Insufficient Memory

I have a Windows 10 Pro workstation and have been getting these messages for the last few weeks. Here is what I have done so far:
1. Checked the system 250Gb SSD and it is only 1/2 full
2. Opened Task Manager and removed the largest memory hogs from startup. (None were over 250Mb)
3. Ran Mawarebytes AOK
4. Increased the paging file to 8000Mb (I have plenty of SSD space)
5. Ran Windows Memory Diagnostic. AOK

Most other options that I have read about are focused on reducing demands on the SSD's available space... but I have no issues there.

Any ideas on what to do next??

Thanks, Larry

 

Have you tried a clean boot?

 

Hi RT, no I haven't. I have extra memory cards (the same spec exactly). I was going to sub those out and see, too.

Thanks!

 

Steve, just trying all the things I found on the net. Increaseing page file size was a frequent suggestion. But then again, referring to my earlier comment, my system SSD has plenty of space. I will return that back to default. Wondering if there is a downside to leaving it as is?

 

I concur. Are you an bone fide expert at memory resource management? Did you know that the page file size is NOT a "set and forget" setting? Do you know why Microsoft made the PF size "dynamic"? Do you know what commit rates are and how to properly determine them? If not, then why dink with something you are not an expert at?

Contrary to what some on forums may want you to believe, all the PhDs, professional developers, and computer scientists at Microsoft, with their decades upon decades of experience, exabytes of empirical data, and super-computers to run scenarios on, really do know what they are doing. So unless you really are a true expert, it is best to just leave the defaults alone!

And sadly, you told us nothing about your computer, other than that it is running W10 Pro and has a 1/2 full 250GB SSD. You say "workstation" but that tells us nothing either. Some may assume that "workstation" assumes PC but that would be a bad assumption since there are workstation laptops too.

How much RAM is installed?

I see this a lot and I always have to wonder what justification folks used to change it in the first place? That is, when folks dinked with the defaults, I have to wonder, what was the downside to leaving the settings as they were?

 

It's a 32-bit i5 HP desktop workstation with 4Gb (2x2Gb) of RAM. I don't have the model number handy.

 

Yeah, 4GB of RAM is barely enough to support Windows itself, along with your security software, hardware drivers, and other apps running too. You, for sure, should let Windows manage the PF.

Are you sure it is a 32-bit system? I am surprised a computer marketed as a "workstation" would come restricted with a 32-bit OS. Most, by far, are 64-bit.

If truly 32-bit, then sorry to say, you are very limited in your options since you already have 4GB installed. 32-bit operating systems are limited to only 4GB of RAM. And to make matters worse, due to the way Windows 32-bit maps hardware devices, a significant chunk of that 4GB is being used for hardware mapping, giving the OS even less (typically around 3.2 - 3.6GB) accessible RAM to work with.

If you can upgrade to 64-bit Windows and "IF" the motherboard supports more, you would see significant performance gains by going with 8GB (or more) of RAM.

 

We have five such workstations, and only one of them is doing it. I guess my next two actions are to try and sub out the memory sticks and try a clean boot.

 

Not sure what you expect by replacing the memory sticks. If TM is showing your 4Gb is there, the RAM is working.

That said, no software based memory checker is 100% conclusive. If an error is shown (even just 1) the RAM is bad. But RAM can pass all software based tests and still fail in real world use. I am just saying, it won't hurt to try a different set, just don't get your hopes up.

 

So I tried swapping out the RAM sticks to no benefit (no surprise). Now, when I have the time, I will initiate a clean boot an see if the problem stops. If so, then do the elimination process to find the culpit (if there is one). Again, this is the only workstation of 5 to have this issue. Would Event Viewer messages be informative in this situation?

 

Hi Tony,

Great to hear from you. Since it is not my personal computer it will be a bit of an investigative challenge. The user has been out sick all week. I will get the info you seek, the actual message and what programs are open when the message is generated. Do you think a Clean Boot along with MSConfig would be helpful? This would be a lot of work, obviously.