Memory usage increases after each time the computer wakes up from SLEEP

[rms8]

Hi All!

I have a problem I have noticed for quite some time now. I normally will put my PC into Sleep mode when I'm finished for the day, then wake it via a keyboard tap. Each time I wake the PC the memory usage is higher. A reboot will bring it back to normal (~1.5Gb) I did see THIS THREAD on something similar a few years ago, but nothing really helpful.

I noticed this while I was using Win7, but still notice it now that I am using Win10. I build PC's on an irregular basis, so I am pretty apt at PCs.

For the move to Win10, my new machine comprises the following HW :

MB = MSI Z170A Gaming M5
CPU = Intel i7-6700K
Memory = 16Gb DDR4
OS Drive = Samsung NVMe 950 PRO

I assume the used memory would continue to rise to my 16Gb limit if I let it, but I'll typically reboot once the usage hits 4-5Gb at idle.

When ever I put the PC to sleep, I always close any open programs. In the referenced thread (link above) it mentions something about memory leakage from poorly written applications. is that about the only thing it could be ?

The only programs which I installed that start automatically with windows are AnyDVD HD, ObjectDock and AIDA64. I use AIDA64 to display all sorts of stats via a desktop gadget.

 

[Bill_Bright]

When ever I put the PC to sleep, I always close any open programs. In the referenced thread (link above) it mentions something about memory leakage from poorly written applications. is that about the only thing it could be ?

The only programs which I installed that start automatically with windows are AnyDVD HD, ObjectDock and AIDA64. I use AIDA64 to display all sorts of stats via a desktop gadget.

That is where I would start. That is, take AnyDVD HD, ObjectDock and AIDA64 out of auto-start, reboot, check your RAM then put your computer to sleep and see what happens. If it behaves the same way, then it is something else (perhaps one of your security apps).

Note that Windows 10 still does some chores even when put in sleep mode so it would not be uncommon for some gains to happen - but it should not keep climbing to the point system performance is affected.

 

[laszlo]

you shall check under windows manager what is using memory;if don't show you can find some tools like : https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/ff700229.aspx

good luck!

 

[Ferrum Master]

There are zero problems... On average I have the same. let the OS do their caching based on your application behavior. Don't overreact, it ain't freakin winXP anymore. FreeRAM = WASTED RAM.

 

[alucasa]

I stopped using sleep / hibernation after using SSD. Absolutely no point in using them if you are using SSD.

Having said that, ram increase after each wakeup wasn't uncommon in my own experience although the increase was rather minimal. But I never let a laptop sleep tens of times, so I am not sure it would continuously increase and it would affect system performance at one point.

 

[Bill_Bright]

There are zero problems... On average I have the same. let the OS do their caching based on your application behavior. Don't overreact, it ain't freakin winXP anymore. FreeRAM = WASTED RAM.

But RAM usage should not keep increasing and increasing so there is a problem.

That said, I do agree W10 is not XP and we should NOT be treating them the same. But at the same time W10 is not XP - it manages memory much better so again, RAM use should not keep climbing like this.

I stopped using sleep / hibernation after using SSD. Absolutely no point in using them if you are using SSD.

Sorry, but not true at all. Sleep modes are much more involved in saving energy with the graphics, RAM, PSU, motherboard too, not just the drives.

In fact, since going to SSDs, I started letting all my systems go to sleep! Not just to save energy, but because they are fully awake in 10 seconds or less.

 

[Kursah]

There are zero problems... On average I have the same. let the OS do their caching based on your application behavior. Don't overreact, it ain't freakin winXP anymore. FreeRAM = WASTED RAM.

This.

It is caching frequently used items in system memory so you have a more "instant/fast system" experience. Free RAM = wasted RAM is truth. That doesn't mean there's not a leak issue necessarily, but I wouldn't worry much about it. My system does the same in 10 and did the same in 8.1...never went above 4-5GB though. The more consistent you are, the less RAM it will use to preload apps and files.

You have 16GB of RAM, might as well make the best use of it...and don't worry if you load a game or program that needs more RAM, the cached stuff gets flushed out or migrated to the PF if you need be.

I have systems in my house that have get rebooted every 1-3 months, but sleep every night. 0 issues, good performance.

If you're truly worried, then shut down and do a clean boot. Remove the programs that you added to startup each time, see if that helps...but there are other things at play behind the scenes in the OS, and for your system to be fast, data must be in RAM...in fact for programs to run, they must be loaded to RAM. I can't imagine you'll end up using all 16GB of your RAM, I've not seen it yet, but that doesn't mean it is impossible...should you have something else going on. If your system is clean, by that I mean, malware/virus free, data integrity is good, odds are you're fine.

