How/Why is Vista Automatically Reducing Physical Memory Usage Each Night??

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ttoomm - 04 May 2008 20:04 GMT

::Each night after 10:30 pm, my Vista Home Premium PC automatically

clears about 400MG of Memory. That is, the Physical Memory Usage shown
in Task Manager drops from roughly 1.19 GB to 775 MB over about 3
seconds time. How the heck and why is Vista doing this?::

::First let me answer the question, \"Why does this guy even care? How

the heck did he even notice it?\" My PC motherboard has a temperature
controlled cooling fan. I like to read late in into the night. I cannot
help but notice when the fan kicks up about 500 rpm. And this is what
Task Manager shows::

'[image: http://wwc.ttoomm.googlepages.com/4-24.jpg]'
(http://wwc.ttoomm.googlepages.com/4-24.jpg)

'[image: http://wwc.ttoomm.googlepages.com/4-25.jpg]'
(http://wwc.ttoomm.googlepages.com/4-25.jpg)

::Note: These screenshots are two successive nights, see that the

difference between the two Uptimes is almost exactly 24 hours::

*SO WHY IS VISTA DOING THIS? HOW IS IT DOING THIS?*

::I have searched the Internet for about a week and I cannot even find

reference to the fact that Vista does this. You would think Microsoft
would brag about it. cleaning up and/or clearing up your memory usage is
a good thing::

::Thanks::

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Bender - 05 May 2008 12:40 GMT

Run "Task Scheduler" and take a look at the various tasks that get run at
various scheduled times.

Here is a sample from my computer

AutomaticBackup (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 7:05:07 PM)
Consolidator (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 10:00:02 PM)
CrawlStartPages (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 11:24:06 AM)
ehDRMlnit (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:38:46 AM)
HotStart (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:46:11 AM)
LPRemove (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:51:22 AM)
mcupdate (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 12:16:00 AM)
NAPStatus UI (last run was stopped at 05/05/2008 3:46:18 AM)
OptinNotification (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:56:11 AM)
QueueReporting (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:59:11 AM)
Reminders - Bender Bending Rodríguez designated Bending Unit 22 (last run
succeeded at 05/05/2008 3:46:36 AM)
ScheduledDefrag (last run was stopped at 05/05/2008 2:59:37 AM)
SR (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 10:34:10 AM)
SystemSoundsService (running)
SystemTask (running)
TMM (running)
UpdateRecordPath (last run succeeded at 05/05/2008 2:16:00 AM)
Uploader (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 10:15:40 PM)
UserTask (running)
UserTask-Roam (last run succeeded at 04/05/2008 6:27:40 PM)
Windows Backup Monitor (running)

> ::Each night after 10:30 pm, my Vista Home Premium PC automatically
> clears about 400MG of Memory. That is, the Physical Memory Usage shown
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>
> ::Thanks::

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ttoomm - 07 May 2008 03:27 GMT

::I owe you an update.::

::It has not happened the last two nights while I was awake. However,

when I finally hit the sack at about 01:30, Task Manager shows the usual
1.1-1.2 GB in use and when I check it first thing at 07:30 it shows the
700 – 775 MB.::

::I have checked all the tasks in Task Scheduler for the two dates I

had posted (4/24 & 4/25) there are no tasks that ran both days and
either started or completed at the time of day that those screenshots
were made.::

::*cyclic* (on thevistaforms.com) has the best thought. He suggests it

is program dll’s loaded into memory. The OS, he says, will keep those
loaded until they have been idle for a long enough period and then dump
them. ::

::Add to* cyclic* thoughts the fact that I am of the habit of leaving

programs open from one day until the next so I can remember what I need
to finish. This is especially, true in my case, of IE instances. I may
quit for the night with 10 or 15 instances of Internet Explorer open.::

::*cyclic’s *explanation could also explain why it has not happened the

last two evenings while I lay on the couch in my den and read. It was
suggested by several folks that I check for running tasks, processes or
services just _before_ the even. So I have been getting off the couch
every 30 – 45 minutes and checking. So perhaps the dll’s have not been
considered idle.::

::We could test this theory by someone else opening about 10 instances

of IE, noting the Memory usage in the bar graph in Task Manger, going to
bed and checking the Memory usage again in the morning.::

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