Solutions for RAM issues

I have a number of issues and deduce that some at least are due to problems with RAM. Usage often goes over 90%, when activities start to crash, freeze, lag etc. I often get 'system does have enough resources' notices, especially when playing videos such as YouTube online.

Despite advice that they are 'no use' I find some of the 'memory cleaners', both automatic and manual, do in fact help. I understand that the OS cleans the RAM itself, but there is an obvious delay so when Windows starts playing up a couple of clicks can bring usage down from 90% plus to around 70% and often the activity is freed. The manual utilities seem most effective.

MY tablet 2-in-1 PC has 4GB which while not a lot is not excessively low, I have been told. Because it is a small, sealed device with mainly soldered components, adding extra RAM is far from easy. The Memory Diagnostic tool reports zero issues.

I have tried a variety of cleaners and discarded many. A combination of the three I have kept seems to be the best I can do. I installed Process Lasso, hoping it might help, but possibly because I do not understand how to use it properly I have not so far seen any benefit. I know about stopping unnecessary programs & hungry background activities but unfortunately the highest memory users are Norton Security and Malwarebytes which plainly I do not want to disable, especially when online; and surprisingly to me three or four Gadgets (8 Gadget Pack) which I rely on quite a lot. I will shortly be activating Defender to replace Norton --- will that reduce RAM usage significantly? Also when the (very) long awaited October update arrives I may reluctantly dispense with the excellent Clipboarder (copy and paste manager),one of my essential Gadgets. I follow advice to do a restart before activities I expect to be memory hungry.

Other suggestions will be very welcome.

All security applications require configuration, and that includes Defender. Comprehensive ones like Norton have many component parts. Some of those may already have coverage within Windows, Web Browsers and possibly Malwarebytes.

You can undoubtedly reduce RAM consumption by configuration without any detriment to your security.

I go as far as looking at this with every application installed. It is surprising what some do with useless tasks which may or may not use RAM.

RAM cleaners will in themselves use RAM and/or other resources so are more a bullet in the foot than useful.

I have not changed Page File settings. At present the File is set at 2048 MB. Recommended is 1398, so it may well be too high. I will try setting it to that. I have no idea how appropriate this is, the articles I have read describe how to customize the File but do not explain the most essential thing: how to determine its optimum size.

Free storage space on C is currently 14 GB which is a bit higher than usual. Every day I use several cleaners (CC and others) to maintain a minimum of 10 GB (it can fall well below this) especially when a major update is expected. I have had enough to successfully install feature updates --- when I have October I may well be asking about the new Reserved Space feature.

I know storage cleaners take some space, as do memory cleaners, but they clean much more than they occupy and anyway they are all installed on D drive, an SD card, and not on C!

Do these devices have a Factory Reset option? Sounds like one is called for here!

Hello ----- some response here but screenshots will follow later.

I presume you mean me to check the Automatic box, which I have now done. For the short while PC was running with Page File set to Recommended 1398 MB I still had 'Run out of memory' notification.

I have always disabled the registry cleaner options in cleaning programs since reading a comment from MS itself, about a year ago, that most problems dealt with by Support were caused by the use of registry cleaners.

Driver Booster was / is recommended by 'Computer Active', probably the best paper magazine published in the UK. I have used it for several years with no problems traced to it.

Regarding CPU usage it has always seemed very high, often around 100%. Not being a tech expert I rely on Resplendence Why So Slow. The following quotes are from its report today: "Your CPU speed ranged between 1599 Mhz and 1600 MHz. The advertised clock speed of your processor is 1440 MHz. Your main processor was always running above its advertised clock speed which means great performance. Your CPUs do not appear to be throttled down" "While the test was idle, your CPU usage ranged from 62.0% to 99.6%. Your processor's resources do not appear to be used heavily" Conclusion: "Your system appears to be running fine. No problems were found."

The screenshots of Task Manager after Start and with Gadgets disabled will follow, probably tomorrow.

In preparing to do the Task Manager screenshots I have 'discovered' more about Task Manager in the past few hours than in several years of use. I put 'discovered' in quotes because I am not sure how much I understand what I see. Although I have stopped / disabled a lot of programs / services CPU usage still seems highish, though memory usage has reduced. Anyway, you will hopefully see this when I send the screenshots. As I may have stopped some security tasks I intend to turn internet access off until I have finished and need to post the results.

Some of these may not be as you want ---- I am not used to the PrtScr procedure as I have instead in the past used a combination of Copy/Paste and my Clipboarder Gadget (now suspended) which unlike the useless Windows Copy keeps all past copies, not just the latest (one of the reasons I am impatient for October to arrive.) Let me know if you need others.