The most effective ways to clean computer RAM

07.09.2023 -

RAM is the main resource that is necessary for normal system operation and launching applications and programs. Thanks to it, you can play games without fear that data will be lost from your hard drive, or you can perform several actions at once and not worry that they may affect one another. Sometimes it happens that there is simply not enough memory and, at the moment, there is no money to expand it by purchasing a new stick. We hope that after reading this article, you will be able to answer the question of how to free up on Windows 10 using one of the methods described below.

1. Closing unnecessary programs.

To begin with, it is recommended to close those programs that are not currently in use. As a rule, all programs are displayed at the bottom of the taskbar. They can be closed from the taskbar by right-clicking on the program shortcut and selecting “Close window”. Or, to complete the work correctly, go to the program interface and close it.

If the RAM is too overloaded and the computer freezes, you need to do the following:

Please be aware that in this case there may be data loss.

Close background programs. In the “Task Manager”, open the “Processes” tab and select “End Process”. But you need to be sure that this program will not affect the functionality and performance of the PC.

2. Restart Windows Explorer.

First, let's figure out what Windows Explorer is. Explorer is a file manager built into the operating system. To restart it, open the “Task Manager”, click on the “Details” tab (in Windows 7 - “Processes”), in which we find explorer.exe. Right-click on it “End Process”.
After this, the taskbar and Start disappear. All other applications will be active.

Open the “Task Manager” again and click on “File”. In it, select “New task (Run)...”.
A window opens in which we enter “explorer.exe” and agree by clicking “Ok”. Explorer will open and the taskbar and icons will appear again.

There is another way to restart Explorer. On the desktop, create a file using Notepad with the extension .txt.
Next, open it and write “taskkill /f /im explorer.exe, start explorer.exe”.
We save it under the name “Restart explorer.bat”.
Explorer will reboot after clicking on the file icon.

Any computer has two types of memory devices designed to solve different problems. This is a long-term storage device (RSD), which is necessary for storing long-term information, and a random access memory device (RAM), which is used directly for data processing and serves for short-term storage of information.

Why clean RAM?

The performance of any computer is greatly influenced by the size of the RAM. During operation, various programs and files are loaded into the RAM block, which leads to a gradual decrease in the amount of RAM, and this, in turn, greatly reduces productivity and efficiency. To avoid such a problem, it is necessary to periodically clean up the RAM, thereby increasing its performance and reducing the time for performing various operations.

In the process of working with various programs, especially if the period of work is quite long, it becomes more and more noticeable that the computer begins to slow down. As a result, this may result in a banner appearing on the display asking you to close all programs to avoid data loss due to insufficient free RAM. If this is not done, the computer will close everything on its own and automatically reboot, completely clearing the RAM. This will inevitably lead to the complete loss of unsaved data, the entry of which could take an hour or more, and the work will have to start all over again.

In addition, noticeable slowdown during operation makes the user nervous, since it takes more time than usual to complete any operation. If previously the computer immediately performed a certain task, now it can think for a few seconds, and sometimes much longer.

One of the main reasons for this phenomenon may be an increase in the amount of RAM used due to the large number of applications that are added to startup during installation and load their modules simultaneously with the computer startup. In the process of work, new running programs are added to this, as well as various pieces of information transmitted using the clipboard, that is, copying.

Adding more RAM cards will not be a panacea, as it will be a short-term measure.

Adding RAM chips to store operational information will only be a short-term measure to increase computer performance

Firstly, the number of RAM slots on the motherboard is limited. Secondly, the software is constantly being improved and increasingly uses graphic effects, which require a constant increase in the free amount of RAM. This will be very noticeable if the user runs powerful graphic games or works in a professional graphics editor.

To remove unnecessary active and background procedures from memory, it is necessary to clear the RAM chips of accumulated information that is currently irrelevant. This will immediately lead to a sharp increase in the free block of RAM, which can be seen visually, and will lead to a significant increase in performance when performing various program operations.