I'd say not worry too much or keep an eye on it and carry on.

 

[Bill_Bright]

I have systems in my house that have get rebooted every 1-3 months, but sleep every night. 0 issues, good performance.

Same here. The only time mine get rebooted is when some update or new program installation requires it. I think the last time I actually told my main computer to "Shutdown" was in the beginning of October when (I think) I took my computer outside to blast out the dust. I have filters on my case so it might even have been longer than that.

But the point here again is RAM usage should not keep climbing when coming out of sleep. I sure have not noticed that on any of my systems here since upgrading to W10.

 

[Kursah]

Same here. The only time mine get rebooted is when some update or new program installation requires it. I think the last time I actually told my main computer to "Shutdown" was in the beginning of October when (I think) I took my computer outside to blast out the dust. I have filters on my case so it might even have been longer than that.

But the point here again is RAM usage should not keep climbing when coming out of sleep. I sure have not noticed that on any of my systems here since upgrading to W10.

The point is RAM usage, and until the OP provides some hard information that this is in-fact happening beyond assumptions, it is still speculation.

I speculate that Windows is doing it's caching-thing with system RAM, and that is what the user is seeing. All we get for actual information, is that the user sees "4-5GB" before restarting. I see that all the time on my systems that run 16GB+ an Win 8.1/10. He hasn't claimed to see higher than that. The user also claims to assume that the system will continue rising to utilize all 16GB, so we don't really know if there's an actual problem here or not. I am assuming there's a lot of crap opening and Windows is preparing for it...but I've been very wrong before so it wouldn't be the first time.

I see my system climb to that point, and the programs and items I regularly use load oh so fast, I have 0 issues with it. So if the case is similar to what we experience Bill, I don't see a cause for concern yet.

What I would like to see is some screenshots, before, after, have the user verify their OS environment is infection free, verify their data integrity is good, and remove those programs from the auto-start list as was previously suggested. Give us a diagnostic foundation to start building on for this issue or non-issue. I hope we can get some more info to proceed...because if an issue exists I'd love to find out what's causing it. But judging from the OP and claims, I haven't seen anything that throws up an alert quite yet.

 

[rms8]

The point is RAM usage, and until the OP provides some hard information that this is in-fact happening beyond assumptions, it is still speculation.

I speculate that Windows is doing it's caching-thing with system RAM, and that is what the user is seeing. All we get for actual information, is that the user sees "4-5GB" before restarting. I see that all the time on my systems that run 16GB+ an Win 8.1/10. He hasn't claimed to see higher than that. The user also claims to assume that the system will continue rising to utilize all 16GB, so we don't really know if there's an actual problem here or not. I am assuming there's a lot of crap opening and Windows is preparing for it...but I've been very wrong before so it wouldn't be the first time.

I see my system climb to that point, and the programs and items I regularly use load oh so fast, I have 0 issues with it. So if the case is similar to what we experience Bill, I don't see a cause for concern yet.

What I would like to see is some screenshots, before, after, have the user verify their OS environment is infection free, verify their data integrity is good, and remove those programs from the auto-start list as was previously suggested. Give us a diagnostic foundation to start building on for this issue or non-issue. I hope we can get some more info to proceed...because if an issue exists I'd love to find out what's causing it. But judging from the OP and claims, I haven't seen anything that throws up an alert quite yet.

I've never continued to keep putting the PC to sleep once the memory usage gets to the 4-5Gb mark after waking. At that point I'll shut it down/restart.

The PC did this on Win7 as well. I'm not worried about it, I was just curious if anyone has seen a similar symptom and if so were they able to mitigate it.

Regarding task manager and procmon.exe, neither shows where all the extra memory usage is. I've taken screen grabs just after a reboot at idle and another after several sleep/wake cycles (at which point the mem usage is in the 4-5Gb range) and the running processes are not too far off from where the were post boot. Like I said, it's not a big deal, just curiosity, and after I read the thread I linked too, I wondered if anyone else may have run into this.

BTW, I do not run any antivirus/malware programs aside from windows built in Defender. Never have the 20+ years I've been building PC's. I use virtual machines a lot to "test" certain programs. Maybe I've just been extremely lucky?

Thanks for ALL the super quick replies!!!!

 

[Mussels]

subbing to see where this goes, as i use sleep mode on all my systems.

 

[Toothless]

Sub'd for interest. I'd like to see if this relates to my minor issues.

