Windows Explorer Memory Leak Problem

Question

I have Windows 8 Pro installed on my machine and I've noticed that Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) has a huge memory leak problem. I'm not sure if it is because I have so much RAM (16 GB) why it is so profound. On booting up, explorer.exe would utilise probably 50 MB but I've noticed where it could go up to over 2GB of memory usage after performing some action but once finished and all windows are closed, the memory is not being released. 

Is there any solution to this?

Is Microsoft aware of this memory leak?

Will it be addressed in the Windows 8.1 upgrade?

Answer 1

Hi,

Did you try to check for the issue in safe mode and clean boot?

You may also check for any BIOS updates for the system by contacting the computer or device manfacturer.

Important: Modifying BIOS (Basic input output system)/complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the configuring of BIOS/CMOS settings can be solved. Modifications of the settings are at your own risk.

Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues. We will be happy to help.

Answer 2

Hi,

Have you made any recent software or hardware changes on the computer?

The issue could be related any recent software or hardware changes on the computer.

Most of the issues in Windows 8 are fixed with Windows 8.1 update. If you have installed all the Windows Update and including the optional driver and firmware updates, you may try to update Windows 8.1.

Let’s try the following steps and check.

Method 1:

Step 1:

Perform these steps to boot in safe mode with networking**.**a. **** Right click at the bottom left of the desktop and select Run.

b. **** Type msconfig and hit Enter.

c. **** Now click the boot tab.

d. **** Place a check mark on the safe boot option.

e. Click apply and then ok. Restart the computer**.**

Note: You need to uncheck the safe mode option by performing the above steps to boot in normal startup.

Step2:

If the issue doesn’t occur in safe mode, you may try performing a clean boot and check if it helps.

A clean boot helps to verify if any third party application services or startup item is causing this issue.

How to perform a clean boot to troubleshoot a problem in Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows 8

**Note:**After you have finished the troubleshooting, try the steps provided in the section “How to reset the computer to start as usual after troubleshooting with clean boot” to boot the system in normal start up.

Method 2:

You may either use the security software installed on the computer or refer to the article and perform a full scan on your computer using Microsoft Safety Scanner.

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Note: Any data files that are infected may only be cleaned by deleting the file entirely, which means there is a potential for data loss.

Hope the information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues. We will be happy to help.

Answer 3

Hi Mike,

Usually this is caused due to performance issues. I would suggest you to try increasing the virtual memory and check if the issue persists.

Method 1:

Follow the steps to increase the virtual memory:

a. Press Windows + Pause/Break keys to open properties (You may also go to This PC and right click on free space and click Properties).

b. In the left pane, click advanced system settings. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

c. On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.

d. Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change.

e. Clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box.

f. Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.

g. Click Custom size, type a new size in megabytes in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, click Set, and then click OK.

Note: Increases in size usually don't require a restart for the changes to take effect, but if you decrease the size, you'll need to restart your computer. We recommend that you don't disable or delete the paging file.

Method 2:

You may also check if this issue is caused due to faulty memory or not.

Follow the steps to run Memory Diagnostic tool:

a. Press Windows + W keys to get the search option.

b. Type Memory Diagnostic in the search option.

c. Click on the Memory Diagnostic tool to run.

d. Click on Restart d check for problems and follow the prompt.

Hope the information helps. Let us know if you need further assistance with Windows related issues. We will be happy to help.

Answer 4

I have Windows 8 Pro installed on my machine and I've noticed that Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) has a huge memory leak problem. I'm not sure if it is because I have so much RAM (16 GB) why it is so profound. On booting up, explorer.exe would utilise probably 50 MB but I've noticed where it could go up to over 2GB of memory usage after performing some action but once finished and all windows are closed, the memory is not being released.

Is there any solution to this?

Is Microsoft aware of this memory leak?

Will it be addressed in the Windows 8.1 upgrade?

I really get a kick out of Msoft staff consistently telling folks with a serious issue like the memory leak to try to do everything under the sun to fix the problem - when in fact the ongoing (and nothing new) memory problem is a software problem. You can reboot, do the safe mode **** until the cows come home and the memory problem will still exist. This is 2014 and Msoft customers are still trying to fix Msoft bugs. I have 16gb of memory and a SSD and my system still hangs up. And, I'm not a power user. Every time I run a diagnostic on my system still shows the explorer.exe error. C'mon Msoft. Stop pretending this is not your problem. With all the geniuses you have in Redmond surely someone can fix this.

Answer 5

I highly doubt it's a software issue, apart from upgrading from Windows 8 to Windows 8 Pro and installing my other software, that's all I did. I upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro last night and I still notice the same thing where after handling large file operations, explorer.exe consumes a huge amount of memory and does not release it after the operations are over. 

Here's a screenshot where you can see that Windows Explorer is using 1.2 GB of memory.