Windows 7 - IE8 Memory Leak

Reading around I thought IE eliminated it's memory leaks but I definitely have it when I use IE8.

I typically have three windows of IE8 open and within one will have multiple tabs, maybe five or six at the most. Over time memory usage definitely grows and is not reclaimed as tabs or even windows are closed. Only way I can reclaim memory is by closing all windows and putting computer to sleep. When I awaken it and start again memory usage is back to it's initial state. But then it will grow again as I use IE8. Seems to happen no matter what websites are visited so I don't think a specific site is causing the problem.

Is it a problem somewhere in my system or is it just how IE8 really is?

Have you done a Google Search?
Remember Google is your friend.

Some examples...

A memory leak issue occurs in Internet Explorer 8 when you switch between XML files

Memory Leak in IE8?

IE8 memory leak - Microsoft Answers

My saying "reading around" meant yes I searched.

I have previously read all the links you provided.

The first link references a hotfix that I can't seem to locate.

The second link resolved the issue by installing Windows Server 2008 R2 RC. I have Windows 7 preinstalled.

The third link says maybe an add-on is causing it. Kind of vague and I'm pretty sure that is not the case with my issue.

All of them talk about the leak causing the system to eventually become unresponsive. That hasn't happened to me, I've gotten to about 60% memory use. I suppose it could happen. So I guess I live with it for now.

Would you like us to pull an answer from...our *cough*...out of the air? Memory leaks can be cause by anything at anytime, the only way to know is by deep analyse, and monitoring. Process Explorer and RAMmap can both be valuable.

Process Explorer
RAMMap

Just reboot your computer every now and again. It will clear your memory. Any thing that uses memory can cause a small leaks. The two easy ways to handle this problem is to add more memory or don't ask you computer to do so much at one time. Because you use more memory when you have several things open at the same time does not mean you have a memory leak. It means you are using up the memory (ram).