 

[trog100]

i always shut down every night.. i cant see much point in not doing.. my win 10 system shows 2.2 gig of memory in use idling or browsing.. my swap and hibernation files are disabled i cant see much point in those ether..

i do have it set to turn off the monitor after 30 minutes and sleep after 4 hours.. but at the end of the day/night i shut it down..

trog

 

[rms8]

i always shut down every night.. i cant see much point in not doing.. my win 10 system shows 2.2 gig of memory in use idling or browsing.. my swap and hibernation files are disabled i cant see much point in those ether..

i do have it set to turn off the monitor after 30 minutes and sleep after 4 hours.. but at the end of the day/night i shut it down..

trog

So, after 4hrs of no use when your PC goes to sleep....upon wake is when I would notice the used memory is higher.

I have always disabled the hiberfil.sys, system restore, indexing, superfetch/prefetch and pagefile when installing Windows on an SSD. I also configure Firefox to cache to memory instead of the OS drive.

 

[rtwjunkie]

My money is on AIDA 64 running. Is it recording? I'd guess if it is it keeps adding to the log file for monitoring.

I think AIDA 64 is more useful for spot checking and some benchmarks, not permanent monitoring. There are more efficient fulltime monitoring programs out there.

 

[rms8]

My money is on AIDA 64 running. Is it recording? I'd guess if it is it keeps adding to the log file for monitoring.

I think AIDA 64 is more useful for spot checking and some benchmarks, not permanent monitoring. There are more efficient fulltime monitoring programs out there.

Wow, that is a GREAT !!!! idea.

So I opened AIDA64 and checked every single setting. I must have already disabled any logging when I installed it since all those boxes were already unchecked. I will note that other monitoring programs may be a lot more efficient, I have yet to run across one as configurable as the one included in the AIDA64 gadget option. I can change the font, size, color....(pretty much anything just as if I was using Word) of each sensor reading. I have the gadget set to dim to 20% so it's translucent and not a distraction. But run your mouse over it and it looks like this:

Everything which my OCD needs to know in an instant.....

As you can see, this was right after a reboot (used memory ~ 1.5Gb). I'll diable AIDA64 and see what happens over the course of several sleep/wake cycles and report back.


Thanks again to all.

 

[rtwjunkie]

Wow, that is a GREAT !!!! idea.

So I opened AIDA64 and checked every single setting. I must have already disabled any logging when I installed it since all those boxes were already unchecked. I will note that other monitoring programs may be a lot more efficient, I have yet to run across one as configurable as the one included in the AIDA64 gadget option. I can change the font, size, color....(pretty much anything just as if I was using Word) of each sensor reading. I have the gadget set to dim to 20% so it's translucent and not a distraction. But run your mouse over it and it looks like this:

Everything which my OCD needs to know in an instant.....

As you can see, this was right after a reboot (used memory ~ 1.5Gb). I'll diable AIDA64 and see what happens over the course of several sleep/wake cycles and report back.


Thanks again to all.

Really though, you've got 16GB of RAM. I wouldn't be worried unless my programs started taking me over 8. Then it might appear there is a problem.

 

[trog100]

my win 10 system dosnt get to go to sleep after its 4 hour setting very often but when it does i always reboot anyway.. i have noticed the odd lock up when i dont loading certain games..

when i first installed win 10 with 16 gigs of memory i also used to get strange "your system is low on memory" messages after gaming for while.. this was put down to an nvidia sli memory leak.. nvidia even rushed out a quick fix driver supposedly to cure the win 10 sli memory leak issue..

i am probably old fashioned but i think a good memory purge from a reboot never does any harm..

my system boots and is in windows ready to roll in less than 30 seconds i can spare that..

a reboot takes twice as long.. for reasons i cant figure win 10 seem to take as long to shut down as it does to boot up.. what its doing for those 30 seconds i cant figure.. more so with no hibernation or swap files..

trog

 

[rtwjunkie]

I've noticed as well that W10 tends to stay full on memory frequently after gaming, even with non SLI.

 

[rms8]

....i also used to get strange "your system is low on memory" messages after gaming for while.

I've never gotten any sort of messages. I've never experienced anything remotely negative in my PC'ing....at least related to a memory issue. I am just trying to figure out why memory usage continues to rise after each successive wake from sleep. I do not game at all on my PC; hence no graphics card, just the integrated GPU on the i7-6700K. I'm not a big gamer on the console either. Just a Halo nerd.

