Memory usage goes up over time

[Sylveon Fetish]

This has started doing this a few months ago

I have 8 GB ram and when I first start my computer, only 20% of memory is used but if I keep my computer on for several days, that memory usage goes up 50%, 60%, 70%, or even 80% when I do not have any programs running except the system processes and stuff my computer needs like AV or TeamViewer. Closing all programs doesn't fix the problem, it is as if sometimes closing programs does not free all the memory and it is lost—stuck being used indefinitely until I restart my computer. It is getting rather annoying to have to constantly restart my computer just to free up memory when I used to be able to keep my computer on for a couple of months and only be around 30% (not 20%) when no programs are running. I tried cleanmem from the Tweaking.com repair but that only drops it down to maybe 60% to 70%. It hardly fixes anything with the memory.

Does anybody know what the problem could be?

 

[Megahertz07]

When you start a program it will take some time to execute and load it into memory. When you shut it down it doesn't clean the memory, so when you start it again it will stat much faster. Windows will only clean some memory when it is full and to load a new program.
A fresh start is also recommended at least once a day to be sure everything is up to date and memory is un fragmented .

 

[LMiller7]

Post a screenshot of Task manager - Performance tab, when the problem occurs.
This is not normal. It would normally take a heavy workload to push a 8 GB system to 80% usage. Daily restarts are not necessary. I often go several weeks between reboots without problem.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
I'd use task manager/ performance section and the resource monitor button on the bottom
The overview section expand all sections plus the memory section and elongate it to see everything running.

 

[Callender]

You can also get a log of what's been using memory using the tool linked in this post:

High CPU usage - Page 2 - Windows 7 Help Forums