High RAM Usage on Windows 8 Laptop - Help Needed!

[wasteland]

So, a couple of weeks ago I bought this new ACER Aspire V5-751 Laptop with Intel Core i7 4.0GB RAM and various other features. Windows 8 is the operating system, though I would have liked to keep the more familiar Windows 7.

About one week ago, after running a python program I had made myself for study purposes and simultaneously browsing the Internet on Chrome, I got a low-memory warning and subsequentlly Chrome was automatically shut down. I though such a deficiency was due to the ongoing calculations I had the PC do within my program, but the issue represented itself many times since then, without the python program ever being involved.

What I found out is that, running the Ctrl+Alt+Del activities management, a good 38 to 66% of the memory is employed even without any process apparently running, at the session's beginning. Rebooting the PC might bring down the percentage for the session, but the problem is not permanently resolved.

I've looked up on the net for explaination and solution for the past week, and I found out a number of support posts stating that it's something called "memory leak", likely caused by some process running in the background or I don't know what. Apparently many people get the low memory warning when playing Battlefield 3. I don't even know what Battlefield 3 is, though

Can anyone of the resident tech guys help me on this? I'll likely turn the PC at some repair-shop to see if they know what's wrong, but I figured I could give this community at shot at PC troubleshooting.

So, thanks guys in advance for the help and attention!

[rumborak]

Memory leaks aren't something you can fix. It's a mistake in the source code and can only be fixed by a new release of the software.
That said, operating systems are notoriously bad at reporting memory consumption. Just because Windows reports a high consumption of it actually means you're low on memory.
I would suggest you wait for the next warning. I totally blame Python, because scripted languages are memory hogs (because they're what's called "weakly typed")

[wasteland]

But can Python have an influence even when not running? I haven't run a program on this PC since the first time I got problems, and yet I was kicked out of Chrome more than once after ignoring the warnings.

[rumborak]

No, that's definitely a different issue then. Python won't consume anything unless it's run.

I would actually suggest you post a screenshot of the Task Manager with the processes sorted by memory.

[cramx3]

Do you have other applications open through the Windows 8 Metro UI?  Closing those apps was confusing when I first started using Windows 8, but you can slide from top to bottom of the screen (assuming touch screen) to close open apps.

[wasteland]

@Rumbo: https://img839.imageshack.us/img839/7659/4rhf.png

@cramx: looks like none is running right now. It's one of the good times, the one going on now. Just ~40% at startup, but last time it was 65%.

[orcus116]

Remove McAfee. Immediately.

[wasteland]

Remove McAfee. Immediately.

I was about to, and downloaded avast free. But then I hesitated: what if the McAfee suit I was given was actually good? Can you confirm it's not?

[orcus116]

I use Avast and have no problems in the last year.

[wasteland]

Anyone else can back up this theory of McAffleck as the parasite?

[orcus116]

It's one of the anti-virus bloatware that comes standard with your new computer. I had it on my new laptop and got rid of it immediately. I may not be answer but it'll help cut it down.

[cramx3]

is it normal for Chrome to use that much RAM? You have 9 instances.

Im also on the side of getting rid of Mcafee.  At least try it. 

Also, you can try downloading CCleaner and seeing what you have running on start up.  For a new computer, you may have a ton of crap set by default to run when you first boot up.

[wasteland]

Thanks! It's 1AM now so I'll get some sleep before trying to fix this in the morning. Keep the advice coming if there is any

[Fiery Winds]

is it normal for Chrome to use that much RAM? You have 9 instances.

Im also on the side of getting rid of Mcafee.  At least try it. 

Also, you can try downloading CCleaner and seeing what you have running on start up.  For a new computer, you may have a ton of crap set by default to run when you first boot up.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Chrome sandboxes a lot of their processes to prevent a single process from crashing the whole browser.

Agreed on McAfee and CCleaner.

[pogoowner]

I agree with getting rid of McAfee. I haven't used that type of antivirus software in years. You can use a program to scan your computer every once in a while, but in my opinion, there's really no need to have something running all the time.

[rumborak]

Whoa, that's a lot of Chrome tabs. That will get you into trouble for sure memory-wise.

And yeah, uninstall McAffee. Here are "instructions":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKgf5PaBzyg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[theseoafs]

I would suggest you wait for the next warning. I totally blame Python, because scripted languages are memory hogs (because they're what's called "weakly typed")

This has nothing to do with the thread but Python is strongly typed.  You're thinking of dynamic typing.

[Bolsters]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure Chrome sandboxes a lot of their processes to prevent a single process from crashing the whole browser.

You're correct. Each tab open in Chrome has its own chrome.exe process, so it's not unusual to have a lot of them listed in the task manager.

[the Catfishman]

why wouldn't you use the excellent anti virus build into windows 8?

[wasteland]

why wouldn't you use the excellent anti virus build into windows 8?

I don't know, is it excellent? McAffee came with the PC, I didn't install it.

[JayOctavarium]

I only used Windows Security Essentials on my Win 7 machine... and now on my Win 8 machine I use the new equivalent (Windows Defender) and I have had zero issues. It runs a scan every week, and I run CCleaner once every other week. No complaints.

[rumborak]

I would suggest you wait for the next warning. I totally blame Python, because scripted languages are memory hogs (because they're what's called "weakly typed")

This has nothing to do with the thread but Python is strongly typed.  You're thinking of dynamic typing.

Interesting, I stand (somewhat) corrected. I just read the Wikipedia article on "weakly typed", and honestly the definition is so wishy-washy, you could use it for a lot of things

But yeah, what I meant is more aptly described as dynamic typing. I know that Perl for example keeps a single entity, e.g. "5", as a string, an integer, and a float, thus blowing up memory to no end.