Windows explorer using up a lot of RAM.

[MK7]

The windows explorer starts using an increasing amount of RAM. By using process explorer I found a thread that seems to be causing the problem 'iaStorAfsServiceApi.dll!OptaneRegisterListener+0x5a88'. Restarting the laptop helps sometimes but doing that all the time is a hassle. I have tried uninstalling the Intel RST driver and reinstalling the version as specified by MSI (The laptop Company) but the problem still persists. My device does not have optane memory installed and there are no error messages that pop up.

Windows explorer just randomly starts using cpu and the RAM usage keeps increasing until it uses up all the available memory.

I've attached some device details below.

Thank you for your help.

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

So, two questions:

1. Are you using RAID?
2. Are you using Optane?

If the answer to both of these questions is No, then you do not need the Intel RST package installed at all. It is offering no value and, as you have seen, you pay a price for having it there. Get rid of it completely.

...S

[MK7]

I don't know what a RAID is but I'm sure that optane is not installed

[n_scott_pearson]

Since this is a laptop, it is doubtful that it is using RAID, but we see this more and more in laptop designs that support the possibility of improving performance by using a RAID0 configuration across two M.2 NVMe SSDs. For information on RAID, start here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAID.

Vendors who support versions of a particular laptop model that do and do not include Optane or RAID support will often use a single software build for all versions that includes Intel RST. This is a simplification for them - but not for the end user receiving it. I wish they wouldn't.

Off my soapbox now,

...S

[MK7]

Alright, so I checked and my laptop has neither Optane nor any RAID configuration, so I have uninstalled Intel RST. I'll update whether this works or not. Thank you so much for your help. 

[MK7]

Hi so I deleted Intel RST from the control panel and it didn't work, the same problem still persists.

[MK7]

Also i just noticed that there is a Intel optane Pinning explorer extensions installed which wasn't there before. Should i try uninstalling that too?

[n_scott_pearson]

I would say yes, uninstall it too.

If, after going through this, it is still eating memory, let me know where it is happening.

...S

[MK7]

Thank you so much for your help, I haven't faced any issues after uninstalling both the applications, so for now that should be it, hopefully.