ok so i'm running windows vista, up untill this week ive never had a single problem, i finnaly got duped by a fake pop up and managed to get a trojan, after about 200 virus/spyware scans latter i got rid of it, no matter how many times i scan now nothing comes up on my program (pc tools spyware doctor) ever since then how ever my computer has been running sluggish, i finnaly figured out the reason, but now i need help finidng the cause and the solution.

the problem is my physical memory is maxed at 90-95% even as i type right now, firstly atm i dont know how to enable the physical memory usage collum on windows task manager in vista but even if i did i doubt it would make a difference (if some one would explain to me how to enable this feature on taskmanager it would be apreciated), anyways this is the list of the following programs i am running:

pctsTray.exe (my virus scan/spyware tool)
dwm.exe (no idea what this does)
explorer.exe
taskmgr.exe
firefox.exe
bitlord.exe (torent downloader program)
taskeng.exe (task scheduler engine)
csrss.exe (system process)
winlogon.exe (system process)
ati2evxx.exe (system process for my video card i think)

only 10 processes right? acording to task manager i have 41 running, dont really know much about vista but if that were the case shouldnt they be on the list?

anyways prior to my trojan infection, i was running alot more programs and my memory was not being eaten alive, so my question is do any of you have any idea what the root of this might be? is it some new kind of virus that my current protection cant detect or is it some kind of silly error i can easily fix?

any help any one can offer will be greatly apreciated, cause honestly i have no idea why this is happening, as far as i know i dont have a viruse for now =/

Physical memory usually refers to hard dick space, have you checked to see how much free space you have on the harddrive and run dick cleanup?

sorry i must laugh "and run dick cleanup" :P

sorry about that, I mean disk clean up.

LOL

Use the Reliability and Performance monitor to see how much physical memory is allocated to the running processes on your computer.

thank you, supposedly there was a way to enable showing resource consumtion per program within task manager, but hey that works.

any ways that really doesnt solve my problem though, i should probably have mentioned that my memory slowly fills up, when i first boot up right now, it runs fine, but over a few hours i get to the 90-95% memory used point, before hand i could leave my computer running for weeks with no problems. well now that i know how to look up memory usage distribution at least i might be able to pinpoint what the hell is hogging my resources.

in the mean time if any of the rest of you recognize this kind of problem please give me any kind of insight you can provide.

How much ram do you have? Start>right click on computer> click on properties. It should
specify how much ram you have.

im running off of just short 900mb ram, not much i know but was enough to run many programs for a long period of time up until recently, and despite me turning off alot of things now my physical memory is still filling up.

been watching my reliability and performance monitor and task manager, after my last response i had just reset 60% physical memory used now sitting at 87% consumed looking at the memory allocation, and i cant tell what is actually using it all up for now.

currntly my distribution is as follows:
232,320 pctsSvc.exe (think thats my virus scaner...)
130,000 firefox.exe (does seem to be gradually growing)
56,000 svchost.exe
41,000 searchindexer.exe
37,000 explorer.exe

these values i pulled from the commit(kb) collum of the reliability monitor not sure if thats the one i should be watching or not.

the rest after that are under 30k and havent changed in value too much since when i rebooted.

What you have listed there is 496 MB of physical memory. The amount of physical memory that you are using does not make your computer sluggish unless you are having hard faults. CPU utilization is more indicative of a sluggish computer. If your cpu utilization is high then check which one of your processes is causing this.

yeah im well aware of that, there is some more being used acording to the resource monitor ive been using up to 750/800ish out of 900 mb of ram, which i think is the reason why my computer has been running slow because, i dont exceed even 40% cpu capacity acording to task manager during this damn things fits.

thats why im asking about memory help because what i think is happening is i'm having to wait for memory to free up to run new instances of what ever the hell i want to do after my ram fills up, so what im trying to do by this post and seemingly fail horribly is find out if any one knows of a virus/trojan/glitch with windows vista that causeses memory consumption for no reason, because i turned down a s--- ton of settings disabled a s--- ton of programs and where as to prior i was running all the above with out high cpu usage and sluggish performance i am now running sluggish with the only visable problem being near to most all of my physical memory being consumed.

and im sorry if this sounds like im annoyed, its because i am, i do apreciate your advice so far, but i'm not computer ignorant, i used to be some what good at solving most if not all my problems but over the years stopped caring about keeping up with the software/hardware and technologies in general, and i am coming here because i cant find the origin of the problem but have a vague idea of why the problem exists.

