Explorer.exe is using almost 3 gigs of my ram, help!

Hi all new to the board here and noticed there was a post similar t
this way back but was never resolved and it was using substantially les
ram. What in the world is causing this exploer.exe process to suck dow
so much ram? I just upgraded to 8 gigs of DDR2 ram, but what is causin
this memory ballooning? It happened last week but was only up to 880 mb
Please help! Task manager jpg attached

Also as a side note I will say Vista runs much better with 8 gigs
Especially since i run photo shop and Flash and other web developmen
tools

Systems Spec
Dell precision T340
Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) w/ SP
Intel Core 2 Duo - E8400 @3.GH
8 Gigs SDRAM DDR2 800

Thanks

+-------------------------------------------------------------------
|Filename: 3_gigs_performance.jpg
|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7705
+-------------------------------------------------------------------

--
taz777

taz777 <> wrote:

>
>Hi all new to the board here and noticed there was a post similar to
>this way back but was never resolved and it was using substantially less
>ram. What in the world is causing this exploer.exe process to suck down
>so much ram? I just upgraded to 8 gigs of DDR2 ram, but what is causing
>this memory ballooning? It happened last week but was only up to 880 mb.
>Please help! Task manager jpg attached.

Vista will use as much of your RAM as it can. If a program needs RAM
that Vista has set aside, it will be released so that it's available
to the program. What you are seeing is NORMAL.

You said it's running "much better"... RIGHT?

>Also as a side note I will say Vista runs much better with 8 gigs.
>Especially since i run photo shop and Flash and other web development
>tools.
>
>Systems Specs
>Dell precision T3400
>Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) w/ SP1
>Intel Core 2 Duo - E8400 @3.GHz
>8 Gigs SDRAM DDR2 800
>
>Thanks.
>
>
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|Filename: 3_gigs_performance.jpg |
>|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7705 |
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

Richie Hardwick

Richie Hardwick;878151 Wrote:
> taz777 <> wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > >Hi all new to the board here and noticed there was a post similar to
> > >this way back but was never resolved and it was using substantially
> > less
> > >ram. What in the world is causing this exploer.exe process to suck
> > down
> > >so much ram? I just upgraded to 8 gigs of DDR2 ram, but what is
> > causing
> > >this memory ballooning? It happened last week but was only up to 880
> > mb.
> > >Please help! Task manager jpg attached. > >
>
> Vista will use as much of your RAM as it can. If a program needs RAM
> that Vista has set aside, it will be released so that it's available
> to the program. What you are seeing is NORMAL.
>
> You said it's running "much better"... RIGHT?
> > > >
> > >Also as a side note I will say Vista runs much better with 8 gigs.
> > >Especially since i run photo shop and Flash and other web development
> > >tools.
> > >
> > >Systems Specs
> > >Dell precision T3400
> > >Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) w/ SP1
> > >Intel Core 2 Duo - E8400 @3.GHz
> > >8 Gigs SDRAM DDR2 800
> > >
> > >Thanks.
> > >
> > >
> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
> > >|Filename: 3_gigs_performance.jpg |
> > >|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7705 |
> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ > >
>
> Richie Hardwick

Yes I did say its running better with 8 gigs of ram versus the 4 it
had. However it cant possibly be normal for the explorer.exe file to use
over 3 gigs of ram. Even photoshop after opening massive 200 mb files
wont use more that 700-800 mbs, once it did get up to 1 gig but i was
driving it really hard. The question is why is this explorer.exe process
taking so much RAM and how can i fix it. Thanks everyone!


