Weird Windows 10 Task Manager Memory Leak Or Bug

[liamedwards12]

So I've encountered an issue with Task Manager (Modern Variant, The one in Windows 8 and later) where it uses lots of RAM after being open for a long period of time, I know i can simply close task manager and restart it, however i prefer for that RAM to be used effectively, the system this is occurring on uses the majority of it's RAM at all times (It's supposed to), so i want to conserve RAM when possible and i like leaving Task Manager open (Both Variants) to monitor things on the system, I also have the older style Task Manager running alongside it, which isn't affected by this issue (Both Variants of Task Manger have been running for the same period of time), is this a well documented issue with the modern variant of Task Manager or Windows 10 specific or just an isolated incident, I've searched around but haven't found a solution.

 

Here's a visualization of the issue prior to closing the "Modern" Task Manager:

 

 

And a moment after the "Modern" style is closed as viewed through the legacy Task Manager

 

 

If there isn't a fix I'll just stick to running Process Explorer and the legacy Task Manger and open the "Modern" Task Manager when needed then close it, but i prefer to fix this if possible.

 

EDIT: Messed up the image.

[Tedster]

Whoa that's odd, I've never seen anything like that before!

 

It's possible though unlikely that the executable on your machine is corrupt in a way that it would cause a memory leak...

[liamedwards12]

Just now, gabrielcarvfer said:

Try "dism /online /cleanup-image /restore" and/or "sfc /scannow" 

Already gave both a whirl, good suggestion nonetheless.

[liamedwards12]

Seems to be this over and over again:

 

 

 

 

Yes, i have a batch file running in the background that would trigger said things find, timeout and ping (Except Registry related ones) But it seems strange why Task Manager would be doing that. After closing said batch files only the Registry related stuff (As shown continues) (The legacy Task Manager also behaves the same as above) so i don't think it's the origin of the issue.

[liamedwards12]

5 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Seems to be working just fine. The registry checking is to get the info (CPU/memory/etc), so it's normal. Those file access are to get info whenever you start a new program/thread. 

Yeah, i know that it's just odd that Task Manager of all programs would be doing that (Starting those process), when it should be cmd.exe (Command Prompt) executing those programs, but I just checked poolmon (Memory Pool Monitor) and determined no drivers were causing the issue (As far as i can tell), yes, i update drivers regularly I usually i check monthly, this has been an ongoing issue for 6 months, I've just started to get annoyed by it as i don't like that RAM going to waste.

[liamedwards12]

13 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Task Manager don't start those programs, just check the files for info when they start while it's open. Have you tried vmmap and rammap?

I see, just checked nothing as far as i can see, It's worth mentioning a long up time could be responsible for the non-paged pool (2 weeks) as this is a server PC (Not my main system) which stays on 24/7 except when a driver update is performed or a program that's installed that actually requires a restart.

[JefferyD90]

1 hour ago, liamedwards12 said:

So I've encountered an issue with Task Manager (Modern Variant, The one in Windows 8 and later) where it uses lots of RAM after being open for a long period of time, I know i can simply close task manager and restart it, however i prefer for that RAM to be used effectively, the system this is occurring on uses the majority of it's RAM at all times (It's supposed to), so i want to conserve RAM when possible and i like leaving Task Manager open (Both Variants) to monitor things on the system, I also have the older style Task Manager running alongside it, which isn't affected by this issue (Both Variants of Task Manger have been running for the same period of time), is this a well documented issue with the modern variant of Task Manager or Windows 10 specific or just an isolated incident, I've searched around but haven't found a solution.

 

Here's a visualization of the issue prior to closing the "Modern" Task Manager:

 

 

And a moment after the "Modern" style is closed as viewed through the legacy Task Manager

 

 

If there isn't a fix I'll just stick to running Process Explorer and the legacy Task Manger and open the "Modern" Task Manager when needed then close it, but i prefer to fix this if possible.

 

EDIT: Messed up the image.

Looks like to me you got a lot more going on that a task manager issue.

[liamedwards12]

3 minutes ago, JefferyD90 said:

Looks like to me you got a lot more going on that a task manager issue.

Could you be a little more specific, what made you come to said conclusion?

[JefferyD90]

Just now, liamedwards12 said:

Could you be a little more specific, what made you come to said conclusion?

To me, it looks like there are a few rogue programs running there.  And if you're having (typically) low resource program taking up a lot resources, then there is SOMETHING attached to it.

[liamedwards12]

14 minutes ago, JefferyD90 said:

To me, it looks like there are a few rogue programs running there.  And if you're having (typically) low resource program taking up a lot resources, then there is SOMETHING attached to it.

The CPU usage can be explained as this PC participates in Folding@home, the remaining programs i removed from view are reputable and legitimate programs that I'm certain are not rogue, just ran a MBAM (Quick one, running processes and common malware file locations registry startup programs etc.) scan to be 1000000% sure but nothing.

 

EDIT: I had the Task Manager issue prior to when this PC started folding.

[liamedwards12]

9 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Even on vmmap? There you should be able to see at least which kind of allocation it is using that much memory.

Even for servers, running 24/7, that size of non-paged pool is big. I really think that you should check out your drivers.

I haven't used VMMap before, it seems to only want to check individual processes (Maybe I'm missing something), not a tool like poolmon what allows me to check everything.

 

EDIT: I'll do a thorough check of my drivers, but is this likely to impact on my original issue. (Does the non-paged pool affect Task Manager using excess RAM)

[liamedwards12]

2 hours ago, liamedwards12 said:

I haven't used VMMap before, it seems to only want to check individual processes (Maybe I'm missing something), not a tool like poolmon what allows me to check everything.

 

EDIT: I'll do a thorough check of my drivers, but is this likely to impact on my original issue. (Does the non-paged pool affect Task Manager using excess RAM)

Just checked every driver, all were up to date according to the manufacturers website for each bit of hardware in my system also searched the brand and model of each piece of hardware in my system that utilizes a driver and there seem to be no credible reports that there is a memory leak in any. (Could have been introduced recently due to new driver versions but unlikely)

[liamedwards12]

3 minutes ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

Hmm, if there is nothing wrong, maybe it can be malware. Could you try running "netstat -boq", just to see if there are suspecious connections?

As i said above i did a quick scan with MBAM then later a full scan (Checked everything with latest definitions) and nothing, i am pretty much certain there isn't malware on the system, also did the same (Full scan) by Temporarily installing Avast, and Avira. All clean. Unless the malware is extremely new or very rare i don't think i have Malware, nonetheless do you think any of this is causing my Task Manager to eat up ram over time?

[liamedwards12]

1 minute ago, gabrielcarvfer said:

It can be malware, but who knows. The only thing for sure is that trying to discover what is happening is a good idea.
Please report that on Microsoft forums and through feedback app.

Had some problems with few Microsoft services, but usually was a bugged thread and I just suspend it on procexp (need admin privileges), but it wont solve the problem, just postpone it.

I'll hit them up, I may or may not post my findings (Basically if i remember to) thanks for all your advice & help, Happy New Year!