Why Is My Windows PC Always Running Out of Memory?
There is an obvious call for turnkey solutions: “Install this to fix everything!” software systems. Or, either way, they sound great on paper: download an application (or multiple applications) to your computer and they will constantly scan your system to make sure it is free of viruses or malware. And, depending on the package, they’ll even perform all sorts of magic tricks to make your computer as fast as possible.
Right?
Lifehacker reader Lloyd wrote to me with a question that illustrates the drawbacks of this kind of universal package for Tech 911 Q&A this week:
“My last two ‘health checkers’ – currently Norton Utilities Premium – often tell me that ‘system memory is low’ with numbers like 28% or 42%. I have never seen this problem before. When I click to fix the problem, Norton reports that the problem is now fixed – and does not find it again if I restart Norton immediately.
However, the next time I use my computer, I usually get a diagnosis of “low system memory”, although the number may differ (eg 38%).
What’s going on here? What is causing this problem? Could this be a flaw in Windows 10? “
Your system is fine, except for Norton itself
If you don’t mind, Lloyd, I will digress a little to answer your question. I don’t think you need to use Norton Utilities Premium at all. You pay $ 40 a year for a set of utilities that, at best, you don’t really need, and at worst, those that clog your system’s resources.
It’s not just me planting a flag in the ground. I can’t count the number of computer geeks, reviewers, IT experts, and pundits who are serious about this kind of all-in-one application. While Windows 10 is far from perfect, the operating system does a fairly efficient job of managing it all entirely in the background. There really isn’t much you can or should do to “clean” your PC to unlock levels of performance you never knew existed. There really isn’t a great way to “fix” a “low system memory” other than the obvious step of opening fewer programs (in the background or otherwise) to swallow said memory.
You can always check your system’s available memory yourself by opening the Windows Task Manager. You will quickly see which programs are using different percentages of your total memory:
In fact, this is the first thing I would turn to when faced with a sluggish system or, in your case, with some kind of warning about the lack of system memory. But also know that running out of system memory isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This may indicate that you can add a little more to your installation if yours is always low (and if you can even upgrade), but Windows and your various applications also tend to use up your memory. If you don’t have a lot of them, it is possible that everything you do on your computer just takes up a significant portion.
That said, I’d bet that Norton Utilities Premium also consumes a decent amount of your system resources and / or memory. I mean, it practically says it in its description : “Automated PC care that works when your PC is idle.”
If I were you, I would uninstall Norton Utilities Premium and unsubscribe. You can implement many of the “benefits” it offers on your own. For instance:
- Use Task Manager> Startup to find out which applications start when your computer starts up. Disable anything you don’t need.
- Use Task Manager more generally to check applications that are consuming a lot of system resources. Consider if this application is to blame or if your computer is not powerful enough.
- Use Windows 10’s built-in Disk Cleanup utility to quickly and easily find junk files that you can safely delete.
- Check the Windows 10 Optimize Drives app to make sure your system automatically defragments / shrinks your hard drives / SSDs as needed.
- Make sure you regularly check (and install) the latest updates for your operating system, as well as the latest drivers and firmware.
- Use the built-in Windows antivirus ( Windows Defender ) and supplement it with malware that launches as needed (such as Malwarebytes’ offerings)
- Use your browser’s built-in tools to regularly clear cache, delete history, delete cookies, etc.
Sounds a lot, but these are simple things you don’t need to do on your behalf in a paid program. I wouldn’t worry about Norton’s warnings. Uninstall the app, stop paying for what you don’t need, and start checking if your computer is really slow. If so, consider upgrading its memory , upgrading to an SSD instead of a mechanical hard drive (if you’re still using it), using the flash drive as a RAM disk, or even performing a clean reinstall of Windows 10 .