How to clear computer RAM in different ways

The RAM of any computer is cleared manually or automatically. In the first case, utility utilities built into the system are used, or unused applications are disabled. In the second case, various specialized utilities are used that clear RAM without user intervention according to preset parameters. Most often, third-party programs are used to free up a memory block, since Microsoft does not pay enough attention to this problem, focusing on the latest models of computers that are equipped with a sufficient number of RAM chips.

If the user does not perform any special tasks on his device that require simultaneous opening of a large number of programs, then the operation to clear the memory block is not particularly necessary. If you need to keep several programs open, especially graphic ones, with constant use of the clipboard, as well as several pages in the browser, performance decreases quite quickly and requires constant clearing of RAM.

The effectiveness of cleaning RAM is different for all methods, so the choice always falls on the method that is most familiar to the user. It all depends on the specific task that is currently being performed on the computer.

Video: basic ways to clear computer RAM

Clearing computer RAM manually

Quite often, cleaning the RAM manually is used. The method is not entirely convenient, but in the absence of specialized programs it is quite self-sufficient. The manual RAM cleaning mode is based on the use of utilities built into the system developed by Microsoft. It involves the use of several options for clearing the amount of memory used.

Cleaning via Task Manager

You can free up RAM by turning off unnecessary tasks that are currently running in the background on your computer. You can do this using the Task Manager. If programs were added to startup during installation, they will start along with Windows 10. Regardless of whether they are needed at the moment or not, they will occupy part of the temporary memory block. To disable them, you must perform the following operations:

To avoid having to manually disable the task every time you start the computer, it is best to specify in the software settings that you do not want to load the program and Windows simultaneously.

Video: how to disable unnecessary processes in Task Manager

Cleaning by restarting Explorer

A small amount of used RAM can be freed by restarting Explorer. To do this, you need to carry out the following steps:

Restarting Explorer allows you to temporarily clear memory, since as new applications are launched, the RAM will fill up again and at some point reach its previous limit.

Video: how to restart Explorer

Cleaning via "Startup"

To completely prevent unnecessary programs from starting when the computer boots, they must be removed from startup. This will allow you to obtain free temporary memory in the RAM chips. To remove programs from startup, you must do the following:

Right-click on the Start button.
In the expanded menu, click on the “Run” line.
In the menu, click on the “Run” line
Enter the msconfig command in the Open field of the Run panel and click OK.
In the Open field, enter msconfig
Go to the “Startup” tab in the “Task Manager” console that opens.
View the download impact of all apps.
Check the impact on all app downloads
Select the application you don't need and click the "Disable" button.
Select the application you don't need and click the "Disable" button

Disabling unnecessary programs from startup is one of the most effective ways to free up RAM.

Video: how to remove an unnecessary program from startup

Disabling visual effects

In the system settings, you can disable visual effects to partially free up the amount of temporary memory that is occupied by applications that provide connection and drawing of graphic constructions. You can do this as follows:

Right-click on the “This PC” icon on the “Desktop”.
Right-click on the “This PC” icon
In the drop-down menu, click on the “Properties” line.
Click on the “Properties” line in the menu
In the “System” window, click on the “Advanced system settings” icon.
Click on the “Advanced system settings” icon
Click on the “Options” button in the “Performance” block of the “Advanced” tab.
Click on the “Options” button in the “Performance” block
In the Performance Options panel, switch the toggle to "Get the best performance."
Set the switch to "Get the best performance"

Video: How to turn off visual effects

Cleaning computer RAM using specialized programs

To more effectively solve problems of optimizing a RAM block, utilities specially developed for this purpose are used. They allow you to check applications loaded into RAM without user intervention using a predetermined algorithm and correctly remove them from the memory block. To do this, they use several well-known and proven programs that are most famous in the field of information technology.

