Skype Uses Too Much Memory

[geekfreak]

Was not sure where this should be at, so if it is in the wrong section please move it to the appropriate section.

O.K. Skype when i launch it in the morning starts out using about 54megs of ram. If I do not shut it completely down every so often it will climb to using over 700megs. Since I first started using Skype I have done 3 clean installs of windows 7. Is there a program where I can limit the amount of ram that Skype uses?

 

[logicearth]

Are you having an actual problem?

 

[joseph10444]

here is mine to compare

how come you have 2 memory tabs before virtual memory?

 

[geekfreak]

Are you having an actual problem?

i'm not trying to be rude, but if i wasn't having a problem i wouldn't have started the thread. yes when skype climbs to the 700meg + range it can bogg the sys down big time.

here is mine to compare

how come you have 2 memory tabs before virtual memory?

please lets not ad post that are pointless ie.... "here is mine to compare"

thanks

 

[brianzion]

what version of skype are you using? there is a beta release just come out again
Download the beta version of Skype for Windows
and they state this>
System requirements
PC running Windows XP, Vista or 7.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.
For voice and video calls we recommend a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.
For High Definition (HD) video calls both you and the person you're talking to need Skype 4.2 for Windows or higher, plus HD webcams. You'll also need a high-speed broadband connection (we recommend sustained 1.2 Mbps symmetrical bandwidth or higher) and a PC with at least a 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or equivalent processor.
Technical details
Version 5.0.0.123 File size 20 MB. Beta release. Release date: September 2, 2010. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe

 

[brianzion]

here is mine to compare

how come you have 2 memory tabs before virtual memory?

memory usage and memory usage peak

 

[brianzion]

if you can take a screen shot of task manager showing the process details with skype running that would be good, and we can see whats going on, and then i can help you with running a error report on the processor using sysinternals procexp program >> as in the screen shots below
Process Explorer

 

[geekfreak]

what version of skype are you using? there is a beta release just come out again
Download the beta version of Skype for Windows
and they state this>
System requirements
PC running Windows XP, Vista or 7.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.
For voice and video calls we recommend a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.
For High Definition (HD) video calls both you and the person you're talking to need Skype 4.2 for Windows or higher, plus HD webcams. You'll also need a high-speed broadband connection (we recommend sustained 1.2 Mbps symmetrical bandwidth or higher) and a PC with at least a 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or equivalent processor.
Technical details
Version 5.0.0.123 File size 20 MB. Beta release. Release date: September 2, 2010. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe

i download the beta shortly after creating this thread. it seems to be staying between 70 and 180megs ram usage now. that i can live with. i will keep an eye on it, and if it starts it's old behavior again i'll follow the steps you listed and post the info here. thanks for the help, much appreciated

 

[brianzion]

what version of skype are you using? there is a beta release just come out again
Download the beta version of Skype for Windows
and they state this>
System requirements
PC running Windows XP, Vista or 7.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.
For voice and video calls we recommend a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.
For High Definition (HD) video calls both you and the person you're talking to need Skype 4.2 for Windows or higher, plus HD webcams. You'll also need a high-speed broadband connection (we recommend sustained 1.2 Mbps symmetrical bandwidth or higher) and a PC with at least a 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or equivalent processor.
Technical details
Version 5.0.0.123 File size 20 MB. Beta release. Release date: September 2, 2010. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe

i download the beta shortly after creating this thread. it seems to be staying between 70 and 180megs ram usage now. that i can live with. i will keep an eye on it, and if it starts it's old behavior again i'll follow the steps you listed and post the info here. thanks for the help, much appreciated

no worrys pleasure to help also remember if you use a usb phone or mic this uses memory too

 

[tricky1]

Not sure I should start my own thread or add to this one.

I have Skype on my desktop Win 7 32 and it consumes an ever increasing amount of memory as time goes on. for example I captured a screen shot at 3 different times
one using 28.6K when on a fresh boot 1 hour later 102.7K I left the machine running all night and the next morning it was 660.3K.

My laptop runs Skype and the memory is constant at 34.2K

My friend also runs Skype same windows version on Asus p5 Q and the memory is constant.

I am beginning to look into it being a hardware conflict somehow, but then I think hmmm its working OK on XP

I have freshly loaded the OS several times leaving various drivers out or loading them, downloading windows updates or leaving them off nothing I do seems to make any difference. I upgraded to the beta versions same thing happens.

I am back to running XP on the same machine Asus P5q Pro Turbo, Skype memory usage is constant @53.7K

 

[geekfreak]

Not sure I should start my own thread or add to this one.

I have Skype on my desktop Win 7 32 and it consumes an ever increasing amount of memory as time goes on. for example I captured a screen shot at 3 different times
one using 28.6K when on a fresh boot 1 hour later 102.7K I left the machine running all night and the next morning it was 660.3K.

My laptop runs Skype and the memory is constant at 34.2K

My friend also runs Skype same windows version on Asus p5 Q and the memory is constant.

I am beginning to look into it being a hardware conflict somehow, but then I think hmmm its working OK on XP

I have freshly loaded the OS several times leaving various drivers out or loading them, downloading windows updates or leaving them off nothing I do seems to make any difference. I upgraded to the beta versions same thing happens.

I am back to running XP on the same machine Asus P5q Pro Turbo, Skype memory usage is constant @53.7K

you mean 660.3 megabytes. which is 660,300 k.

