Users' questions about how to find out how much memory is on the computer, or free it to improve system performance, look completely natural. This may be due to many factors, including checking whether the configuration meets the system requirements of some installed software or regarding the acceleration of Windows. To do this, there are several basic ways, which are proposed to discuss as detailed as possible. But to begin with, a little dwell on what kind of memory in question.
How to find out how much memory is on your computer: hard drive and RAM
The main elements corresponding to the category of storage devices are hard drives, removable media and RAM (including dedicated memory for graphics cards). Sometimes you can also include cache memory and virtual memory here, but they are mostly associated with hard drives, since the space allocated for their needs is reserved just on the hard drive.
If we talk about available disk space, you can find out such information directly through the built-in file manager of the system, called "Explorer". You can open it in different ways, but the easiest way is to use the computer icon (only in Windows 7 and below), and also launch the program by quickly invoking it by pressing the Win + E keys that are available on any modern keyboard.
Just in the section "My Computer" or "This Computer", which opens by default, and you can see the total size of all available disks of logical partitions, the amount of occupied and free space. Apparently, everyone knows this.
If we are talking about how to find out how much RAM is on the computer, the simplest solution is to use RMB on the computer icon with the "Properties" item selected.
After specifying the type of operating system and processor model, brief information will be given on the total and available amount of RAM.
Also, brief information about RAM strips can be found in the DirectX dialog, which is launched from the console for executing software applets (Win + R) with the dxdiag command corresponding to the name of the executable file without specifying the extension. But on the monitor tab you can also see the amount of video adapter memory, which may be useful to owners of integrated chips.
If we talk about how to find out how much RAM on a computer is in a more advanced version, adding here and possibly involved virtual memory (unless the swap file is disabled), this can be done through a special section on system information, which can also be called from Run menu using the shortcut msinfo32.
Similar information, however, already with the display of RAM loading in real time can be obtained through the "Task Manager" on the performance tab or through a special system monitor in which all active processes currently active are tracked indicating the use of RAM for each of them .
The use of third-party narrowly targeted information utilities like AIDA64, CPU-Z, Speccy, and many others is also possible.
How to free up disk space?
Now a few words about how to free up memory on your computer in relation to hard drives. Most likely, many users clearly understand that for this they need to remove something from the hard drive, and from the Recycle Bin too, since the space on the hard disk is also reserved for it. The largest are considered to be image files, videos and music. Therefore, they can either be deleted, or transferred to removable media, or placed in some kind of cloud service, or just get rid of duplicates, which can be a lot.
How to free up memory on a computer by other methods?
You can use the disk cleaning tools, or uninstall large, unnecessary or rarely used programs through the standard partition, or perform similar actions using optimizer applications that can also clean the registry. Along the way, you can also include temporary browser files, cached operating system service packs, components of older versions of Windows, and even backups in the deletion list.
How to free up RAM on a computer: the simplest option
Now we turn to the main issues related to reducing the load on RAM. You just can’t remove unnecessary components in it. But how to free up memory on a computer with Windows 7 or with any other system in this case?
The most primitive action is the completion of unnecessary active processes in the "Task Manager". But here a lot of difficulties arise, since far from all background processes can be stopped painlessly for the system (it may even stop working). In addition, after a reboot, anyway enabled services will be started again. Therefore, some of them will have to get rid of.
Startup operations
Now let's see how to free memory on a computer with Windows 10 and below by disabling unnecessary applets that start with the system. For this, a startup section is provided.
In the seventh modification and below, it is in the configuration (msconfig), and in the eighth and tenth it is taken directly to the "Task Manager". You can deactivate almost everything (this is especially true for all sorts of updaters monitoring the release of updates for installed programs). You can leave only anti-virus components, and in Windows 7 and below - the ctfmon service, which is responsible for displaying the language icon and the language change panel.
To disable more processes, you can use the appropriate section in the registry or automated optimizer programs, which is much preferable.
Disabling Unnecessary Operating System Components
Speaking about how to free up memory on your computer, you should not forget about some background services that are presented in the system as Windows components.
So, for example, you can easily deactivate the Hyper-V module, which is necessary only when using virtual machines, or disable the print service if the user does not have a printer. You can even get rid of Internet Explorer, whose service, despite using a different browser by default, is still active.
Stopping services
And a few more words about how to free up memory on the computer, but already by disabling the services themselves. Of course, you can perform such actions in Group Policies, in the registry, and in the "Task Scheduler." But not all applets can be represented there.
Therefore, it is necessary to enter the services section (services.msc), select the component for deactivation, double-click to enter the parameter editing and - ATTENTION! - first stop the process, and only then set the startup type to a disabled state and save the changes. So, for example, you can easily turn off geolocation, the same print service and a huge number of unnecessary processes, including even automatic search and installation of updates for the system itself. But without special knowledge, it’s better not to deal with such things yourself if you do not want the system to stop working at all.
Real-time RAM utilities to reduce load
Finally, in order to simplify your actions and not cause irreparable damage to the system, it is best to use optimizers or special utilities to unload resource-intensive components from RAM.
You can activate the corresponding module, and the RAM will be cleaned automatically and in real time, which will free up some of the memory for the needs of other user tasks.