Windows 10: 1GB of RAM is being used while computer is idle!

This is bad, this is very bad. I don't like the fact it uses up so much memory, the computer needs this stuff and it is using so much of it!
I just got this computer 3 days ago to replace my old one which was very slow. I don't want this to keep happening.
Much help would be appreciated *Smile

:)

 

Why is so much of my RAM being used?

As a general rule, you should have little available RAM. Available RAM is wasted RAM. You paid for all of it and shouldn't want to see any of it wasted. Windows works hard to keep all your RAM working for you all the time, for example using
it for cache if your apps don't need it, then taking it back again if your apps need it later. This is *good*, not bad.

 

Why is so much of my RAM being used?

Hello,

We understand that you want to efficiently manage your system resources in Windows 10. There could be a few possible reasons why you are experiencing this issue. We have here some troubleshooting questions that may help to look further into this:

• Were there any updates installed prior to experiencing the issue?
• What is the build and version of your Windows 10? We suggest that you to install the latest Windows Updates on your PC and check if your issue still arises. You may check this link on How
  to: Update Windows 10.

We also have a few recommendations that you may perform below:

• Check if there are updated drivers from the manufacturer's website for your device. Kindly check this link on How
  to: Install and Update drivers in Windows 10.
• Perform a clean boot. We recommend doing a clean boot in Windows, this will help eliminate software conflicts and start with minimal set of drivers and startup programs. Refer to this support article on: How
  to perform a clean boot in Windows.

We are eager on getting this resolved for you; we will wait for your feedback.

 

Welcome to the forums 123cwillett!

Have you uninstalled all the factory bloatware? That would be my first step.

 

Okay I will do so, and also I don't mean hard drive space, but I will try uninstalling the factory bloatware.

 

1 GB memory usage on a system with 4 GB RAM is neither bad nor unusual. Windows is using the memory because it is there. And that is a good thing, what any intelligently designed operating system would do.

Memory usage in any modern OS is highly dynamic and will vary depending on how much RAM is present, what processes are running, what they were doing previously in the session, and more. This is far more complex then most people imagine.

Current usage might seem high but that is only because there is currently no better use for it. Any modern OS will try to find some use for as much memory as possible, even if it is only of trivial value. Free memory is wasted memory. But if a large application is started this usage will be trimmed back, drastically if necessary. I have seen this happen many times.

Please do not install one of those third part memory "optimizers". They actually do the opposite. They might make the numbers in Task Manager appear better but will actually impair performance.

 

Exactly what ^^^^^ the previous reply from LMiller7 said very well ........*really

Again Windows is going to to use RAM in varying amounts at idle from almost nothing to maybe as much as 3 GB or maybe almost half of what you have at 4GB or less now and then ,usually nothing to be concerned about and it will try to fill up what you have at 8 GB or less just with casual use anyway when you are using windows

Understand Windows re locates all that instantly dynamically as you need it for windows apps and programs *really

OTOH some ( a lot ) of the factory bloatware like indianacarnie legitimately suggested uninstalling may and often runs persistent background processes ,updates and services .


IOW if I'm not going to use Bloatware my rule is uninstall it *really

Windows probably reserves at least 1GB for your GPU or whatever it has even if it has its own memory it will (at least) mirror what you have there anyway whether it's an IGPU or d/GPU and then there is the other hardware and compressed page file in ram for quick access , and less hdd R/W in win 10 hdd indexing ,file indexing and so on and so on


Maybe open Perform Mon and see whats going on to an extent if you are curios but while it may overwhelm newbies big time Proc man is better and so is Auto Runs and there are often hidden background processes and services running anyway and maybe (usually ) some telemetry back to Microsoft randomly on the test builds when you arent using it .


OTOH you can give all that a "Black Viper " haircut with proc man and auto-runs but if you knew how to do all that and about Black Viper you wouldn't have posted the question anyway but outside of bloatware Windows 10 is much better about all that than any of the others

You can give your run time app permissions and notifications ,actions & idling ram use a haircut with the settings >system app >notification & actions menu & apps and features on off toggles *really

 

Use control panel /uninstall don't just delete it from the program folders again windows re allocates resources & memory as you need them anyway *really

8GB of ram seem so be th eseet spot for a lot of folks and 4GB can work fine also it depends on what your needs are some folks need 16,35 or 64GB of ram and some more than that *really 8-16 is usually plenty and not bad for PC games and 2- 4 GB of v ram is decent

 

As others have said, welcome to the modern 64 bit operating system. It uses memory more efficiently than the predecessors.

That said, your use of the system will be a major indicator of how much memory you need. If you perform little multi-tasking (that is you keep one or two open apps at a time) then you are probably fine with 4GB of RAM. That won't be a problem. However, if your work flow is such that you need many applications open at the same time and are doing memory intensive tasks (video editing, multiple tabs in browsers, etc.) then more memory might be your friend.

The day when 4GB of RAM was the optimum for an OS have long gone. Today I'd say the average person should get 8GB minimum. 16GB being the optimum and more than that if you are using some really intense memory applications.

 

i use this computer to do web browsing, play minecraft and some flash games.

 

In other words - you don't really need all that RAM. You will be OK, no need to panik.

 

My Windows 7 (that I just installed) used 98% of ram and I was using Chrome on it, Malwarebytes & AVG scanning, and Nvidia GeForce Experience open and when I closed NVidia G.E. and Chrome it was still at the same spot. So, your lucky sir --> But no, you're totally fine *Smile That is very normal, mine uses about 24% - 30% when started. Like what

Like @hiphopper said:

 

your os uses ram to run

 

As long as your RAM is paid for, you are OK, LOL

 

I find that on most computers sitting idle at the desktop with antivirus in the background and all other startup programs trimmed out, that windows 7,8 and now win10 use about 1.2 to 1.8gb ram.

I would think your bigger benefit would be to clean up the startup list to only what windows needs to run correctly and your antivirus.

Laterz,
*Cool