Wise Memory Optimizer

The Wise Care 365 software package includes the Wise Memory Optimizer utility, designed to clean up your computer's RAM. The utility takes up minimal space during installation and does not take up many resources. You can download it from the manufacturer’s website or run it directly from the Wise Care 365 package. Clearing a block of RAM using the utility is performed as follows:

Video: How to clear RAM using Wise Memory Optimizer

Mz RAM Booster

Mz RAM Booster is a small utility designed to optimize a block of RAM. Its main drawback is the lack of a Russian-language interface. After installation, the program is constantly located in the system tray and monitors the memory state. The utility stores the system core in RAM, and automatically unloads unused program libraries. To use it you need to do the following:

Video: how to clear RAM using Mz RAM Booster

Glary Utilities

The Glary Utilities software package includes a memory optimization utility that allows you to clean it at a fairly high level. The utility allows you to pre-clear the clipboard and graphically represent the amount of cleared space in RAM. To use the Memory Optimizer program, you must do the following:

Download and install the Glary Utilities program from the official website of the developer company.
Double click on the Glary Utilities icon
In the main program window, go to the “Modules” tab.
On the left side of the window, click on the “Optimization” icon.
On the right side of the window, click on the “Memory Optimizer” icon.
In the “Optimization” tab, click on the “Memory Optimizer” icon
In the “Memory Optimizer” console that opens, click on the “Clear Buffer” button and use the slider to set the required amount of memory to be cleared.
Click on the "Start" button.
In the console, set the required values and click on the “Start” button
The graph will display the cleaning process and the amount of freed RAM.
When the memory optimization process is complete, close the program
When the cleaning process is complete, close the program.

CCleaner

CCleaner is not designed to completely clear a block of RAM. It is used to clear the cache memory and clipboard, so it will be self-sufficient if the user uses the computer only to work with documents. If the work is carried out in graphical programs or with a large number of applications and sites, then the effectiveness of such a program in clearing RAM of unnecessary fragments will be insufficient. To take advantage of CCleaner's capabilities, you need to follow these steps:

Download and install the CCleaner program from the official website of the developer company.
Launch the program by double-clicking on the icon on the “Desktop”.
Double-click the icon on your desktop
On the left side of the main program window, click on the “Cleaning” icon and check the boxes next to the items in the list that need to be cleaned.
Click on the "Analyze" button.
In the main window, set the required parameters and click on the “Analysis” button
The process of searching and analyzing errors will begin.
Wait for the error analysis process to complete
When the process is complete, click on the “Cleanup” button.
After completing the analysis process, click on the “Clean” button
After clearing the RAM block, close the program.
When the cleaning process is complete, close the program

Video: How to clear RAM using CCleaner

How to clear memory using antivirus programs

If software and manual methods of cleaning the RAM do not help, and the amount of free memory becomes smaller with each startup, then this may be due to malicious software infiltrating the computer. To avoid such a problem, it is necessary to regularly conduct a quick scan of the system, which includes checking the status of the RAM.

For this purpose, you can install one of the popular antivirus programs:

360 Total Security;
Dr.Web;
Avira;
Kaspersky Anti-Virus;
NOD 32 and the like.

360 Total Security, Dr.Web and 360 Total Security currently have the best performance in identifying malicious software products. It is also necessary to take into account that free versions of antivirus programs do not have a completely complete set of functionality, unlike paid ones.

Clearing computer RAM using a created script

If specialized programs for cleaning the RAM are not installed on your computer, you can create a small software script yourself.

The effectiveness of using the script is debatable, since in most cases it does not clean anything. But sometimes you come across working copies that can be used.

To create a script you need to perform a number of operations:

Click the left mouse button on the “Start” button.
Save the created script as a “RAM Cleaner” file with a .vbs extension.
Save the script, changing the extension to vbs
Double-click the left mouse button on the created script file.
When prompted to clear RAM, click OK.
Click on the “OK” button to close the script

You can display a shortcut to the cleaning file on the “Desktop” for quick launch.

For comparison purposes, the RAM was cleared using the created script. The freed space was about 200 megabytes. At the same time, cleaning with the Wise Memory Optimizer utility freed up an additional 400 megabytes of temporary memory.

The process of clearing RAM is an important component when working on a computer. A sufficient amount of RAM allows you to run an additional number of programs and open several pages in the browser without compromising system performance. With the constant improvement of modern software and the increase in its resource consumption, monitoring the state of memory comes to the fore. This is especially true for computers equipped with RAM up to four gigabytes. Therefore, for those users who use resource-intensive gaming applications or work with graphics, it is extremely important to understand how to avoid overloading the RAM and properly clean it of unnecessary programs.

