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Memory Leakage

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ednotdave
ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
in Techie Stuff
Help & advice needed, please!

My pc suffers from memory leakage - after being on for a few hours it starts to play up then grinds to a halt. I then restart it & all's well again for a few hours!

Any ideas?
I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
«1

Comments

  • Chippy_Minton
    Chippy_Minton Posts: 3,339 Forumite
    What's your OS, how much physical memory (RAM) have you got and what is the size of your paging file?

    You can use Task Manager to help identify the application or process which is using up the memory. Open Task Manager (Ctrl-Shift-Esc or right-click over the clock) and then click Processes tab. Make sure the following columns are displayed: CPU, CPU Time, Mem Usage and Peak Mem Usage. If not, click View - Select Columns and tick them. In Options, tick all 4 options. Click twice on the Mem Usage column to sort by descending memory usage so that the process using the most memory is at the top and can be easily monitored. By watching the processes every 10 minutes or so you should get an idea of which process is using up the memory.

    On the Performance tab, watch the Available physical memory - does it get very low? In the Commit Charge (physical memory + page file) area, does the Total get near the Limit?
  • ednotdave
    ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
    XP Home sp1
    512 MB
    Paging file?????

    Most mem usage is IE with 25MB, then Outlook with 19MB, the others are much lower...

    RAM seems fine, usually around 50% free. At the moment, total commit chg is nowhere near the limit - I'll keep an eye on it.

    What is "kernal memory"? The "paged" figure fluctuates around 26-30MB, but the "nonpaged" one just keeps on rising - it started at around 8 MB and is now up to 120MB! :eek: Could this be the problem???

    Ed
    I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
  • Chippy_Minton
    Chippy_Minton Posts: 3,339 Forumite
    ednotdave wrote:
    What is "kernal memory"? The "paged" figure fluctuates around 26-30MB, but the "nonpaged" one just keeps on rising - it started at around 8 MB and is now up to 120MB! :eek: Could this be the problem???
    Yes, almost certainly - it indicates a problem with a device driver. Kernel memory is RAM used by basic OS functions and device drivers.

    Display Non-paged pool in Task manager by clicking View - Select Columns - Non-paged Pool, and see which process is increasing its use of NP Pool.

    Page file - an area of the hard drive which Windows uses as 'virtual' memory. When there is insufficient physical memory available, Windows moves (or swaps) processes from RAM to the page file. To find out the size of your page file, right click My Computer then Properties - Advanced tab - Performance Settings - Advanced tab - Virtual memory.

    See here for explanation of what all the different memory terms in Task Manager mean.

    The memory leak sounds similar to another thread, so if the above doesn't reveal the culprit, you could use PerfMon as explained there to help track it down. Also, as mentioned at the start of that thread, use Event Viewer to see if any memory-related messages have been logged to the application or system event log. Start - Run - type in eventvwr.msc and press Return.
  • ednotdave
    ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
    Chip

    Sorry for the delay in replying - I'm not getting email notification on this for some reason...

    Page file is set at 1000MB (1200 max) - I changed this from the auto setting ages ago (WebUser forum recommendation to try to fix problem) - tried various settings, but doesn't seem to help.

    Now running TaskMngr & PerfMon as suggested...

    Thanks for your advice,

    Ed
    I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
  • ednotdave
    ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
    TaskMgr shows NO big use of Non-paged pool...

    & I have no idea how to view/use the PerfMon log...:confused:
    I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
  • ednotdave
    ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
    If this means anything to you, here are the first few lines from the Event Viewer logs:

    System:

    Type Date Time Source Category Event User Computer
    Error 16/02/2005 13:48:56 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 13:48:34 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 13:48:17 Service Control Manager None 7036 N/A DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 13:45:38 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 13:38:27 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:43:33 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:43:33 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:43:33 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:43:33 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:41:53 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:31:25 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 12:27:33 Service Control Manager None 7036 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 12:27:27 Service Control Manager None 7036 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 12:27:26 Service Control Manager None 7035 SYSTEM DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:26:24 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:25:00 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:19:51 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:17:28 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:17:10 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 12:11:28 DCOM None 10005 Owner DELL

    Applications:

