Windows XP Pro Eating up memory

[wolfpack15]

Hey all,

Windows XP Pro with SP2 on my system is eating up memory and won't free it even after I close programs. I have 1GB of Corsair RAM and within in couple of hours, under normal usage (couple of IE windows, Firefox, AIM, Winamp, Explorer, and etc), task manager reports that around ~1100MB out of 2460MB is already used.

I scanned for virus using Norton Antivirus and I don't have anything. No Ad-awares either. So what could be the cause? Please help. I hate restarting every few hours! Do I need to upgrade to 2GB?

Thanks in advance.

System is as listed below.

BTW, following applications start at boot-up:
ATI CCC
Real VNC
Gmail notifier
Samsung Pivot Software Control
Creative Volume Control
Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Drivers
Norton Anti-virus 2005

 

[CalvinHobbes]

Can you see which process is taking the most memory? In task manager you can add columns using the View menu option. Turn on VM usage as well to see which app is taking all the memory.

 

[nweaver]

it sounds like you have a leaky app. I would use msconfig to remove an item from startup (First ones I would check are Creative, Samsung, and KB/M drivers) and test. When you find your bad program, look for an update, or a downgrade (if no upgrade exists) and see if the problem still exists.

 

[fishstickz]

Firefox is known to leak a lot too if on for hours w/ heavy browsing (lots of flash, java, etc). Worth checking into also.

 

[MrChad]

Are you having performance problems? Remember, unused memory is wasted memory. Windows may be caching things in memory to improve performance. If another application requires that memory, it will release the cache and free it up. Unless you are having specific performance issues, I would leave it well enough alone.

 

[wolfpack15]

Thank you guys for quick replies. I was away from my computer so I should try them soon now. Programs like nSvcIp.exe, aim.exe, and explorer.exe were using the most VM. I uninstalled nVidia ForceWare Network Access Manager 'cause I heard of some problems it was causing, so nSvcIP.exe shouldn't be a problem now. I will check into other stuff soon.