Users who installed a new version of the Windows operating system on their computers went to the task manager and noticed that the “System and Compressed Memory” process of Windows 10 appeared in it. It uses a large amount of RAM. This article will describe what this process is and why it is needed.

Why is it needed?

In earlier versions of Microsoft's OS, this process was also present, but was called “System”. It uses a large amount of RAM and sometimes loads the processor and disk. But this is not a bug, but an improvement in the memory management mechanism in the form of the “compression store” function, operating within the framework of the “System and Compressed Memory” process. When using it, the performance of applications and programs running on the PC increases (find out how to improve PC performance in the article), and the responsiveness of Windows 10 increases.

Why does it load RAM?

This function is designed to store compressed pages and data in RAM. If there is not enough RAM, information about programs is not written directly to the hard drive in , but ends up in compressed form in RAM. This increases the responsiveness of the OS, so the “System and Compressed Memory” process uses a large amount of RAM (sometimes 4 GB).

The fact is that the data exchange speed of RAM and hard drive is different (in the first case it is much higher). Therefore, writing information about applications to disk will cause Windows 10 to slow down. Before using the page file, the new OS compresses all data and places it in RAM. This allows you to save much more information about running applications in RAM. In this case, the operating speed is reduced compared to conventional data storage in RAM, but it is still higher than when writing data to the HDD.

How to disable?

Important! If your computer is running normally and has enough RAM installed, do not disable the Compress Storage feature.

Conclusion

The Compression Storage feature, which is part of the System and Compressed Memory process, improves the performance and responsiveness of Windows 10. But it uses a lot of RAM. If you decide to disable it, you can do this in the Services window.

This time we bring to your attention the topic of how to clear the RAM of a computer with Windows 10. At the same time, we will consider several ways to safely free up RAM and increase system performance.

Ways to free up RAM on Windows 10

When a computer has little RAM, it begins to slow down and running applications respond slowly to user actions. In this case, working on a PC becomes extremely uncomfortable. Of course, you can purchase another stick of RAM (if there is a free slot on the motherboard) and speed up the system a little. However, what to do if this is not possible? How to free up RAM on a Windows 10 computer?

Method number 1. Using a special script

To free up RAM on a Windows 10 computer, you should use the following script:

Right-click on the desktop and select “New”.

Next, select “Text Document” and give it any name. Open the document using Notepad and paste the following lines: FreeMem = Space(3200000), where 3200000 is 32 MB (32 MB can be safely deleted without harm to the system).
Next, save the document and select rename. Change the extension from .txt to .vbs.

We launch the file on our PC and wait for the result. We check the performance of the system. This file can be used repeatedly as soon as the system starts to slow down.

Method No. 2. Closing unnecessary programs

Memory on your computer is consumed by various applications. Some of them are added to the system startup during installation and work without the user’s knowledge. If you do not use any programs, then you should disable them in advance. To do this, do the following:

Right-click on the “Start” icon and select “Task Manager”.

A new window will open. Go to the “Processes” tab and end everything that concerns unused programs (use the right mouse button).

Let’s check whether this “cleaning” has produced results.

IMPORTANT! If your unused programs are displayed in the “Background Processes” section, then remove them there.

Method number 3. Cleaning startup

Another way to clean RAM is to remove programs that you rarely use from startup. To do this, you can go to the startup folder C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\StartMenu\Programs\Startup and delete shortcuts for unused applications. Or press “Win + R” and enter “msconfig”.

After excluding programs from startup, Windows 10 will start faster.

Method number 4. Restarting Windows Explorer

To make the system work faster, you can try restarting Windows Explorer. To do this we do the following:

Launch the “Task Manager” and go to the “Details” tab. Here we find “explorer”.

After the task is completed, you need to go back to the “Task Manager” and click “File”, “Run new task”.

The Run command window appears. Enter "exe".

After restarting Explorer, the amount of RAM will increase. However, you should not expect “cosmic” growth.

