RAM memory usage

Question

Level 1

8 points

RAM memory usage

I use an iMac, i5 (mid 2011). I'm having a problem with how much RAM it is using, just doing basic operations. I have 12G, and just going through e-mail (safari) and having MSWord running in the background, the computer chowed almost 7G. Even at start-up, I rarely have access to more than 9G of RAM. I'm attaching a screen shot of the activity monitor so you all can see. The first is when I was using it, the second is at start up. Any ideas what uses up my memory? I work a lot in Photoshop and Illustrator, and have to re-start the computer about every 2 hours to clear up the cache. This has been going on ever since I upgraded from the original Lion, to Mountain Lion. I added the extra 8G, and still have the same problem, now it is just eating 7G, instead of 3.

iMac (27-inch Mid 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on Apr 20, 2015 12:25 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Apr 20, 2015 12:27 PM in response to Techgeek1

Don't see any problem and memory pressure is low and green.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,532 points

Apr 20, 2015 12:29 PM in response to Techgeek1

You may have other issues that are the problem. I would recommend posting an EtreCheck report so we can see how the machine is setup, then we can look for obvious issues that could be creating the problem. You can get EtreCheck by clicking http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

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Answer 3

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Apr 20, 2015 12:53 PM in response to Techgeek1

As Kappy said, your memory pressure is low and green; Yosemite is designed differently - it will use all the RAM available (the reasoning being: unused RAM = wasted RAM). So, unless your pressure is high and turns to red, you do not have a problem.

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Answer 4

Drew Reece

Level 6

10,660 points

Apr 20, 2015 1:03 PM in response to babowa

Kappy & babowa are correct, you may want to read on how RAM works on newer OS X releases…

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/17/#compressed-memory

It is normal to use all RAM on 10.9 & higher, start to worry when the memory pressure is red. Orange in the graph is when memory is compressing. The OS will keep as much recently used data in RAM to speed up the tasks you use.

If you are seeing the wait cursor (spinning beachball) or other freezes then you need to look at those processes, it's unclear if you are just rebooting to 'free some RAM' or actually have an issue.

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Answer 5

Techgeek1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 21, 2015 8:21 PM in response to babowa

Pressure does get high, and my meter goes red. Running photoshop alone, I can go as low as 20MB left of RAM. Yes, I said twenty MB, not a typo. And this did not start when I installed Yosemite, it has been going on since I bought the computer, that's why I upgraded the RAM in the first place.

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Answer 6

Techgeek1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Apr 21, 2015 8:26 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Ran the EtreCheck at startup, things look ok from what my limited knowledge can tell. Should I run the check when I'm experiencing a problem?

EtreCheck version: 2.2 (132)

Report generated 4/21/15, 11:14 PM

Download EtreCheck from http://etresoft.com/etrecheck

Click the [Click for support] links for help with non-Apple products.

Click the [Click for details] links for more information about that line.

Hardware Information: ℹ️

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) (Technical Specifications)

iMac - model: iMac12,2

1 2.7 GHz Intel Core i5 CPU: 4-core

12 GB RAM Upgradeable

BANK 0/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM0

2 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 0/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

BANK 1/DIMM1

4 GB DDR3 1333 MHz ok

Bluetooth: Old - Handoff/Airdrop2 not supported

Wireless: en1: 802.11 a/b/g/n

Video Information: ℹ️

AMD Radeon HD 6770M - VRAM: 512 MB

iMac 2560 x 1440

System Software: ℹ️

OS X 10.10.3 (14D136) - Time since boot: 0:5:46

Disk Information: ℹ️

ST31000528AS disk0 : (1 TB)

EFI (disk0s1) <not mounted> : 210 MB

Recovery HD (disk0s3) <not mounted> [Recovery]: 650 MB

Macintosh HD (disk1) / : 999.03 GB (751.67 GB free)

Encrypted AES-XTS Unlocked

Core Storage: disk0s2 999.35 GB Online

HL-DT-STDVDRW GA32N

USB Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. FaceTime HD Camera (Built-in)

EPSON EPSON Scanner

Wacom Co.,Ltd. Intuos5 touch L

Apple Inc. BRCM2046 Hub

Apple Inc. Bluetooth USB Host Controller

Logitech USB Receiver

Seagate FreeAgent GoFlex 1.5 TB

MAC BACKUP (disk2s1) /Volumes/MAC BACKUP : 750.13 GB (357.68 GB free)

MAGNA1 (disk2s2) /Volumes/MAGNA1 : 500.00 GB (414.60 GB free)

MISC (disk2s3) /Volumes/MISC : 250.17 GB (242.57 GB free)

Apple Internal Memory Card Reader

Apple Computer, Inc. IR Receiver

Thunderbolt Information: ℹ️

Apple Inc. thunderbolt_bus

Gatekeeper: ℹ️

Mac App Store and identified developers

Kernel Extensions: ℹ️

/Library/Application Support/MacKeeper/AntiVirus.app

[not loaded] net.kromtech.kext.AVKauth (2.3.7 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

