Constant low on memory warnings and crashes with Google chrome

[Gorilla Fingerz]

Can anyone point me in the right direction on how to solve the issue of constant out of memory warnings. Despite having 73.7GB of free space on my C drive and 8GB of ram I can only go 10 min. without a 'low on memory' warning that results in a crash and having to reboot or close out of Chrome or Firefox.

Previously (last month) I was able to browse with up to 20 tabs open and multiple programs (Photoshop, Maya, Zbrush) running and not so much as a blip from the system. But all of a sudden it's crash galore.

Where should I begin looking for the problem(s)?

 

[torchwood]

next time you start up, open task manager - processes tab, watch the memory values, hopefully it wont be a svchost.exe, we'll go from there

 

[Gorilla Fingerz]

next time you start up, open task manager - processes tab, watch the memory values, hopefully it wont be a svchost.exe, we'll go from there

Ok will do. I'll screen shot the processes.

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Here are the screenshots just after start up from a crash.

1) screenshot of processes from task manager:
Flickr

2) screenshot of processes from Process Hacker app
Alex Cantelou has shared 1 photo with you! | Flickr

 

[torchwood]

hi,
those values dont look extremely high, how long was google open for 8/9 mins would be ideal time so its just before freeze/crash, it does have 14 running exes, i use waterfox only got 4

other comments,
see you have skype/dropbox and ccleaner running, i tend NOT to have them run on start up
Avast and MSE are both running not a good idea -
(if you do not use the extras in avast turn them off)
IntelProset is not required bloatware in my opinion
dell pcdoc, as your not going to get anymore updates from them - change to manual or remove

 

[LMiller7]

It is important to understand what low memory warnings actually mean. It isn't what most people think. It means the commit charge is approaching the commit limit. It has nothing to do with RAM usage and Windows doesn't even have a warning for that. The Commit charge is what you need to look at.

When investigating memory issues usually Performance tab is more useful than the processes. The problem may not be a process at all.

 

[Gorilla Fingerz]

i use waterfox only got 4

- I've installed Waterfox now, I'll see how it goes.

you have skype/dropbox

- removed them from startup items.

ccleaner running

Did you mean Catalyst Control Center? I've since disabled it... apparently bloatware.

Avast and MSE are both running not a good idea

- removed MSE kept Avast running but turned off most of the extras.

IntelProset is not required bloatware in my opinion

- removed

dell pcdoc

-removed

I'll take some screen shots and post up. Thanks. Much appreciated!

- - - Updated - - -

It is important to understand what low memory warnings actually mean. It isn't what most people think. It means the commit charge is approaching the commit limit. It has nothing to do with RAM usage and Windows doesn't even have a warning for that. The Commit charge is what you need to look at.
When investigating memory issues usually Performance tab is more useful than the processes. The problem may not be a process at all.

Yes, I was a bit unsure of what to be looking for. I'll have a look and take a screenshot. Thanks!

 

[townsbg]

System manufactures like to have all of their crap running all of the time but I don't. Also many other programs like to have processes running all of the time. I like to trim those and turn what I don't need off-or uninstall-and run what is only "important" to me for daily use. I've even created bat files to start up and start processes for programs I don't use a lot such as (as an example) itunes. I don't really run it a lot and the processes are only needed if you have an iphone connected. I also turn off some not so necessary Windows processes such as bluetooth or print spooler. The most memory I use is when I run a virtual machine. I just wanted to share that.

Also I don't trust chrome on my personal system. You might want to look into other derivatives.

 

[Gorilla Fingerz]

Windows processes such as bluetooth or print spooler. The most memory I use is when I run a virtual machine. I just wanted to share that.

Also I don't trust chrome on my personal system. You might want to look into other derivatives.

Thanks for the heads up. I've shut off print spooler, Bluetooth and the Apple stuff as well as I don't use any of it. I've also switched over to Waterfox to see how it goes.

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D'oh! I've crashed out again.

Though this time it only out of Google Chrome and not my entire system (and I made it through the entire day... not crashing out every five minutes or so like yesterday), I didn't have to restart. At the time of the crash I was setting up my Waterfox browser so I had Chrome, Waterfox, Firefox running at the same time.

I took some shots of the error windows as well as the the processes running and the performance tabs - in hopes someone may have further insight into what might be the cause. It was again a running out of memory error according to Windows.

Also I noticed under processes that despite turning off Microsoft Security Essentials that the process "MsMpEng.exe" which is listed as Antimalware Service Executable is still shown as running. Should I be concerned about that?

error windows:



processes running:



performance windows:

 

[Alejandro85]

A small point, since you've got 8GB RAM and the last screenshot shows you have a commit charge of 8796 / 9383, that leaves about 1GB of spare space to run your programs. A possible way out is to increase your pagefile allocation, as it can supplement your existing RAM if you've got some spare disk space..

In addition to that, it seems you have quite a few tabs with heavy websites opened at once, which seems too much for your system (no idea if it's a reasonable assumption or just a too hungry browser). Try closing some tabs.

As stated before, using two antiviruses is always a bad idea (only one is bad enough). Uninstall at least one of them and see if it lowers your RAM usage.

 

[Gorilla Fingerz]

A possible way out is to increase your pagefile allocation, as it can supplement your existing RAM if you've got some spare disk space..

When I checked it was manually set to that amount. I've reset it to the default of letting Windows manage the page file allocation for all drives - in this case I only have a C drive. Let's see if that works better. After setting it to the default of allowing the system to manage it I looked in the performance monitor and it shows:

Commit (MB) 4493/9383

That seems an improvement in how that ratio is supposed to work. I think.

Try closing some tabs.

Yes, I'll try to be more tab economic.

As stated before, using two antiviruses is always a bad idea (only one is bad enough). Uninstall at least one of them and see if it lowers your RAM usage.

I don't seem to be able to stop the Windows Antimalware from running. Despite several attempts it seems to always appear in the processes. I'll see if I can find a tutorial on turning it off entirely.

 

[townsbg]

If you are referring to Windows defender that is only antispyware on 7 and not a full AVS. You shouldn't have both MSE and AVAST installed though. You should be fine running it although that will free up some memory. Try this though: Windows Defender - Turning Off & On You really need to watch your browsers though. You can try viper's guide to reduce memory consumption by windows. Black Viper's Windows 7 Service Pack 1 Service Configurations - Black Viper | BlackViper.Com If you absolutely have to have all that running at once you might want to get more ram. As shown you did run out. You can increase pagefile size but it is no where near as fast as memory, even on a SSD.

 

[torchwood]

hi,
the screenshot showing google failing due to a software error is likely due to an Add-on,
open your google settings options, and uninstall all, then add them back 1 by 1 to find the culprit

notes
Avast will have added a browser guard within it, not sure if it will show in the google list, check in the Avast logs to see if its blocking anything
Adobe Acorobat does the same
if you would like to check, run this program, its a Reputable malware tool --
Download Farbar Recovery Scan Tool