Windows 7 using 3.9GB of RAM on idle

[Thunderbolt 2864]

Is this meant to be normal? I currently have 12GB on my computer altogether, because back then when I had 6GB it would idle less. It kinda bothers me because my machine isn't doing much and apparently Windows 7 is hogging at least a quarter of my RAM or more.

[Nepali]

is this a home PC, or a server..

[Thunderbolt 2864]

Home PC. I even formatted my computer and did a fresh install of Windows, same result.

[jaclaz]

Generally speaking, the RAM is there so that the OS can use it.

Windows 7 is (or thinks it is ) a "smart" OS and will use as much RAM as it thinks fit, proportionally to the total amount available.

If you take one or two sticks of RAM off the board, it will idle at less, if you add some, it will idle at more, very roughly at 30% of available RAM:

http://www.msfn.org/board/windows-7-all-hy...79-page-25.html

As MS would put it , it is "by design".

jaclaz

[cluberti]

Run resmon to see what the RAM is actually "doing". You'll see whether or not it's actively in use, on the standby list (idle pages that are marked as paged, but not paged to disk yet because load doesn't require it), and actual "free" memory. In general, there should be no "free" memory (this is normal) due to Windows 7's caching, and the standby and in use pages will probably be the bulk of what is "used". The modified list is simply pages that have been modifed, but haven't been used in a time and are no longer counted against the process working set of the process that created the allocations - these are similar to pages on the standby list.

[Ben_j]

I was wondering how Win 7 handle this. What does it load in the memory ? The most frequently used programs, so that they start faster ?

[cluberti]

Yes, it's similar to XP's superfetch, but rather than just align load orders on disk, it does a lazy preload of binaries that get used the most on the box as you use it, and it adjusts itself as necessary as you go.

[MagicAndre1981]

You have a memory leak in a driver. Look at the paged kernel memory. Which software do you use?

Do what cluberti told mara in this topic:

http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=138036&hl=

[Access Denied]

Yes, it's similar to XP's superfetch, but rather than just align load orders on disk, it does a lazy preload of binaries that get used the most on the box as you use it, and it adjusts itself as necessary as you go.

That explains why I am faster now, than when I installed 7 (back when it released). I don't use many apps and it really helps. Not like a quad core needs help, but you can enjoy the speed increase!