"ok so i'm running windows vista, up untill this week ive never had a single problem, i finnaly got duped by a fake pop up and managed to get a trojan, after about 200 virus/spyware scans latter i got rid of it,..."

Good for you!

Did you have UAC & Defender disabled prior to the malady? If you did, then this scumware experience of yours underscore the advantages of these built-in security tools within Vista.

"...no matter how many times i scan now nothing comes up on my program (pc tools spyware doctor) ever since then how ever my computer has been running sluggish, i finnaly figured out the reason, but now i need help finidng the cause and the solution."

Besides Spyware Dr, did you use another scanner?

"....the problem is my physical memory is maxed at 90-95% even as i type right now, firstly atm i dont know how to enable the physical memory usage collum on windows task manager in vista but even if i did i doubt it would make a difference (if some one would explain to me how to enable this feature on taskmanager it would be apreciated),...."

I am not sure the 90-95% physical memory is the problem considering it just a resource meter. Also, enabling the physical memory usage in task manager isn't exactly something even XP had. Similar to XP's Task Manager, in Vista if you Click the View tab & then Select Columns from the View Menu, I am sure there is no "physical memory usage" option Column in XP that you can select.

If you have an XP machine over there & you look at it, you should have settings that include: Image Name; PID (Process Identifier); CPU Usage; CPU Time; Memory Usage (the current working set); Memory Usage Delta; Peak Memory Usage; Page Faults .... Session ID; User Name; PF -- Page Faults -- Delta; Virtual Memory Size & so on .... so this is nothing stripped from Vista. Moreover, having that column there doesn't change anything.

".... anyways this is the list of the following programs i am running:

pctsTray.exe (my virus scan/spyware tool)
dwm.exe (no idea what this does)
explorer.exe
taskmgr.exe
firefox.exe
bitlord.exe (torent downloader program)
taskeng.exe (task scheduler engine)
csrss.exe (system process)
winlogon.exe (system process)
ati2evxx.exe (system process for my video card i think)"

From the above, two applications stand out as likely accelerants to your -- memory -- problem: PC Tools & BitLord. I do not use (but once demoed) PC Tools' Spyware Dr & I am aware of memory hog allegations from many of its users. Although, BitLord is not nearly anywhere as aggressive on your resources as PC Tools, it isn't the leanest torrent client out there either.

My speculation is, having these two (in addition to other applications) running simultaneously on a 1GB RAM Vista rig & considering the OS' more radical memory management scheme, I am not nearly as surprised & don't expect that machine to be zipping right along at say 40-50% memory usage. Let's face it, 1GB is not a whopping amount of memory on anything besides a showroom Vista machine. Who knows, maybe your 1GB is even shared memory since you have a Gateway machine. You may & are much welcome to disagree, but it doesn't change the statement as a fact.

"....only 10 processes right? acording to task manager i have 41 running, dont really know much about vista but if that were the case shouldnt they be on the list?"

Err .... You need to hit the "Show processes from all users" in order for Task Manager to list the running processes from all users.

"....anyways prior to my trojan infection, i was running alot more programs and my memory was not being eaten alive, so my question is do any of you have any idea what the root of this might be? is it some new kind of virus that my current protection cant detect or is it some kind of silly error i can easily fix?"

If you had Vista back then, the memory management system hasn't changed. The question is: Did you have PC Tools & BitLord installed back then?

"....any help any one can offer will be greatly apreciated, cause honestly i have no idea why this is happening, as far as i know i dont have a viruse for now =/"

Get more memory, but for now, you can try the Vista memory tweak guide, just don't it expect to transform your system into a lean mean Vista machine.

