# Sudden increase in RAM usage?



## dlink10 (Dec 18, 2014)

I'll try my best to explain the problem i'm having here

I was just using my computer normally the other day when a message popped up along the lines of "your computer is running low on memory, please close programs etc..."

Now I only had my browser (Chrome) and a handful of tabs open at the time, so I thought it was weird. Even with many (20+) tabs open, itunes, excel and maybe word open, when I open the task manager, memory usage hovers around 40%-50%. Currently, I only have Chrome open with this tab and memory is at 85%, with Chrome being the highest usage.

When I close out, it still hangs around 80%.

This happened to me months ago and I don't remember what I did to fix it, it sort of just suddenly came around one day then it suddenly stopped, and now it't back again. Are there some hidden background processes that may be going on that's using my RAM? I have not been using my computer differently at all nor have I installed any new programs recently


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## Masterchiefxx17 (Feb 27, 2010)

Chrome is a big system hog.

Please preform a MemTest86 test using this guide here:

How to perform a MemTest86 Test - Tech Support Forum

Let's take a look at your system hardware specifications. Please follow this guide on how to get those specifications:

How to find your system specifications - Tech Support Forum


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## Walter Mitty (Oct 5, 2016)

Chrome is a HUGE system hog. I've not seen the "too much memory" error in a long time, but I have 8 Gbytes RAM. But I've got sometimes 50 tabs of Chrome open. Plus 10 to 20 Pale Moon.

Hit "Ctrl + Alt + Del" (launch Task Manager) and you can see how many iterations of Chrome are running and how much memory they each, and collectively, are using.

There is a thing called a "memory leak" that you want to be aware off. It's a poorly-programmed software that allocates a certain amount of memory to run and when it closes it does not tell Windows it can have it's memory back. And the "leak" is additive in the sense that every time the software opens, runs etc... there's another block of memory no longer available for Windows to use.

One indicator is that rebooting "cures" the problem. Until next time. The log in Event Viewer will let you know that there is a memory leak, and give you some idea of what software is doing it. It's usually never a well-known software, like an AV program. Usually it's some small, "utility" software, for example a program that runs your oddball scanner, or video camera.


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