Unusual memory issues in Windows 11
Unusual memory issues in Windows 11
My machine unexpectedly upgraded to Windows 11 23H2 yesterday, and all the browsers I tested (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Brave, Opera, etc.) began showing memory issues. I returned to Windows 11 22H2 but the problem persisted. My hardware includes a Ryzen 9 5900X, RTX 2080Ti, and 64GB DDR4 RAM. When the browser stays open with only Google visible at idle, memory consumption gradually increases until it reaches about 63GB before the screen flickers black and white several times, loses signal, and either displays a (0xc0000142) error or restarts automatically. I ran sfc /scannow and DISM commands without success. I disabled SysMain/SuperFetch and Hardware Acceleration in all browsers, but performance only improved slightly before the memory spike again. Another user reported the same issue on Windows 11 24H2 with a Ryzen 7 6800HS, Radeon RX 7600S, and 40GB RAM. Any advice would be appreciated.
In Task Manager you can observe whether your applications are consuming memory. If not, allocations may occur indirectly, such as a driver taking over resources. Web browsers aren’t the only ones causing memory leaks; other programs can also leak. Don’t forget to turn on hardware acceleration again if you haven’t already.
It indicates varying memory usage across browsers, typically around 1-2GB regardless of minimized or maximized states while the PC is idle. The immediate memory usage percentage drops back to normal when switching between tabs or unminimizing windows, suggesting a possible memory leak issue from the browser software.
I performed a full scan with the rootkit feature enabled, and both systems came back clean. Consider trying additional troubleshooting steps or advanced diagnostics.
Check for any AMD-related problems across the system. Make sure you have the correct chipset drivers installed (let me know your saved version). Install this one and see if the issue persists: https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9p7knl...n-GB&gl=GB
I agree, something is sus here. It's one thing to have a memory leak, but really rare to have memory leaks with ALL browsers; specifically ones that don't share the same Chromium engine (Firefox is its own engine). But on top of that, it's happening with TWO machines of differing hardware. Normally a memory leak is confined to a specific app that's bugged. The common denominator here could be if you're using some browser plug-in on every browser on both machines. That or the OP got infected with the same malware on both machines.
Reviewed all shared updates and drivers, including chipset fixes. Likely issue stems from a memory leak linked to Chromium's cache. Initial step would be testing a single browser to isolate the problem. Remove Chrome from %APPDATA%\Local\Google\Chrome, reinstall it, and verify if the stability improves. If not, investigate extensions and other potential factors.