[not loaded] net.kromtech.kext.Firewall (2.3.7 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.ftdi (1 - SDK 10.10) [Click for support]

/System/Library/Extensions

[not loaded] com.wacom.kext.wacomtablet (6.3.11 - SDK 10.9) [Click for support]

Startup Items: ℹ️

HP IO: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP IO

HP Trap Monitor: Path: /Library/StartupItems/HP Trap Monitor

ProTec6b: Path: /Library/StartupItems/ProTec6b

Startup items are obsolete in OS X Yosemite

Launch Agents: ℹ️

[not loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.AdobeCreativeCloud.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.epson.ecpd.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.epson.Epson_Low_Ink_Reminder.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.epson.esua.launcher.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.epson.eventmanager.agent.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Java-Updater.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.wacom.wacomtablet.plist [Click for support]

Launch Daemons: ℹ️

[running] com.adobe.adobeupdatedaemon.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.fpsaud.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.microsoft.office.licensing.helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.oracle.java.Helper-Tool.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.AntiVirus.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.plugin.AntiTheft.daemon.plist [Click for support]

User Launch Agents: ℹ️

[loaded] com.adobe.AAM.Updater-1.0.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] com.adobe.ARM.[...].plist [Click for support]

[failed] com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-[...]@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist [Click for details]

[loaded] com.google.keystone.agent.plist [Click for support]

[running] com.zeobit.MacKeeper.Helper.plist [Click for support]

[loaded] ltcm.plist [Click for support]

User Login Items: ℹ️

iTunesHelper Application (/Applications/iTunes.app/Contents/MacOS/iTunesHelper.app)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application (/Applications/Adobe Reader.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

AdobeResourceSynchronizer Application (/Applications/Adobe Acrobat XI Pro/Adobe Acrobat Pro.app/Contents/Support/AdobeResourceSynchronizer.app)

HP Scheduler Application (/Library/Application Support/Hewlett-Packard/Software Update/HP Scheduler.app)

Internet Plug-ins: ℹ️

Default Browser: Version: 600 - SDK 10.10

Flip4Mac WMV Plugin: Version: 2.4.2.4 [Click for support]

WacomTabletPlugin: Version: WacomTabletPlugin 2.1.0.6 - SDK 10.9 [Click for support]

AdobeAAMDetect: Version: 3.0.0.0 - SDK 10.9 [Click for support]

FlashPlayer-10.6: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewerNPAPI: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Silverlight: Version: 5.1.30514.0 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

Flash Player: Version: 17.0.0.169 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

QuickTime Plugin: Version: 7.7.3

SharePointBrowserPlugin: Version: 14.4.8 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

AdobePDFViewer: Version: 11.0.10 - SDK 10.6 [Click for support]

JavaAppletPlugin: Version: Java 8 Update 31 Check version

3rd Party Preference Panes: ℹ️

Flash Player [Click for support]

WacomTablet [Click for support]

Time Machine: ℹ️

Auto backup: YES

Volumes being backed up:

Macintosh HD: Disk size: 999.03 GB Disk used: 247.36 GB

Destinations:

MAC BACKUP [Local]

Total size: 750.13 GB

Total number of backups: 79

Oldest backup: 2014-01-03 02:08:13 +0000

Last backup: 2015-04-22 00:30:30 +0000

Size of backup disk: Adequate

Backup size 750.13 GB > (Disk used 247.36 GB X 3)

Top Processes by CPU: ℹ️

2% WindowServer

1% fontd

0% MemoryKeeper

0% EPSON Scanner

0% taskgated

Top Processes by Memory: ℹ️

785 MB kernel_task

258 MB AntiVirus

147 MB com.apple.WebKit.WebContent

98 MB MacKeeper Helper

86 MB mds_stores

Virtual Memory Information: ℹ️

8.08 GB Free RAM

3.91 GB Used RAM

0 B Swap Used

Diagnostics Information: ℹ️

Apr 21, 2015, 11:06:35 PM Self test - passed

Apr 21, 2015, 04:11:50 PM /Library/Logs/DiagnosticReports/AntiVirus_2015-04-21-161150_[redacted].cpu_reso urce.diag [Click for details]

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Answer 7

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Apr 21, 2015 8:33 PM in response to Techgeek1

For one thing, you have Mackeeper installed - best to remove that asap.

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Answer 8

etresoft

Level 8

46,312 points

Apr 22, 2015 5:49 PM in response to Techgeek1

Yosemite is much more aggressive about using all of your RAM. Unless you are having specific problems, everything looks normal.

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Answer 9

SeaPapp

Level 7

26,486 points

Apr 22, 2015 6:16 PM in response to Techgeek1

I agree that everything looks normal EXCEPT for MacKeeper. Remove that piece of Garbageware and your issue will probably disappear. http://applehelpwriter.com/2011/09/21/how-to-uninstall-mackeeper-malware/

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