"Out of Memory" Error, all apps continually increase memory usage

Allport3333 · 20 Sep 2011

I have windows 7 64 bit and also running a ssd. Just a few days ago I've started to have an issue where after my computer is running for a couple hours all processes continually increase the amount of memory they are using until I get an out of memory error. Here is a pic of it around 75%. I have 8 gigs of ram (kingston) that before this never went above 4gigs of use, so not sure what is causing this suddenly.

Any help would be great.

Darryl Licht · 20 Sep 2011

It sounds like your PC has a cold... er virus!

What AV are you running?

Allport3333 · 20 Sep 2011

If the pic didn't show up before.

Running McAfee as of right now. It didn't find anything when scanning, however when i went to AVG's website it said i wasn't connected to the internet. So there is a high possibility of a virus.

Allport3333 · 20 Sep 2011

Ok, so I reinstalled windows considering i couldn't access my virus protection. With a formatted clean pc, i could go to avg and download the app. I then installed all the windows updates. Once I restarted my pc, once again i can no longer go to virus protection websites and the memory use is constantly going up again. My only assumption has to be it is something to do with the windows updates as i didn't install anything else. Any suggestions?

Darryl Licht · 20 Sep 2011

You reinstalled Windows??? Did you install on top of previous installation, or perform a clean install?

PS - McAfee is garbageware... many here have had issues with it! And I must admit that AVG isnt much better anymore! Try MS Security Essentials for a good free AV solution!

Allport3333 · 20 Sep 2011

I did a clean install, reformatted the drive first. One possibility that was suggested is that i have a bios virus. Which i really have no idea how to flash my bios and where to download my bios at. I'm running a gateway fx 7805u laptop.

Darryl Licht · 20 Sep 2011

BIOS virii are so rare I doubt it... Do you have acces to a linux live distro such as ubuntu??? That would be a way to rule out a bios virus!

Lebon14 · 20 Sep 2011

Hmm... there might be a virus in the MFT. As far as I know, the "format" command during the Windows Install only "make the hard drive think there's nothing". So, the data is replaced as your write data on it. So, the virus on the MFT is never erased. What to do? Well, one thing I would do is to re-install another time. But this time, choose your keyboard layout and press next. Then, press SHIFT-F10.

WARNING : The following commands will completely erase your hard drive, so be warned!

A command prompt will have appeared. So, below, the commnds are in bold :

diskpart

list disk
At this point, your hard drives will appear.

select disk #
"#" is the number of the drive listed in the "list disk" command. After this command, we will erase your hard drive completely, from A to Z. So, this is your last chance to backup

clean all
Erasing the hard drive. This WILL take some time.

create partition primary
This create your main partition

format fs=ntfs label="Windows 7"
This will format the hard drive for NTFS. "Windows 7" is changeable; it's just the name you wanna give to the hard drive. It will also take a bit of time.

active
Just so you can select it.

exit
Then just close the command prompt. Click Install, then, when you will be able to "format" during the install, don't. But just click on the partition we create above and click Next.

Once this is done, we can now say that your system is virus free since your hard drive has been entirely wiped out. Install your drivers and then install Microsoft Security Essential and NOT AVG or McAfee.

Tell us of your experience.

Allport3333 · 20 Sep 2011

To give an update, i flashed my bios to a new version and did a clean install of windows... again. My computer "seems" to be clean now. However, I've run into another problem. 3 out of 5 of my friends seem to have gotten the same virus. I'm afraid I'll spend all day tomorrow doing the same for their pc's, but what really has me worried is somehow us getting it again. I still have no idea what it could have been. We all were playing dead island and minecraft, but two of us didn't get it so not sure if that was it. One thing we have discovered is that we were playing over Tunggle and had a random person come into our game, could it be possible that the random person when connected over the quasi lan infected us?

Darryl Licht · 20 Sep 2011

Its possible for someone to have infected you... intentionally or unintentionally, YES. I'd stay away from Tunggle forever! If you want to have a LAN party, get together and have one!

But again... a BIOS virus is very very rare! I wish one of you had a good paid for av that might indicate what you were infected with. Right now its hard to say... If one of your buddies has another PC with a good AV like Norton, hook the "infected" drive to that PC and run a full scan on that "bad" drive... let us know if you find anymore info! I'd also suggest contacting Tunggle and informing them to, as it surely happened while you were all connected!

I agree with Lebon that it was more likely an infection of a MFT (Master File Table) or MBR (Master Boot Record)... if all you did was a format the drive, either could still be there. If you had deleted all partitions, you would have probably had the same fix as you do now!

Please keep us updated, and good luck!

PS - whoever suggested Tunggle... make them pay you for your time!