Good luck!

thank you, firstly i didnt have pc tools prior, i had mcafee(sp?) but i recently uninstalled it because my subscription expired last month, yes i do have very low ram, however before this whole mess i was running quite a few programs at one time none of which i think are very resource friendly and ive had bit lord for a long time and never had any problems from it.

admitedly i think i had a few of the security options disabled on vista, i was getting sick of being asked if i was sure if i wanted to run x program that i run every day every single fing time, and that was with every program. at one point i had it set where i could open certain programs without it asking but then my hard drive s--- the bed and i lost all my settings, plus i thought i would be ok if i was using fire fox and mcafee... anyways it was my own stupid fault i wasnt paying attention and i fell for one of those pop-ups that sorta look like a real system message...

any ways thanks for reminding me about the show tasks from all users now i have a question for you.

i have many copy instances of a process called svchost.exe, read this thru before you set your mind:
on my task manager list atm this is how it shows up...
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe local service

now i'm used to xp, and i know there should be one instance of each type running but as it seems there is...
4 instances of the system running
3 instances of the network service running
4 instances of the local service running

if this isnt normal how do i prevent this from occuring because i just starting writing this message from a fresh boot up and those were already there. this isnt the only program where i have exact identical duplicates in the processes menus running more then once.

also back to what ive been saying if i just do absolutly nothing i go from when i start up my laptop i start at 60% of my memory used, but after about 2 hours weather i do something or nothing 90-95% is being consumed.

further more i'm experiencing a new complication after some time my usb ports stop working...

You say that you recently uninstalled Mcafee because the trial had run out. Have you installed another AV program? (Spyware Dr. doesn't apply as this is an anytispyware program), If you have you might find that your new antivirus program could be conflicting with Mcafee.

Although you have uninstalled Mcafee, it may not show up in the processes tab in task manager, it is known to leave bits and pieces behind. These bits and pieces can still start up as services and run in the background, without you knowing, and can cause havoc with conflicts with alternative new AV program.

Because of this concern, Mcafee and another well known AV vendor had to develop a tool specifically designed to clean out all the remnants after an uninstall of one of their products.

Run the free Mcafee removal tool to completely remove the Mcafee products from your pc. Below are the Mcafee products the tool will remove and the operating systems you can use it on.

Affected Suites:
Total Protection
Internet Security Suite
PC Protection Plus
VirusScan Plus
Wireless Protection

Affected Products:
AntiSpyware
Data Backup
Personal Firewall
Privacy Service
QuickClean
SecurityCenter
SiteAdvisor
Anti-Spam
SpamKiller
VirusScan
Wireless Protection

Operating Systems:
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Windows Vista

Click Me For Mcafee Removal Tool (MCPR.EXE)

I hate to play the devils advocate, but because something might not show up in the task manager doesn't necessarily mean it's not there. This includes malware. Malware can run as a hidden process and if there is something running there, that would explain your problems with memory being insufficient also.

Hijackthis is a very good small utility you can run and submit at their website for analysis.

This scan will give you a clear indication of all of the processes that are running on your pc (with the exception of rootkits).

If you decide to use hijackthis, please only use it for analysis only. Using HJT to fix anything isn't wise unless you are absolutely sure you want it to this. It does the repairs at the registry level.

To use HJT download to your desktop and when you run it right click and run as administrator. Select system scan and save a log file. Copy all of the contents of the logfile and paste it into the box at the bottom of the page at their website. Click analyze and it shouldn't take anymore then 2 minutes depending on your internet connection speed.

Click Me To Download Hijackthis From Trendsecure

Click Me To Submit Hijackthis Log For Analysis @ hijiackthis.de

"i have many copy instances of a process called svchost.exe, read this thru before you set your mind:
on my task manager list atm this is how it shows up...
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe system
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe local service
svchost.exe network service
svchost.exe local service"

This is quite normal in Vista .... I have, currently running, 14 (svchost.exe) processes.....

5 instances of the system....
3 instances of the network service....
6 instances of the local service running....

thanks, i'll try those tools you suggested, however its not so much an insufficient memory problem i'm having.

the problem is even if i do absolutely nothing and close down every program self initiated the memory "fills up" perhaps its mcafee or maybe hidden malware i'm hoping its the earlier rather then the latter /sigh

Depending on what you find or not find, this may end up being more of a boondoggling exercise after all.