 

[brianzion]

HI ALL if you follow the steps in post 7 along with task manager showing skype processor and post a screen shot that will give an idea whats going on

run Process Monitor and task manager (in task manager enable "show all processes for all users"),run skype (don't close any window!) go to task manager find skype processer right click on it and choose "save as dump file",save anywhere,save also log in Process Monitor as *.PML format,pack all,upload on rapidshare and give me URL addresses to uploaded files. i posted a screen shot of what process monitor looks like.
Process Explorer

 

[geekfreak]

what version of skype are you using? there is a beta release just come out again
Download the beta version of Skype for Windows
and they state this>
System requirements
PC running Windows XP, Vista or 7.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.
For voice and video calls we recommend a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.
For High Definition (HD) video calls both you and the person you're talking to need Skype 4.2 for Windows or higher, plus HD webcams. You'll also need a high-speed broadband connection (we recommend sustained 1.2 Mbps symmetrical bandwidth or higher) and a PC with at least a 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or equivalent processor.
Technical details
Version 5.0.0.123 File size 20 MB. Beta release. Release date: September 2, 2010. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe

looks like the latest beta is doing it as well, however it may not be a skype problem. sys was being sluggest yesterday morning so i brought up task manager. both skype and firefox(3.6.9) were just over 500 megs each. unlike what i did with skype i doid not monitor ff after reopening it to see if it started out high or if it just slowly climbed. i'll try to get the files to you by 5pm my time. it is now 6:30am here.

 

[brianzion]

what version of skype are you using? there is a beta release just come out again
Download the beta version of Skype for Windows
and they state this>
System requirements
PC running Windows XP, Vista or 7.
Internet connection (broadband is best, GPRS is not supported for voice calls, and results may vary on a satellite connection).
Speakers and microphone – built-in or separate.
For voice and video calls we recommend a computer with at least a 1GHz processor, 256 MB RAM and of course a webcam.
For High Definition (HD) video calls both you and the person you're talking to need Skype 4.2 for Windows or higher, plus HD webcams. You'll also need a high-speed broadband connection (we recommend sustained 1.2 Mbps symmetrical bandwidth or higher) and a PC with at least a 2.0 GHz Core2Duo or equivalent processor.
Technical details
Version 5.0.0.123 File size 20 MB. Beta release. Release date: September 2, 2010. File name: SkypeSetup-Beta.exe

looks like the latest beta is doing it as well, however it may not be a skype problem. sys was being sluggest yesterday morning so i brought up task manager. both skype and firefox(3.6.9) were just over 500 megs each. unlike what i did with skype i doid not monitor ff after reopening it to see if it started out high or if it just slowly climbed. i'll try to get the files to you by 5pm my time. it is now 6:30am here.

okey dokey also check other hungry processors a rule of thumb is if you are not using a program and it is sitting in the background turn it off if not needed windows will see what programs are being used and give them priority and reduces the priority to unused programs in the background but they still use memory

 

[geekfreak]

i checked the other processes and they all look normal. it seems to just be firefox and skype that are pulling this stunt. you are right there are several services that can be either set to manual instead of automatic along with several services that can be disabled.

 

[brianzion]

well done just dont run ones you dont need when i am on the phone on skype i use alot of memory also and my cpu goes high but it does not do any damage thats how its designed i have 6 gig of ram but its best to have that extra because even if the machine will never use all that the average room for error is lower if you have more

 

[brianzion]

i checked the other processes and they all look normal. it seems to just be firefox and skype that are pulling this stunt. you are right there are several services that can be either set to manual instead of automatic along with several services that can be disabled.

just be careful you do not change certain operating services to manual because some will start up on boot and need to run waiting for a trigger to start them like a domino effect. also task scheduler will 9 times out of 10 have programs waiting to start its worth checking.
have a read of this http://www.askvg.com/windows-7-services-that-can-be-safely-set-to-manual/
what security do you use ? if it has its own firewall turn windows firewall off also you dont need windows defender running if you have anti spyware and mailware in the security you use,this will cause con-flicks and slow processors down .

 

[geekfreak]

i checked the other processes and they all look normal. it seems to just be firefox and skype that are pulling this stunt. you are right there are several services that can be either set to manual instead of automatic along with several services that can be disabled.

just be careful you do not change certain operating services to manual because some will start up on boot and need to run waiting for a trigger to start them like a domino effect. also task scheduler will 9 times out of 10 have programs waiting to start its worth checking.
have a read of this Windows 7 Services that can be Safely Set to MANUAL - Tweaking with Vishal

thanks for the info, but between xp, vista, and now 7 i know what i can and cannot set to manual or disabled. as for ending task through task manager if i need one of the programs a simple 20 sec logoff and logon will get those services running again.

 

[brianzion]

i checked the other processes and they all look normal. it seems to just be firefox and skype that are pulling this stunt. you are right there are several services that can be either set to manual instead of automatic along with several services that can be disabled.

just be careful you do not change certain operating services to manual because some will start up on boot and need to run waiting for a trigger to start them like a domino effect. also task scheduler will 9 times out of 10 have programs waiting to start its worth checking.
have a read of this Windows 7 Services that can be Safely Set to MANUAL - Tweaking with Vishal

thanks for the info, but between xp, vista, and now 7 i know what i can and cannot set to manual or disabled. as for ending task through task manager if i need one of the programs a simple 20 sec logoff and logon will get those services running again.

i updated that post since you posted this please read about security

 

[brianzion]

have a look at this thread of mine its a monitor for windows desktop gadgets and its very accurate http://www.sevenforums.com/software/109418-sd-software.html