    Type Date Time Source Category Event User Computer
    Error 16/02/2005 13:48:57 WMIAdapter None 4099 Owner DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 13:47:56 WMIAdapter None 4099 Owner DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:34:20 ESENT General 101 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:34:20 ESENT General 103 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:29:20 ESENT General 102 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:29:20 ESENT General 100 N/A DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 08:28:39 WMIAdapter None 4099 Owner DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:28:39 SysmonLog None 2023 N/A DELL
    Information 16/02/2005 08:28:33 McLogEvent None 5000 SYSTEM DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 08:28:30 VSS None 8193 N/A DELL
    Error 16/02/2005 08:28:29 EventSystem (50) 4609 N/A DELL
    Warning 15/02/2005 23:50:55 Userenv None 1524 Owner DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:25:30 ESENT General 101 N/A DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:25:30 ESENT General 103 N/A DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:20:29 ESENT General 102 N/A DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:20:29 ESENT General 100 N/A DELL
    Error 15/02/2005 23:19:45 WMIAdapter None 4099 Owner DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:19:44 SysmonLog None 2023 N/A DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 23:19:43 McLogEvent None 5000 SYSTEM DELL
    Error 15/02/2005 23:19:37 VSS None 8193 N/A DELL
    Error 15/02/2005 23:19:37 EventSystem (50) 4609 N/A DELL
    Warning 15/02/2005 23:17:02 Userenv None 1524 Owner DELL
    Information 15/02/2005 19:50:09 ESENT General 101 N/A DELL
    I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
  • zax_2
    zax_2 Posts: 43 Forumite
    the problem you are describing could also be related to malware. do you have an updated antivirus running ? if so which one ?
    have you tryed lavasoft's adaware ? try running it (first update it) to see if you have been infected.
    memory leakage is usualy a problem with poorly written software. do you have any installed ? check msconfig startup option to see what's starting up when you restart the comp(click start | Run | type msconfig hit enter, then go to start up and uncheck any program you dont recognise or any you know you dont need to start up.
    it will commit much less memory to background running proccesses and will leave you with more free ram
    Loves Saving Money.
    Though much prefer making it ;)
  • Chippy_Minton
    Chippy_Minton Posts: 3,339 Forumite
    ednotdave wrote:
    TaskMgr shows NO big use of Non-paged pool...
    However earlier you said:
    ednotdave wrote:
    Kernal memory <snip> the "nonpaged" one just keeps on rising - it started at around 8 MB and is now up to 120MB!
    Are you saying that the Task Manager processes tab shows low use of NP Pool (10-60K per process, adding up to less than 1000K in total)?

    And at the same time does the Performance tab show large use of Nonpaged Kernel memory (starting at a low MB and increasing to +100 MB)?

    If so the problem is probably caused by a misbehaving device driver, as this wouldn't show up as memory being used by a process.
  • ednotdave
    ednotdave Posts: 393 Forumite
    Chippy_Minton wrote:
    However earlier you said:


    Are you saying that the Task Manager processes tab shows low use of NP Pool (10-60K per process, adding up to less than 1000K in total)?

    And at the same time does the Performance tab show large use of Nonpaged Kernel memory (starting at a low MB and increasing to +100 MB)?

    If so the problem is probably caused by a misbehaving device driver, as this wouldn't show up as memory being used by a process.

    Chip

    Yes and Yes - Processes tab shows svchost has the most np pool (around 62K) but they all seem pretty constant all day long. The Performance tab, meanwhile shows ever-increasing Nonpaged Kernel memory as reported!

    How should I check for a "naughty" device driver?

    Zax

    I use McAfee a/v, constantly updated & I regularly run adaware, cwshredder & spybot - no probs.

    I'll try disabling some startup progs...

    Ed
    I love a nice juicy "kebab"... ;)
  • Chippy_Minton
    Chippy_Minton Posts: 3,339 Forumite
    I'm not sure if any of this will work (never had to do it myself), but it's worth a try. There are 2 ways I can think of to trace kernel memory leaks:

    1. Using Poolmon.exe - see MS article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/177415/EN-US/. This utility is on the XP CD so if you don't have that it's a non-starter.

    2. Using Performance counters - see http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=130926, however the article doesn't show how to use them. Open it via Control Panel - Admin Tools - Performance. You can then follow the Help for Performance Logs and Alerts, or this quick guide:

    Expand Performance Logs and Alerts, right click on Counter Logs and click New log settings. Type in a name, e.g. pool. On the General tab click Add Objects and - as stated in the article - add the Memory, Objects and Processes objects (highlight each in turn and click Add). Then click Close. The 3 objects should show on the Counters list as:

    \\PCNAME\Memory\*
    \\PCNAME\Objects\*
    \\PCNAME\Process(*)\*

    Set the sample interval to say every 15 secs initially just to make sure it's working. Make a note of the log file folder (usually C:\PerfLogs). On the Log Files tab, set the Log File type to text (comma delimited) and on the Schedule tab, set it to start and stop manually. Click OK to save the counter.

    The counter will show as red, meaning it's not currently running. Click on it and then click the start arrow or right click and Start. It changes to green showing that it's now running. Let it run for 3-4 mins and stop it.

    Open the log file created in C:\PerfLogs - useful if you have Excel. It should show lots of numbers! If so, change the sample interval to every 10 minutes and restart it and stop it when Task Mgr shows the high nonpaged kernel memory and the system is slowing down.
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