OOC, could you expand on below:

"CPU/Ram: ? 1gig (i think)
Model/Manufacturer: gateway"

With your responses so far, I am more inclined to believe you are more than capable of providing those fundamental details about your machine.

sabertooth: boondoggling? and yes you are correct i am capable of providing a more detailed description of my system, but at the time i was in a hurry to create an account because i was hopping some one would recognize these symptoms or have had a similar problem and i could figure out solution fast, seems that was not the case, any how here are more specific specs on what you asked about.

amd turion 64 x2 mobile technologie tl-52 1.6 ghz processer (have no clue what half that means any more)
894MB ram, i assume some of that is virtual since thats a very odd number, and yes i realize it is indeed quite low, however up till recently it was enough so please refraining from being another person to comment on that same point.
gateway model: mt6452 its a laptop btw, if that helps any, at the time and even now i dont see how this kind of information can be useful but there ya go.

btk1w1: thank you, hijack this when i pasted the log into the site you gave me only found one malicious item, i tried the mcafee cleanup however... my computer froze while running it likely due to my ram being at max capacity again... so i restarted but now it wont run at all saying that it is already running, likely the first instance removed some of the files already, and now that its trying to re run and cant find those files its assuming that it has already been ran/in process of running /sigh....

update:
after running hijack this and removing the identified malicious item i'm now booting up with only 50% of my memory being consumed vice 60-65% and been running for about an hour with out it increasing at all.

i removed the following item:
Service: Viewpoint Manager Service - Viewpoint Corporation - C:\Program Files\Viewpoint\Common\ViewpointService.exe

I agree with you, in part, that the specification details may not help anymore at this stage, since it has been established that the problem is more hardware than software related.

However, it does help you understand how radically different Vista memory management is & perhaps emphasize the misconceptions that you seem to still have about the whole issue, especially with the comment you made about the memory being enough up till this point.

If you recall in response #10, I hinted that your Gateway probably utilizes the *HyperMemory* crap; which is essentially when the video chipset is by design configured to steal all of its memory -- up to 256MB -- from your system RAM. And why you currently see 894MB is because 128MB is already allocated to the graphic memory subsystem.

In other words, you don't even have 1GB of RAM for Vista & all of your other applications to work with.

My point here is, with Vista, forever gone are those days of redundant memory surplus due to far less optimal memory management. The bedrock of the Superfetch memory management scheme used in Vista, is to aggressively utilize unused memory & depending on how much of that your system is equipped with overall: this could easily translate to nearly all available memory, with the goal being, to significantly cut application load time by caching as much as possible -- your mostly used -- applications proactively at all times, so they are more or less; instantly available. And the more limited these applications are, the faster over time, it is for Vista to accurately "learn your ways" & correspondingly pre-load this application for optimal efficiency -- good thing eh! Well it is, if you have sufficient RAM to make it all worth it.

Bottom line.....

If you do not have badly coded applications or programs with memory leak issues, the 70-90% memory usage on a Vista machine is not necessarily as alarming if it is because of SuperFetch.

whats superfetch?

memory problem persists thru ram upgrade, now booting up with 35% usage out of 1900mb ram, left alone for a full day 75% of my ram is now being used, when i left it idle.

That certainly doesn't sound right... It seems like high usage for 2GB of ram while sitting idle.

To positively rule out malware being the cause you could post a message in the security forum explaining the problem, Jabuck will be able to analyse your system for you by getting you to run a couple of small utilities. You probably should ask if he can see any Mcafee or viewpoint running on your system (this is a tough piece of software / spyware to remove also).

If you get the all clear then you can concentrate on what is causing the high useage.

"whats superfetch?"

I touched on that briefly in my last response, but you can find a detailed analysis at the link below.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/01...

If you are still not satisfied with your system's performance so far, you can disable "search indexing" & SuperFetch....

http://www.technipages.com/vista-en...

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/wind...