Laptop Acting Up

[dudeman]

All day today, at periodic intervals, I keep getting a message saying that I'm low on memory. I have 4GB of ram and I'm not running any more stuff than usual so I shouldn't be anywhere near low. Just to check, I ran Malware Bytes and it didn't find anything. Does that mean I'm safe as far as that goes or do you think I should run a boot scan (which I hate doing because of how long it takes to finish)?

 

[Suzanne]

Mine did exactly the same thing and I deleted a few stupid files and still I kept getting a notice that I am low and I wasn't. It doesn't happen anymore and so I think it was a virus causing this.

I find that going into C drive and Programs, you will find adverts and they are easy to delete. Also go into instal and uninstal and they are easy to detect, because of their names ( so obvious ie coupon etc etc) and next to it, you should find: = and just delete and computer goes back to normal.

 

[Judge]

Does that mean I'm safe as far as that goes or do you think I should run a boot scan (which I hate doing because of how long it takes to finish)?

4GB of RAM isn't much to run today's operating systems. What OS are you running? Makes it more difficult to pinpoint what the problem is. In Windows you can always use the task manager to view what programs are running in resident memory and see which ones use the most memory. If you're opening up multiple URLs in your browser and leaving them all open that's bound to suck up your memory barring some kind of malware which may or may not be detected.

You might want to rule out the mos fundamental things first. Does the BIOS show 4 GB of RAM available at bootup? Can you see what your system information shows regarding total RAM? (Trying to determine if there's a physical problem with the RAM itself.) You can always download a bootup program like MEMTest86 to see if there's a problem with any of your RAM sticks.

Also consider running it offline for a while to see if you are still getting a low memory message. Deduce the Internet as a possible source...being hijacked as a drone in DDoS attacks, etc.

 

[wyverary]

As has been mentioned, take a close look at Task Manager (it sounds like you're on Windows). Try running CCleaner and/or AVG cleaner. A boot scan certainly wouldn't hurt, and actually that's the first thing I would do.