There is an opinion that no matter how much RAM is available, it will still be insufficient. This thesis really meets the modern technical requirements that are necessary for comfortable work with the Internet and offline resources.
And in this article we will talk about problems with noticeable slowdown of the operating system and system alerts that the correct operation of the software is impossible due to lack of RAM, and also consider how to free up RAM on a Windows computer.
Of course, someone will say that the most logical option is to add several RAM strips (that is, upgrade the components of the system unit or laptop), but sooner or later the added memory will still be small.
How to Increase Computer RAM: Solution
It is important to note that adding the amount of RAM to where it simply is not is absolutely impossible.
All the options proposed below are only to optimize the operating system with disabling unnecessary processes, limiting RAM consumption, etc.
And the methods for their implementation can be conditionally divided into two types: manual and software.
How to manually clear the computer's RAM on Windows
So, there are several ways to manually optimize the quantitative consumption of RAM resources, the implementation of which is as follows:
Disabling unnecessary (not needed) processes
- Press CTRL + SHIFT + ESC to launch Task Manager
- Expand the “Processes” tab and sort all active processes by the “Memory” column from largest to smallest.
- When using the Google Chrome browser, this option is likely to be on the first lines of the sorted list with an average RAM consumption of 2000 MB - but the optimization of the browser will be discussed below.
- Right-click on the selected option and click “End task”.
Before shutting down the selected processes, save all the necessary files and active program sessions.
List adjustment and startup optimization
Press the key combination “WIN + R” and enter and execute “msconfig”.
In the window that opens, go to the "Services" tab and select "Do not display Microsoft services."
Sort the list by the “Status” column and simply disable all suspicious and unnecessary (non-system) services.
Return to the "Task Manager" and go to the "Startup" tab.
Similar to the algorithm proposed above, sort the list by the “Status” column and disconnect all unnecessary items from the startup section.
Then restart the computer and check the system performance.
Why does the Browser use a lot of RAM and how to Reduce Memory Usage
As we have already noted, Google Chrome uses the most RAM.
It is not worthwhile to go into technical details of the reasons for such a significant use of RAM, since it is unlikely to help solve the problem. But try to reduce the consumption of RAM manually - perhaps this is done as follows:
Minimum number of extensions
The more additional components connected to the browser (for example, any entertaining extensions or complex themes), the more resources are required for its correct operation.
Therefore, first of all, you should abandon entertainment and visual beauty in favor of optimizing and speeding up the browser itself, and the operating system as a whole and leave the minimum necessary set of extensions and the most simple and not resource-intensive "default" theme.
Turn off auto media playback
Surely you noticed that when you visit a site, all available active multimedia advertising (video, gifs, audio) is launched automatically, which in turn creates not only an uncomfortable environment for web surfing, but also significantly consumes the available RAM resources.
But not everyone knows that the developers have turned off the auto-play function, which avoids unnecessary playback of multimedia files and frees up a significant amount of RAM.
This is done quite simply:
- Open the section with experimental settings - for this, enter "chrome://flags" in the address bar.
- In the list that opens, use the search bar to find “Autoplay policy”.
- Change the parameter value from “Default” to “Document user activation is required” to activate the settings, in which the user will independently choose which content on a particular page is to be launched.
Work with Experimental Settings
The experimental settings already announced above allow for the most flexible settings for individual optimization of the Google Chrome browser.
Here you can highlight the following parameters, experiments with which will improve browser performance:
“Number of raster threads” (#num-raster-threads) is the “Number of raster streams” or “The number of raster image streams”.
“Fast tab / window close” (#enable-fast-unload) - this is an accelerated closing of windows and tabs.
"Simple Cache for HTTP" (#enable-simple-cache-backend) is a more advanced caching system that significantly affects the speed of page opening.
"Hyperlink auditing" (#disable-hyperlink-auditing) - this disables the direction of requests for checking hyperlinks.
There are a lot of such small customizable parameters, so you should be patient and try trial and error and gradually determine the most suitable configuration of the Google Chrome browser for you.
Programs for cleaning the computer's RAM
There are hundreds of programs that supposedly take on all the work to free up the occupied RAM resources (for example, “Kcleaner” and “Wise Memory Optimizer”).
However, - despite the fact that ordinary users unanimously praise this software - there is no actual benefit from optimizer programs.
This will become clear if you understand the operating principles of RAM and these very programs to free up RAM.
In short, RAM (also known as RAM or RAM) is the volatile part of computer memory designed to provide storage for the instructions and data carried out and processed by the processor.
The RAM provides the processor with access to the data stored in its resources to ensure the fastest possible recall, which ensures stable operation of the system.
Together with RAM, the same functionality is also performed by the page file (pagefile.sys), which is uploaded to the hard disk. This "bunch" works together, and when a program requires more resources than RAM can offer, the part that did not fit in RAM is transferred to the swap file.
What is the meaning of programs for unloading RAM
Thus, if the RAM is completely full, then this is required for a certain program to work correctly, and it will only work when it is provided with the necessary amount of RAM.
But what do optimizers do? Everything is simple. The meaning of the work of all representatives of this software fits into two actions:
The first is to use the “EmptyWorkingSet” function to force the reset of temporarily unused data to the page file.
At the same time, the optimizer after a successful reset graphically shows that the RAM is cleared and supposedly the system will start to work faster. And this will not happen, since a program whose data has been dumped to the swap file will work with noticeable braking (due to the fact that the hard drive cannot provide the same speed performance as RAM).
The second is the "trick of the Memory Manager." The program deliberately requests for its resources the allocated amount of RAM, but does not use it for its intended purpose.
At first glance, this works - even for a while you will notice a clear performance gain - but the effect will be temporary, since the operating system quickly determines that the optimizer does not require the requested resources.
Conclusion
So, we can say with confidence that only the actual addition of RAM bars can significantly increase the amount of RAM.
All of the above options will only help to relatively optimize the operation of the operating system, but in any case, its performance and speed will not significantly increase.