--
taz777

OK here is an update – had a soft crash details belo

After posting this thread I noticed the *windows.exe* process ha
climbed up past the 3 gig mark and keeps going (see attached file). No
long after this I had Internet Explorer 7 - 32 bits freak out and caus
the screen to flicker, blank out, and move the window elements to m
other screen and basically wreak havoc on anything on the desktop. Thi
has happened before but had not happened since I first upgraded the ra
from 4 GB to 8GB. Also I'm sure some will wonder why I use 32 bit IE o
a 64 bit machine and that is so I can view my flash work since adob
does not support a 64 bit flash player at this time

I have attached two screen shots of the task manager and IE 7 showin
this screen draw issue as well. Oddly enough when I minimize IE I ca
drag the task manager around the screen and it will re-draw, everythin
that blanked out, However If I drag over the open IE window, then I ge
nothing or the screen flickers and freaks out again. Also it seems to b
isolated to IE as I can maximize firefox, outlook, windows fil
listings, snag-it, and pretty much every other app without having thi
redraw issue.

After closing the IE process, while still keeping the explorer.ex
process open (and it is still using 3 GB of Ram) I can open IE again an
everything is fine.

At first I thought these were separate issues, but I can’t help bu
notice how as the explorer.exe file increased in size that IE freake
out. I was even able to take a Snag-it screen recording of it freakin
out (too big to post here right now) which really proves its only I
having the issue with the screen re-drawing.

I’m looking for others who may have had similar issues, or suggestion
on how to fix it, or if nothing else get this issue out there and mayb
someone can figure out what is going on. I’m pretty computer savvy an
have been using PCs for years and have even been looking into this issu
for a few months now. After finding the Vista forums I noticed mos
people posting seemed very knowledgeable and was hoping someone migh
have an answer for this issue. Thanks again

For those wondering about my graphics setup as it might be relevant i
trouble shooting this issue
NVIDIA GE FORCE 8800 GT 512 MB - DUAL DV
Dual DELL 2408 WFP’

+-------------------------------------------------------------------
|Filename: 3_gig_mem_capt2.jpg
|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7707
+-------------------------------------------------------------------

--
taz777

Hi,

IE and Explorer share many system files, so what you describe is not
surprising. I would speculate that the actual problem lies with a plugin
that loads with IE, it may be affecting Explorer as well when that process
is initiated at logon (explorer is also used for the user shell). I would
begin by disabling any that load with IE at startup.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org
My thoughts http://rick-mvp.blogspot.com

"taz777" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> OK here is an update - had a soft crash details below
>
> After posting this thread I noticed the *windows.exe* process has
> climbed up past the 3 gig mark and keeps going (see attached file). Not
> long after this I had Internet Explorer 7 - 32 bits freak out and cause
> the screen to flicker, blank out, and move the window elements to my
> other screen and basically wreak havoc on anything on the desktop. This
> has happened before but had not happened since I first upgraded the ram
> from 4 GB to 8GB. Also I'm sure some will wonder why I use 32 bit IE on
> a 64 bit machine and that is so I can view my flash work since adobe
> does not support a 64 bit flash player at this time.
>
> I have attached two screen shots of the task manager and IE 7 showing
> this screen draw issue as well. Oddly enough when I minimize IE I can
> drag the task manager around the screen and it will re-draw, everything
> that blanked out, However If I drag over the open IE window, then I get
> nothing or the screen flickers and freaks out again. Also it seems to be
> isolated to IE as I can maximize firefox, outlook, windows file
> listings, snag-it, and pretty much every other app without having this
> redraw issue.
>
> After closing the IE process, while still keeping the explorer.exe
> process open (and it is still using 3 GB of Ram) I can open IE again and
> everything is fine.
>
> At first I thought these were separate issues, but I can't help but
> notice how as the explorer.exe file increased in size that IE freaked
> out. I was even able to take a Snag-it screen recording of it freaking
> out (too big to post here right now) which really proves its only IE
> having the issue with the screen re-drawing.
>
> I'm looking for others who may have had similar issues, or suggestions
> on how to fix it, or if nothing else get this issue out there and maybe
> someone can figure out what is going on. I'm pretty computer savvy and
> have been using PCs for years and have even been looking into this issue
> for a few months now. After finding the Vista forums I noticed most
> people posting seemed very knowledgeable and was hoping someone might
> have an answer for this issue. Thanks again!
>
> For those wondering about my graphics setup as it might be relevant in
> trouble shooting this issue:
> NVIDIA GE FORCE 8800 GT 512 MB - DUAL DVI
> Dual DELL 2408 WFP's
>
>
> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
> |Filename: 3_gig_mem_capt2.jpg |
> |Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7707 |
> +-------------------------------------------------------------------+
>
> --
> taz777

