Everyone knows OS and software, browsers, etc all use way more RAM than they used to, and arguably more than they rightfully should. Bloatware, etc.
I saw something recently that alleged MS puts a lot of shit into PCs that say they are doing one thing but are really doing another.
It would be wild if they are basically using the PCs of the world to do something like crunch numbers, mine bitcoin, etc. Oh, hey, this guy has 12 gigs of ram and is only "using" 4, that's 8 for us to sap.
I have a laptop I never use because it manages to run at 100% ram and CPU when I'm doing nothing. Windows 10. I've tried uninstalling stuff and ran a half dozen malware detection programs that found nothing. All I can assume is that it's the OS hogging up my resources, but no clue what it's for. Even the task manager doesn't make sense, because it will just say that the usage is some random program, like a single open browser window, on it's home screen.
And yeah, it sounds like a leaf blower at all times. I never considered Microsoft was using my resources for anything external, but I had never really thought about it either. Is there something else you thing it would be?
You could have caught a virus that mines crypto. I doubt microsoft is mining bitcoin - their market cap is higher than all the world’s bitcoin. They have too much to lose if they get caught
RAM usage isn't (generally) anything to worry about. 100% CPU on the other hand is a problem.
It's difficult to really go into all of the surgery that you'd need to track down what malware or misbehaving program/driver might be causing it, so my suggestion would be to reinstall Windows. If you're getting 100% CPU usage when doing nothing, you've got a problem.
Okay cool. Thanks for the info man. I think I'll be dusting it off this weekend, and give a reinstall a shot.
Did you buy it new or used?
New
sounds like a potato that shouldn't be running w10
It was a decent gaming rig that came with w10 from the start
Reinstall Windows. It tends to clog up over time. A friend of mine had serious performance issues in games because she never once reinstalled it in 7 years. Once she did the problems were gone. Also best to install it without all the bloatware crap via an autounattend file.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDEZDD_gEbo
Or better just go for Linux. CachyOS or Bazzite are pretty good. I personally use CachyOS. Runs 10x faster than Windows, haven't encountered a game yet I can't play and I have less shit to deal with than with Windows.
Cachy and Bazzite are both flavor of the month, but heck if you don't need what they offer Ubuntu or Fedora give you long term stability or Arch gives you full control.
u/70thLike Also laptops usually come with even more bloatware than just the Windows bloatware.
Ubuntu based distros are usually pretty good. I like Ubuntu MATE.
My fallback is still Debian ---- not quite as beginner friendly, but it's getting a lot better.
I think I'll give Linux a shot. Much appreciated, friend