Being told when memory runs high, with Pulse by Zaweba

Running short of memory is one of the commonest reasons a Windows PC slows down, and it creeps up quietly. Browser tabs pile up, a program leaks a little more every hour, and by the afternoon everything feels heavy. The memory alert in Pulse by Zaweba tells you when memory use stays high, before you start wondering why everything is sluggish.

How it works

On the Alerts page, the memory alert has two numbers: a percentage and a number of minutes. It fires when memory use stays above that percentage for that many minutes. The defaults are 90 per cent for 5 minutes.

Both parts matter. Memory use rises and falls as you open and close things, and a short burst over the line is normal. The minutes setting makes sure the alert only goes off when the PC has been running near full for a while, which is when it actually starts to hurt.

Choosing your own values

The percentage can be set from 50 to 99, and the minutes from 1 to 120.

If your PC has little memory and you notice it slowing at lower levels, bring the percentage down a little. If you regularly work with large files and expect memory to sit high, raise it, or raise the minutes so you're only told about long spells. On a PC you leave running all day, a longer wait catches slow leaks without bothering you about ordinary busy moments.

There's no perfect number. Start with the defaults, and adjust if you find the alert either never fires when things feel slow, or fires when everything seems fine.

When it fires

The alert appears as a Windows notification from the tray icon and is added to the Alert log on the Alerts page with the date, time and message. It fires once and re-arms when memory drops back below the line, so a long spell gives you one notification rather than many.

Finding what's using it

Open Pulse and go to the Live page. The Memory graph at the top shows the amount used out of the total. In the table below, click the Memory column heading to sort apps biggest first. The figure is each app's private working set, gathered across all its processes into one row, so a browser with many processes shows as one honest total.

Often the answer is a browser with many tabs, a large document, or a game left running in the background. Closing what you don't need is usually enough. If a single app keeps growing hour after hour, End task closes all its processes after a red confirmation, and reopening it often brings its memory back down.

Looking back

If the alert fired while you were away, the History page shows a CPU and memory graph for Today, Yesterday or This week, so you can see when memory climbed. Pulse also records each busy app's peak memory every minute, which helps you spot the program that grew.

A memory alert that fires often is a sign worth taking seriously. It may mean the PC simply has less memory than the way you use it needs. Pulse by Zaweba can't add more, but it can show you clearly when and why you're running out.