Ok i know I'm new here but im shocked only one person responded and
there has been no responses in over 2 days as to why this happens, how
to fix it or anyone that has had a similar issue, and the response
quoted below wasn't really even an answer. Sure Vista will release the
memory after i kill the process, but you should not have to kill the
*explorer.exe* process and matter of fact if you do, you have to
ctrl-alt-del to the task manager and run the explorer.exe command to get
the Vista GUI back up and running. I think he thought I was talking
about IE.

Hopefully someone can offer some advice. I really spent a lot of time,
making sure these posts are thorough and even provided a number of
screen shots to back up the problem. Thanks in advance!


Richie Hardwick;878151 Wrote:
> taz777 <> wrote:
> > > >
> > >
> > >Hi all new to the board here and noticed there was a post similar to
> > >this way back but was never resolved and it was using substantially
> > less
> > >ram. What in the world is causing this exploer.exe process to suck
> > down
> > >so much ram? I just upgraded to 8 gigs of DDR2 ram, but what is
> > causing
> > >this memory ballooning? It happened last week but was only up to 880
> > mb.
> > >Please help! Task manager jpg attached. > >
>
> Vista will use as much of your RAM as it can. If a program needs RAM
> that Vista has set aside, it will be released so that it's available
> to the program. What you are seeing is NORMAL.
>
> You said it's running "much better"... RIGHT?
> > > >
> > >Also as a side note I will say Vista runs much better with 8 gigs.
> > >Especially since i run photo shop and Flash and other web development
> > >tools.
> > >
> > >Systems Specs
> > >Dell precision T3400
> > >Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) w/ SP1
> > >Intel Core 2 Duo - E8400 @3.GHz
> > >8 Gigs SDRAM DDR2 800
> > >
> > >Thanks.
> > >
> > >
> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
> > >|Filename: 3_gigs_performance.jpg |
> > >|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7705 |
> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ > >
>
> Richie Hardwick


--
taz777

On Fri, 7 Nov 2008 13:53:51 -0600, taz777 <>
wrote:

>
>Ok i know I'm new here but im shocked only one person responded and
>there has been no responses in over 2 days as to why this happens, how
>to fix it or anyone that has had a similar issue, and the response
>quoted below wasn't really even an answer. Sure Vista will release the
>memory after i kill the process, but you should not have to kill the
>*explorer.exe* process and matter of fact if you do, you have to
>ctrl-alt-del to the task manager and run the explorer.exe command to get
>the Vista GUI back up and running. I think he thought I was talking
>about IE.
>
>Hopefully someone can offer some advice. I really spent a lot of time,
>making sure these posts are thorough and even provided a number of
>screen shots to back up the problem. Thanks in advance!

What is the "problem"? You've not identified one, except that in your
imagination the use of 3 gigs of RAM is a "problem".

My system has only 3 gigs of RAM and it's using 1.5gigs of that. I
have a little more than half the "threads" running that you have, and
the same in the number of "processes" running.

According to the one person who responded, you apparently said
somewhere that your system is running "better" with the extra RAM you
installed.

AGAIN: where is the PROBLEM?

I submit that you don't HAVE one.

