Vista is stealing my memory

So, I just got myself a new laptop, and unforunately, it came with vista. I spent about 4 hours removing the excess bloatware, but I seem to be stuck with a problem

As you can see here, task manager says I am only using about 300 mb of memory. Yet it also says that I am running at 78%, or 800 mb. So, where is this extra 500 mb of memory usage comming from?

I am thinking about just intalling XP on it, since I have yet to find any areas where vista is better. All it seems to do is take up alot of memory and bother me every 10 seconds when I change something.

 

do you only have 1GB of memory, also is you video memory shared or dedicated, because if it`s shared it will use some of your system memory.

 

Its shared with an Intel X3100 graphics card, but its only sharing 256 MB. That still a quater of a gig short. And I doubt the graphics card would be going at full blast with just IE open.

 

If you do only have 1GB of memory, you'll struggle with Vista even if you have a dedicated Graphics card. 2GB is the minimum for vista.

Don't worry about unexplained high memory usage with Vista though, it's quite normal. It's strange at first, but if you have 2GB of RAM, it won't cause you any problems.

About it bothering you every ten seconds - Yes, you can turn this off. Search for USER ACCESS CONTROL and WINDOWS DEFENDER in the Help section.

 

Vista will use as much memory it can to make your computer experience the best, but you can enable, manual or disable some services you think you don't need.

 

I agree that it will use as much memory as it can, but I certainly wouldn't say it's to make your computer experience the best !

 

Using a lot of memory is good. It uses it as cache. If a program actually needs the RAM, it will be released.

However, If you want a better vista experience, get another GB of ram (quite cheap these days).

 

Be careful how you word this. "RAM in Use" and "RAM in Cache" are different things. Task Manager counts them differently and has separate categories for them. Vista's RAM *use* is very high, and even disabling every unnecessary thing in the system it can't get down to anywhere near a reasonable number.

 

You sound like me, you are ready to go back to XP.

 

This is just an example, what type of memory is superfetch for you?

 

I've never been able to understand that either! I've looked around the internet for an explanation but I never really found one. Most of the memory Vista uses at idle just isn't accounted for in the Processes tab of Task Manager.

It hasn't been a problem for me in practice though. I have 2 gb and it's more than enough... even with a bazillion app windows open, I haven't seen it using more than about 1.3 gb according to the memory usage graph on the Performance tab. So... RAM usage starts off really high, but it doesn't climb very fast.

 

i agree with the other guy . just buy more ram. put a couple of 2 gb chips in there and you'll be good to go. i bought corsair ram for like 36 dollars a gb chip through newegg.com. i had xp and went to vista home premium 64 for gaming with dx10. after you diable uac and superfecth then turn off indexing. vista is the best os ive used ever it makes xp feel generic to me anymore. theres a really good vista guide on this site somewhere and they give you the a.b.c's of how to make the most of vista.


my first take buy more ram....its like dirt cheap

 

Yes, 3GB is great for 32, and above 4GB for 64.

But I think the issue here is memory lost in space, where did that 500MB go?

 

I understand the need for 2gb if im going to run vista, I am just still perplexed as to where my missing memory went.

 

Perhaps is just a bad calculation or a misinterpretation of the 78%.

 

So what if Vista uses the memory. Isn't that what it's for? To the OP, if you have 1GB, get another stick and you should be fine. If you have x64 or have an interest, get another 2GB of RAM and you'll be in good condition. After you do that, tell Vista to use as much of your RAM as it wants because that's what it's there for.

You'll find people on this board who will fret at how much RAM Vista uses when it's idle. What is the point? Why would you care about something like that? Don't let them scare you away from using Vista. It's not a bad OS.

 

Just curious about the new laptops shipping with Vista, are we able to format and reinstall XP as we would with an XP shipped notebook if we wanted to backtrack to Win2000?

If there are positive experiences can someone point me to the link to read please?

 

Superfetch's RAM cache is "Cached" Physical Memory.

 

2000 and XP share the same kernel so same drivers, no problem there. Many notebooks have XP drivers available onthe manufacturer's website.

 

Unused ram is waisted ram - Vista > XP in that department but dont run vista without 2gb of ram.

 

Intelligently used RAM is ok. Just using it for the sake of making the "available RAM" number lower is not intelligent use of RAM.

I've always considered Superfetch to be a crutch to compensate for Vista's much higher RAM usage. It's a band-aid.

