Limit Bloat with a Dual Boot or Second User?

[More Sly]

Hey folks,

I recently started a job where I work from home and supply my own workstation, which is fine because I prefer my work station anyways. This job requires a lot of software that I use pretty infrequently and I noticed recently that I had a whopping 6/16GB memory usage on startup. That's no bueno for when I want to game after work on the same system.

I was thinking of dual booting Windows to totally restrict this bloat from one instance, but now I'm wondering if that's over the top and a second user would accomplish the same thing - stopping backend bloat from loading on startup. Would it?

A lot of this is registry stuff (grrr, Adobe...) many of which I can't just disable on startup to save the memory. Unfortunately I have no idea how users affect this sort of thing. If I made a work user and installed relevant programs to it exclusively would it leave my personal user unhindered? Thanks!

 

[Wirko]

A virtual machine might be an option. However, the 16 GB of RAM in your PC would likely need expanding.

 

[Toothless]

Can't help to try the second user thing. If that doesn't work then maybe upping the ram would be good.

 

[dorsetknob]

Install new O/S and work software on another HD/SSD and duel boot that
Best to keep work ( load ) on separate Disk.

 

[Bill_Bright]

This job requires a lot of software that I use pretty infrequently and I noticed recently that I had a whopping 6/16GB memory usage on startup.

This makes no sense to me.

If you use this software "pretty infrequently", why do you have it starting with Windows? Why not just run that software when you do need it for work? Then exit it when done?

 

[More Sly]

Thanks for all the answers!

A virtual machine might be an option. However, the 16 GB of RAM in your PC would likely need expanding.

Yeah, I tried a VM when I started and it doesn't really cut it unfortunately - far too slow but I should play around with the settings a little more since I haven't dabbled with VMs much. Ultimately, that shortcoming is why I'm looking for other options. If I was about to upgrade to DDR5 I'd probably go to 32 GB and use this route, but I'm not ready to swap out my mobo/cpu just yet and don't want to buy more DDR4 just for now that it's superseded.

Can't help to try the second user thing. If that doesn't work then maybe upping the ram would be good.

That's my thoughts too. If it just can't be helped gutting my workstation for a DDR5 upgrade to 32GB might be worth it.

Install new O/S and work software on another HD/SSD and duel boot that
Best to keep work ( load ) on separate Disk.

Exactly what I was thinking. Totally consolidating it might be best since there's no risk of these programs messing with other stuff. Figured I'd ask about the users thing in case I was overthinking/working too hard. I'm planning to upgrade to Windows 11 with a fresh install when I pick up a new NVMe at the end of this month, might need to spend a little more and grade PCI-E 4 to prep for a larger upgrade if I do want to consider VMs more... but that seems a bit annoying to work in.

This makes no sense to me.

If you use this software "pretty infrequently", why do you have it starting with Windows? Why not just run that software when you do need it for work? Then exit it when done?

I'm not starting the programs at all. It's possible that I'm totally off base with what's happening and this isn't a problem at all, but it seems to me that back end stuff these programs install has caused massive bloat that's just culminated in my RAM being devoured on startup. Regedits, update trackers, and whatnot that start whether you want them to or not. Adobe is the worst offender, though the program suite I use the most unfortunately.

 

[Wirko]

Dual boot - the cleanest route but more hassle (swithching between installs, not having a browser with same tabs open in both installs, waiting for Windows updates twice...)

New user - you'll probably want both users to be local admins, right? If that's the case then both can install more Windows background services, and neither can avoid them selectively because they are system services and start before any user logs in.

VM - yes, usually they work perfectly but sometimes they are painfully slow, maybe they don't have access to video acceleration, i don't know.

I'd suggest you to take a detailed look at these background tasks using the task manager. 6 GB is an awful amount no matter what you use your PC for. Maybe you can manually stop the most hungry ones when you don't need Adobe stuff, or conversely, set them to manual start and then start them only when they are needed. Do keep a record of any changes you make.

 

[More Sly]

I'd suggest you to take a detailed look at these background tasks using the task manager. 6 GB is an awful amount no matter what you use your PC for. Maybe you can manually stop the most hungry ones when you don't need Adobe stuff, or conversely, set them to manual start and then start them only when they are needed. Do keep a record of any changes you make.

To my surprise, I think I did manage to stop the biggest Adobe offenders by disabling them in the startup menu (one was something stupid like 1GB itself... I think GC Invoker), now it's just a mountain of smaller processes.

Thanks for the new user answer, that's what I expected but figured I should be sure. Since I sometimes need to use CAD and rendering software for work, I think the best option for me is definitely going to be a dual boot.

 

[Greenslade]

This makes no sense to me.

If you use this software "pretty infrequently", why do you have it starting with Windows? Why not just run that software when you do need it for work? Then exit it when done?

That sounds like the logical thing to do Bill.

 

[Steevo]

I would use the startup tab to get a list of “work” and add it to a batch file that you can click and launch all the work related software from when needed. Seriously easier than dual booting.

 

[More Sly]

I would use the startup tab to get a list of “work” and add it to a batch file that you can click and launch all the work related software from when needed. Seriously easier than dual booting.

It's not that these programs are all fully running on start up, I think it's just an accumulation of small back-end processes clogging things up. Many aren't even included in task manager's startup list.

I could be crazy and this simply isn't how things work, but if that's the case I'm not sure what's eating 6GB of my memory on startup.

 

[eidairaman1]

Learn how to manage your services.

 

[Bill_Bright]

but it seems to me that back end stuff these programs install has caused massive bloat that's just culminated in my RAM being devoured on startup.

No - doesn't work that way. You may have massive bloat cluttering up your drives, but not RAM - UNLESS the programs, or parts of them are starting with Windows. As suggested, look in Task Manager under Startup and see what's there. Under the Performance tab, down at the bottom, you can "Open Resource Monitor" to see what is consuming your Memory too. Click on "Commit (KB)" to sort on that column.