Upgraded from 2GB to 4GB to get some breathing room from Vistas RAM usage and Vista ate it up again...

Maybe im crazy and not remembering right but i could swear Vista used about 1GB when i had 2GB, and now low and behold its using up to 2GB!

What gives? what can i do to fix it?

 

That's normal. Vista utilizes free ram differently than XP. Don't worry, if you need the ram, it will free it up.

This has been talked about 30948032 times in this forum, use Search.

 

Run some programs!

Vista's own RAM usage is largely based on how much RAM is available. Unused RAM is wasted RAM, after all. If it can use more RAM, it won't need to access the disk quite as much. If you run stuff that needs a lot of RAM, Vista will moderate its own usage to accomodate that.

Of course, you'll have to run a LOT of stuff to use up the 2 gb that Vista isn't using.

 

oh ok, cool, thanks guys

 

thank vista prefetch .. lol

 

Computer resources are not like the canned peaches you have on the shelf for when the power goes out or some other emergency.

If you have computer resources you are not using, it is not possible to simply save them for later use. If you don't use them in that moment, the moment passes and is lost forever.

Generally, you want to configure your resources either for your usual usage patterns or for the peak usage (if that is critical). If you are bumping up against some resource constraint that is preventing you from accomplishing something, address that constraint. If you are regularly using only a portion of your resources, you have overspent (or are under using).

 

It's a good thing! RAM is there to be used. Now your commonly used programs will load more quickly when you need them!

 

its funny with vista even with 3.5gb it will say like 16mb free lol...

 

What is the point of reserving the memory and showing it's used if its not being used? I dont get it, its not like the hardware in the memory slots are going to disappear? Or if the memory is being used, what the heck is it using it for when all my computer has open is firefox?

 

RAM not used is RAM wasted, it's just sitting there, so why not use it

 

That's just Superfetch aggressively using your ram to cache your disk. This essentially speeds up your disk access. If you need the memory, Vista will just dump the cache.

 

Call me crazy, but after a fresh boot-up I haven't seen my memory usage much more then 1.2 GB, and that's with both SP1 & Beta SP2. I keep my start-up items in check, but I'm not hard about it. So, 2 GB sounds a bit high.

 

I feel your pain.

 

It's using it to store the code and data that, based on your past usage patterns, you're most likely to use next. So, what app(s) do you typically fire up after you finish with FF? Whatever that is, that's most likely what's stored in the RAM _Vista is using under superfetch.

What's the point of having RAM just sitting there idle? Should it be rusting in peace rather than being prepped to get your next apps fired up more rapidly?

 

What if my most favorite app's total together took around 7-8GB to run and I only had 3GB?

 

Then, to the extent feasible, those apps will be prioritized on the basis of usage, and the 3GB of RAM that's available will be populated with as much of the code and data as can be prefetched, starting with the app you're the most likely to be using next.