I should actually time my wake from sleep times vs. booting from scratch times. Wake is "instant" on....BUT....I have a Samsung 27" monitor that takes longer than I would expect to come up completely. I say "completely" since even after the several seconds of black after it powers on.....it displays the screen res in a box for several more seconds. I will say that the MB BIOS takes just as long as the booting of Win10.

 

[Mussels]

the 'low on memory' messages are when your page file gets full. manually pick a larger size for it and that will go away.

 

[Toothless]

the 'low on memory' messages are when your page file gets full. manually pick a larger size for it and that will go away.

Unless you're like me and disable the pagefile.

 

[trog100]

the 'low on memory' messages are when your page file gets full. manually pick a larger size for it and that will go away.

not true.. more so when i have it disabled..

it was an acknowledged win 10 nvidia sli bug or so it was said at the time.. no way was i actually using anywhere near 16 gigs of real ram.. a swap file only gets used when you run out of the real stuff.. i always make sure i never do.. i now have 32 gigs.. and no swap file..

8 gigs should have been plenty of ram doing what i was doing.. win 10 didnt seem to think 16 gigs was enough though.. when you run out of ram with the swap file disabled the system bombs.. but once any system does run out of the real stuff and has to resort to swap filing (using the hard drive as pretend ram) it all grinds to an unusable halt.. swap files belong in days gone by.. with todays cheap ram there really is no need for them and they should never get used..

windows is also a bit daft.. the more real ram you have the the bigger swap file it creates.. i use a small ssd system drive for easy system image back ups.. letting windows waste huge chunks of it creating swap files i dont need dosnt make much sense.. basically if i think i need more ram i buy some.. he he

trog

 

[Bill_Bright]

The point is RAM usage

Actually, the point is RAM usage ever increasing. This should not happen. As programs are exited, they are suppose to free up the RAM they were previously utilizing. If not, then there is a memory leak or some other "bug" in some running program. Since this is NOT happening with the estimated 200 Million Windows 10 users out there (or else there would be 1000s complaining), it must be one of the OP other programs running.

and until the OP provides some hard information that this is in-fact happening beyond assumptions, it is still speculation.

Huh? So you are suggesting he is just guessing or making it up that his memory use is higher each time after waking his computer? And guessing or making it up that it goes back down after rebooting? ??? FWIW, I believe the OP and he, unlike you, is not speculating but actually seeing this happening.

I am going to trust that he is looking at TM or some other HW monitor, and not just guessing.

BTW, I do not run any antivirus/malware programs aside from windows built in Defender.

Assuming you also run Windows Firewall, that is all you need if you keep your system otherwise fully updated and you are disciplined at not being "click-happy" on unsolicited downloads, attachments, and links. But I do recommend periodic scanning with a supplemental scanner just to make sure WD or you (the user and ALWAYS weakest link in security) did not let something slip on by. I use MBAM for that and so far, nothing has slipped by on any of my systems - even the one used by my less-than-careful teenaged grandkids.

My money is on AIDA 64 running. Is it recording?

I am inclined to believe this too. That is why I suggested above to remove this and AnyDVD HD and ObjectDock out of auto-start in my first post above, and then see if the problem persists.

 

[rms8]

Some general observations....

So, it appears that the RAM usage is not just "magically" increasing when I wake the PC. What I see is something like this....reboot and PC is using ~ 1.5Gb at idle. Open a program....say FireFox and browse. Of course at this point the RAM obviously increases. The more I browse the more it increases. I then open another program, say Photoshop....RAM goes up....open another program, say ACDSee, RAM keeps going up. Then I have to step away for a while. I then close ALL the programs I may have opened throughout the course of that day/time period.....the memory does not go all the way back to ~ 1.5Gb during idle. I may drop to 1.6, or 1.7Gb. Then I put it to sleep. When I wake it, it's still at the 1.6/1.7Gb of usage.

Then I go through this whole cycle again. Each time a hundred or more Mb of RAM not being freed and this keeps adding up over time. I feel that it is program agnostic and OS agnostic since I experienced this with windows 7 and may run a half dozen or so programs multiple times each session. When I review TM or AIDA64, or Procmon, nothing shows where all the extra RAM is going. The closed programs are closed so they obviously do not show up in any of these monitoring programs. Maybe the culprit could somehow be FireFox??? Not freeing all the memory it was using when I close it?

Keep in mind (I mentioned this before here)

I have always disabled the hiberfil.sys, system restore, indexing, superfetch/prefetch and pagefile when installing Windows on an SSD. I also configure Firefox to cache to memory instead of the OS drive.

that I configure FireFox to cache to RAM vs. OS drive. Wonder if doing this has a role in this odd behavior???