There is another way to restart Explorer. Create a text document on the desktop, open it through Notepad and enter “taskkill /f /im explorer.exe, start explorer.exe”. After saving the file with the .bat extension, you can restart explorer.

Method No. 5. Setting up the Aero graphic theme

This theme has several display modes. You can turn off best performance or turn off any effects altogether. To do this, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the topic of how to improve desktop performance for Windows Aero. Only by disabling effects that consume RAM can you speed up your PC.

Method number 6. Software method

A RAM cleaner program can also help solve the problem. Among the many software, we recommend using Wise Memory Optimizer.

In the program, you need to mark the objects to be cleaned, set the RAM size and click “Optimize”.

It is important to note that you need to both clear the program cache and run a system cleanup. A sufficient amount of memory on the hard drive, as well as the optimal amount of RAM, will ensure maximum system performance.

Microsoft has finally released the long-awaited release of a new version of its operating system - Windows 10. The final release was preceded by dozens of beta versions and previews, which were aimed at polishing the operation of the entire system and receiving testing reports from ordinary users to release a stable and functional final version . But despite all the efforts of Microsoft specialists, some bugs and problems still made their way into the release build. Although most of these problems occur during the installation of the operating system, many users report the appearance of bugs after successful installation.

Quite a large number of users began to visit the company’s forums with complaints about the excessively high consumption of RAM by the system after upgrading to Windows 10. They report that although the system starts with minimal RAM consumption, its level gradually increases spontaneously and after a couple of hours of use, the RAM is almost completely occupied . It doesn’t even matter how much RAM is installed in a particular PC - 8 GB or 32 GB - anyway, in the end, its consumption increases to 100%. The task manager does not help much in clarifying the situation, since it only shows an approximate state, omitting a fairly large number of system processes.

Even after closing the most demanding programs and stopping some processes, RAM usage remains almost at the maximum level, which proves the fact of memory leaks and improper use of the system. Most often, such memory problems can be associated with incorrect operation of drivers. And the number of complaints about Windows 10 drivers that are spreading across the network today suggests that, most likely, they are the cause of problems with RAM.

How to solve the problem with increased RAM consumption in Windows 10

Luckily, there is a way to fix RAM leak in Windows 10

Note. Before you begin the process of finding the exact cause of a RAM leak in Windows 10, make sure that the latest drivers for all components and components are installed on the system. If you ignore the updates that Windows Update sends, it could create a lot more problems in the future. Visit the websites of your PC component manufacturers to download the latest versions of drivers for Windows 10. If such an update does not solve problems with memory use, follow all the steps in the instructions below to determine exactly where the leak is occurring.

Step 1: Download the Windows Driver Kit and install it.

Step 2: Open the Start menu and search for Command Prompt. Right-click on the found program and select “Run as administrator” from the context menu.

Step 3: Using Command Prompt, navigate to the folder where Windows Driver Kit was installed. To do this, type the following command cd C://Program Files (x86)/Windows Kits10/Toolsx64 and press Enter.

Step 4: Type the name poolmon.exe and press Enter. In the utility window that opens, first press the P key to sort processes by type, then press the B key to sort the list by the number of bytes of memory consumed. Thus, the process that consumes the most memory will be at the very top of the list.

Step 5: Note the name of the process that is consuming a lot of memory and open a second copy of Command Prompt to find which driver the process belongs to. You need to type the command findstr /s and after the space add the name that you found in the previous step. In the example in the above screenshot, the process with the ECMC index consumes the most memory, which means that in our case the full command will look like this - findstr /s ECMC*.* and then press Enter.

Step 6: The executed command will point you to a specific file with a .sys extension. Open the properties of this file to find out which driver it belongs to. Once you find out which driver is causing the memory problems, visit the software manufacturer's website to download a newer version that is compatible with Windows 10.

Step 7: Download the new driver, install it, and restart your computer. The RAM leak issue should be resolved.

Let us know in the comments whether this method of reducing RAM consumption for Windows 10 worked for your PC and whether you had any problems performing certain procedures from these instructions.

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