Excessive Mem Usage
My WinXP machine is reporting ridiculously high amounts of mem usage from Task Manager:
wuaudt.exe 24,092K
iexplore.exe 48,460K
mantispm.exe 22,116K
zlclient.exe 3,632K
vsmon.exe 31,908K
svchost.exe 12,832K
MDM.EXE 17,380K
taskmgr.exe 16,344K
DKService.exe 42,960K
isafe.exe 18,416K
alg.exe 27,472K
spoolsv.exe 13,756K
svchost.exe 23,052K
svchost.exe 11,268K
ctfmon.exe 5,740K
svchost.exe 53,696K
svchost.exe 14,856K
lsass.exe 1,164K
services.exe 6,528K
winlogon.exe 1,532K
csrss.exe 5,928K
smss.exe 356K
explorer.exe 51,904K
System 220K
System Idle Process 20K
Why did it suddenly behave this way? How do I rectify it?
wuaudt.exe 24,092K
iexplore.exe 48,460K
mantispm.exe 22,116K
zlclient.exe 3,632K
vsmon.exe 31,908K
svchost.exe 12,832K
MDM.EXE 17,380K
taskmgr.exe 16,344K
DKService.exe 42,960K
isafe.exe 18,416K
alg.exe 27,472K
spoolsv.exe 13,756K
svchost.exe 23,052K
svchost.exe 11,268K
ctfmon.exe 5,740K
svchost.exe 53,696K
svchost.exe 14,856K
lsass.exe 1,164K
services.exe 6,528K
winlogon.exe 1,532K
csrss.exe 5,928K
smss.exe 356K
explorer.exe 51,904K
System 220K
System Idle Process 20K
Why did it suddenly behave this way? How do I rectify it?
ASKER
I ran the programs you suggested, then rebooted my computer. Memory usage is still the same if not similar. It might not be spyware after all. I've been using Zone Alarm Security Suite with its firewall and anti-virus and anti-spyware modules. I also have XoftSpy and System Mechanic Professional 5.0's anti-spyware module too. Might be some other problem.
First of all, I'm curious as to how much actual memory you have installed? I have one gig and I hope you have at least 512 megs with xp.
Spyware scans: I think tha everbody should have protection these days from Spyware. I know you are running Antivirus and a good firewall. I saw some tasks indicative of this in the list. I'm talking about permanent protectdion to both block and to allow you to scan for the malware and remove the stuff. I can only imagine when you scanned, you must have removed a ton if this was the first time you installed, updated, applied protection, scanned and removed. This stuff is known to slow you down and does not necessarily show up in "Task Manager"
Speaking of "Task Manager". Please go to the Performance tab. Can you list the figures under the "Physical Memory" (k) column. How about the CPU Usage graph, what range is it runnning at?
A couple of pointers for freeing up disk space, right click on Recycle Bin > Properties > Global tab > Keep the slider for recycle bin around 10%.
System restore: Right click on "My Computer" and select properties > System restore tab > Click on local hard drive (probably C:\) and select settings, you may wish to see to it that this setting is reduced (slider to the left).
bs5
Spyware scans: I think tha everbody should have protection these days from Spyware. I know you are running Antivirus and a good firewall. I saw some tasks indicative of this in the list. I'm talking about permanent protectdion to both block and to allow you to scan for the malware and remove the stuff. I can only imagine when you scanned, you must have removed a ton if this was the first time you installed, updated, applied protection, scanned and removed. This stuff is known to slow you down and does not necessarily show up in "Task Manager"
Speaking of "Task Manager". Please go to the Performance tab. Can you list the figures under the "Physical Memory" (k) column. How about the CPU Usage graph, what range is it runnning at?
A couple of pointers for freeing up disk space, right click on Recycle Bin > Properties > Global tab > Keep the slider for recycle bin around 10%.