 

Yes, many people have successfully backtracked to XP. The best place to start looking is here at NBR in your laptop manufacturer's forum. Many people have documented their experiences step by step.

I still suggest you give Vista a chance though, but with an additional GB of RAM Give it a week or two to index your files, and learn your frequently used apps, and it should peform much better

 

I agree. Give Vista a shot and see what happens. Get the extra RAM and decide then if you feel any added performance (I'm sure you will). Like many have said, RAM is extra cheap these days, so just give it a shot. If you still don't like how it's using your RAM or you think of any other reasons why you don't like it, then go back to XP by all means.

 

Vista needs that extra mermory for the nice performance and effects it offers. I wouldn't recommend going from Vista to XP. Just stick with Vista because that's where everything is heading.

 

I have superfetch off, and I still have over 1.1GB cache, how do you explain this then?

 

You have *73* processes running and even without Superfetch Windows is doing it's own internal caching for at least some of those.

If you had Superfetch on the Cached would typically be much higher. My system now is only showing 16 "Free" under that category. My 8GB gaming rig is currently showing.. 0 Free. Zero.

 

And that cache comes from the RAM, that was my previous point.

 

Then you have no clue what SuperFetch even is. How could an app that atempts to preload the cache with items it anticipates the user will need, be a "crutch to compensate for Vista's much higher RAM usage"??? Please explain.

Gary

 

Good question. I actually have the same question.

 

Same here, all the memory used by superfetch contains data ready to be accessed in a fast manner by the user application. And there is still some memory free for more applications.

 

QFT.......

 

Huh? You have 8 GB of RAM and Vista has ALL of the "unused" RAM cached? Screenshot?

 

It's funny...I have superfetch on, but I've never really noticed my free RAM "disappear" as others claim, nor have I ever seen 0 RAM free. I run FreeRAM XP Pro to keep an eye on my memory usage, and during normal desktop activities it rarely goes below 1GB free (out of 2 total).

When playing TF2 or other games it can dip down to 200-300 free, but when I close that and return to the desktop my free RAM will jump back up to 1024+ (sometimes up to 1500 or more) and stay that way, not being "taken" by Vista again. A restart or hibernate will return my free ram to the usual 1300 or so I start out with.

edit: oh yeah, I usually just leave FF, trillian, winamp open all the time, along with AVG and a couple other minor programs.

 

All depends how heavy user you are, if you are an average one then you should have plenty free RAM.

 

I've never understood this "Vista uses too much RAM" attitude. What would you prefer the OS do? Just wait on you to open each and every program before caching it into RAM, and then dump everything from RAM each time you close an application? You'd spend 50% of your computer time waiting on your hard drive! Linux does the same thing, or arguably it's more agressive about it; it will use up each and every megabyte of free RAM caching something. Because even if the chances of you using Calculator or Mahjongg Titans today is really low, it's not hurting anything to cache it. And if the RAM is needed, Windows can just dump the cache and load up what you need. Completely empty RAM, as USMC said, is wasted RAM.

Addendum: All that said Vista does use more RAM than XP for itself, as well. Those fancy effects, security features, caching services, and revised networking code take up space. 1 GB was all well and good for basic XP usage, but I can say from experience that it's really pushing it for Vista, even if all you do is surf the internet and check e-mail.

 

This closes the case. I agree 100%.

 

I have seen so many of these "Visa is stealing my memory" threads and had to explain how its not stealing it but just using it so many times that I took the initiative to finally make a photo to post instead.

As a picture says it all

 

I haven't caught it lately, the best I could get was 188MB free. Out of 8GB.

Mind you, there's nothing currently running, and I had only been running one app, Final Fantasy XI, for the last several hours.

 

Interesting, I never noticed that part before. I'll have to see what mine says when I get home because I have 8 GB too.

 

I only have 4GB and i have 2348mb free, plus i have virtual memory turned off as well.

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

Most of my RAM appears to be cached.

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

*Hands Wirelessman award for most useful post to date*

 

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

And I was thinking to give you some rep ummmmmmm

 

Lol

But back on topic...

Very interesting. At least it's being used for something...

 

I envy your 8GB of RAM.

 

give as much ram as you can for vista's superfetch,even maxing out your ram would be a good idea as ram is cheap and more ram never hurts so the min for vista would be 2GB and turning virtual memory off is silly.

 

Yeah it is pretty decent for games, but I have a hard time using it all outside of them. The most has probably been 6 GB at any one time.