>Richie Hardwick;878151 Wrote:
>> taz777 <> wrote:
>> > > >
>> > >
>> > >Hi all new to the board here and noticed there was a post similar to
>> > >this way back but was never resolved and it was using substantially
>> > less
>> > >ram. What in the world is causing this exploer.exe process to suck
>> > down
>> > >so much ram? I just upgraded to 8 gigs of DDR2 ram, but what is
>> > causing
>> > >this memory ballooning? It happened last week but was only up to 880
>> > mb.
>> > >Please help! Task manager jpg attached. > >
>>
>> Vista will use as much of your RAM as it can. If a program needs RAM
>> that Vista has set aside, it will be released so that it's available
>> to the program. What you are seeing is NORMAL.
>>
>> You said it's running "much better"... RIGHT?
>> > > >
>> > >Also as a side note I will say Vista runs much better with 8 gigs.
>> > >Especially since i run photo shop and Flash and other web development
>> > >tools.
>> > >
>> > >Systems Specs
>> > >Dell precision T3400
>> > >Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit) w/ SP1
>> > >Intel Core 2 Duo - E8400 @3.GHz
>> > >8 Gigs SDRAM DDR2 800
>> > >
>> > >Thanks.
>> > >
>> > >
>> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
>> > >|Filename: 3_gigs_performance.jpg |
>> > >|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7705 |
>> > >+-------------------------------------------------------------------+ > >
>>
>> Richie Hardwick

DDW
--
Reply via this group
No email please

>
> DDW wrote:
> What is the "problem"? You've not identified one, except that in your
> imagination the use of 3 gigs of RAM is a "problem".
>
> My system has only 3 gigs of RAM and it's using 1.5gigs of that. I
> have a little more than half the "threads" running that you have, and
> the same in the number of "processes" running.
>
> According to the one person who responded, you apparently said
> somewhere that your system is running "better" with the extra RAM you
> installed.
>
> AGAIN: where is the PROBLEM?
>
> I submit that you don't HAVE one.
>

OK lets start over here.

I have run all those tasks before and the machine does not even use
close to 3 gigs of ram. It seems that adding in more ram only allows
Vista to use more. Before I added ram it would top out at 4 GB or so.

Problem/Question 1: What causes one process such as in this case
*explorer.exe* -(note this is not iexplorer.exe) -to balloon up to using
3 GB of ram by itself?

Problem 2: during this huge memory usage my Internet explorer began to
freak out and my screen flickered like crazy. you can see by the
attached image that the task manager as well as IE (look at the
screenshot on the top of the IE image) was all blanked out in various
areas. What causes this and how do I prevent it?


+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Filename: 3_gig_mem_capt2.jpg |
|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7759 |
+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

--
taz777

On Fri, 7 Nov 2008 17:46:41 -0600, taz777 <>
wrote:

>
>>
>> DDW wrote:
>> What is the "problem"? You've not identified one, except that in your
>> imagination the use of 3 gigs of RAM is a "problem".
>>
>> My system has only 3 gigs of RAM and it's using 1.5gigs of that. I
>> have a little more than half the "threads" running that you have, and
>> the same in the number of "processes" running.
>>
>> According to the one person who responded, you apparently said
>> somewhere that your system is running "better" with the extra RAM you
>> installed.
>>
>> AGAIN: where is the PROBLEM?
>>
>> I submit that you don't HAVE one.
>>
>
>OK lets start over here.

Not me. I've used my quota on this one.

>I have run all those tasks before and the machine does not even use
>close to 3 gigs of ram. It seems that adding in more ram only allows
>Vista to use more. Before I added ram it would top out at 4 GB or so.
>
>Problem/Question 1: What causes one process such as in this case
>*explorer.exe* -(note this is not iexplorer.exe) -to balloon up to using
>3 GB of ram by itself?
>
>Problem 2: during this huge memory usage my Internet explorer began to
>freak out and my screen flickered like crazy. you can see by the
>attached image that the task manager as well as IE (look at the
>screenshot on the top of the IE image) was all blanked out in various
>areas. What causes this and how do I prevent it?
>
>
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------+
>|Filename: 3_gig_mem_capt2.jpg |
>|Download: http://www.vistax64.com/attachment.p...achmentid=7759 |
>+-------------------------------------------------------------------+

DDW
--
Reply via this group
No email please

You know I was under the impression there were people willing to help on
this forum. I cant believe that with all the people here no one has
provided an answer or even suggestion to why the explorer.exe process
slowly starts to eat up RAM the longer the machine is on. That's all I
was asking for.

PS If i have posted in the wrong area or am not posting in the correct
format please let me know as I am new to this forum. Thanks.


--
taz777