System restore: Right click on "My Computer" and select properties > System restore tab > Click on local hard drive (probably C:\) and select settings, you may wish to see to it that this setting is reduced (slider to the left).
bs5
Looking at your list, quite frankly I am seeing nothing that extraordinary. Iexplore or Internet Explorer and SVC host are among the heavier users. In the case of the former, how many I.E. windows were open when you consulted task manager and in the case of SVCHOSTs (system processes) that could be a source for spyware usage. That is why I suggested a scan for the stuff.
bs5
bs5
ASKER
Hi bullshooter5, I have one gig of memory. OK here's a reading of the Performance tab in Task Manager:
CPU Usage: 4%
PF USage: 966 MB
Totals:
Handles 10104
Threads 469
Processes 35
Commit Charge:
Total 1249884
Limit 1751564
Peak 1250140
Physical Memory (K):
Total 1048048
Available 588748
System Cache 569860
Kernel Memory (K):
Total 59052
Paged 31344
Nonpaged 27676
The readings I mentioned in my earlier post were done as soon as I booted up, no applications running.
Also, I placed my pagefile in a drive physically separate from where Windows is installed.
CPU Usage: 4%
PF USage: 966 MB
Totals:
Handles 10104
Threads 469
Processes 35
Commit Charge:
Total 1249884
Limit 1751564
Peak 1250140
Physical Memory (K):
Total 1048048
Available 588748
System Cache 569860
Kernel Memory (K):
Total 59052
Paged 31344
Nonpaged 27676
The readings I mentioned in my earlier post were done as soon as I booted up, no applications running.
Also, I placed my pagefile in a drive physically separate from where Windows is installed.
"Also, I placed my pagefile in a drive physically separate from where Windows is installed." (AntonTaj)
I understand this can be very helpful. I will assume the seperate drive means another Hard drive and if so provided it is at least the same rpm (or faster) as the local drive it wold be most helpful.
With one gig of Ram and 54 processes running on my computer I thought I would post my commit charge memory which varies greatly from yours:
total 351432
limit 2520568
peak 423240
The rest are quite comparable. Are you getting any low memory warnings? It does not appear that you should be.
bs5
I understand this can be very helpful. I will assume the seperate drive means another Hard drive and if so provided it is at least the same rpm (or faster) as the local drive it wold be most helpful.
With one gig of Ram and 54 processes running on my computer I thought I would post my commit charge memory which varies greatly from yours:
total 351432
limit 2520568
peak 423240
The rest are quite comparable. Are you getting any low memory warnings? It does not appear that you should be.
bs5
I still thought your list of tasks and usage pegged svchost.exe as using much more than it should be. That to me could be an indication of spyware infestation. I still think it's good you have scanned and removed spyware and believe the memory usage utilized by svchost should be diminished as a result. Maybe I'm wrong.
bs5
bs5
ASKER
Yes, I see the discrepancy. I don't know what that's supposed to mean, though...
Although I don't get low memory warnings, my programs work much slower than before, especially those that are supposed to use a lot of memory (like intensive image and audio editing). I tried using the same drive for the pagefile, and then another drive like it is right now, but still everything's not as fast as it should be (I have a 2.8 Ghz processor).
Although I don't get low memory warnings, my programs work much slower than before, especially those that are supposed to use a lot of memory (like intensive image and audio editing). I tried using the same drive for the pagefile, and then another drive like it is right now, but still everything's not as fast as it should be (I have a 2.8 Ghz processor).
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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Thank you very much for the points.
bs5
bs5
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/
And it does not hurt a thing to also download, update and scan with Ad-Aware SE which is also free:
http://www.download.com/3000-2144-10045910.html?part=69274&subj=dlpage&tag=button
Spywareblaster....thinks prevention does not scan:
http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html
Microsoft’s new Beta Antispyware....prevents and scans:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=321CD7A2-6A57-4C57-A8BD-DBF62EDA9671&displaylang=en
i use all four...download, immediately check for updates, configure for prevention (immunize) when you can and scan at least bi weekly
bs5