndu.
Right-click on the “Start” REG_DWORD and click on the Modify option. Change the value from “2” to “4”.

10. Do a clean install Clean Install Windows 11 Tutorial

(Note: You can also try a repair install, but in your case since you also had the problem in Windows 10, I do not think it will resolve the issue.)

Other stuff: There are a number of tools you can use to try to narrow down the problem.

Performance Monitor (perfmon): the Performance Monitor gives direct correlation between hardware resources, such as CPU, disk, memory and system resources in use by the OS, services, and applications. To open it, launch the Run dialog (Win + R) and type perfmon.

Resource Monitor (resmon): the Resource Monitor helps stop memory-intensive processes from an easy-to-use dashboard. To open it, go to Run and type resmon.

Process Monitor (procmon): the Process Monitor by SysInternals is a handy tool to determine which process is causing your system to become slow or crash suddenly. You can download it from the official Microsoft link.

I hope one of these suggestions work. Good luck.

Glasskuter, thanks for your list of excellent suggestions. I've tried all but a new install, but still have the same issues...
Also, with Win Explorer and/or Internet Explorer open, they alternately disappear and reappear at 1-second intervals in Task Man, although they appear to run normally as viewed onscreen.

With only MS Apps running, TaskMan indicates 32% usage.

With settings as you suggested, my VPN doesn't start. Is this an effect of the new settings?

I can not see any correlation between these settings and your VPN but you can change them back to see if VPN will start.(or restore an image made before you made the changes).
The reason I believe a clean install will be necessary is you had the problem in 10 which carried over when you upgraded to 11. Personally, I am not a strong advocate of upgrades, especially in a machine that already exhibits problems.

Internet Explorer should no longer be working at all. If one attempts to use it, it redirects to Edge, at least it does for me.

Actually, the problem I had with Win 10 was on my previous Laptop and the symptoms were identical. My current machine came with Win 11 Pro installed. Absolutely agree with you on upgrading an operating system. For whatever reason, Internet Explorer runs fine, except as previously mentioned. I can't think of a reason why my VPN fails to start, but I can live without it for awhile...