Windows 10 RAM usage issues

Hey everyone, quick question regarding RAM. I've got a laptop running with 4GB of DDR3L, and I won't bore you with the full spec sheet since it’s mostly irrelevant here. The issue is that even with just three or four tabs open in Chrome, I get hit with a "low memory" error message telling me to close everything, save my work, and restart. I usually just force a reboot after a few seconds because, frankly, who has the patience? Now, I could easily toss in another 4GB for $50, which would probably fix the capacity issue, but I'm holding off on principle. A machine shouldn't be gasping for air with only a handful of browser tabs active; there's clearly a deeper glitch at play. When I pull up Task Manager to see what the culprit is, "Antimalware Service Executable" is absolutely devouring both my CPU and my memory. I tried playing detective and disabling certain tasks via Task Scheduler within Windows Defender, but nothing changed—the system still chokes. Windows 10 can be such a headache sometimes.

Has anyone else run into this specific mess, or does anyone have a real solution?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT:

I ended up disabling Windows Defender through the Registry Editor, and suddenly everything is running smoothly. I turned everything back on afterward and the errors stopped, but I'm stuck in a bit of a dilemma—I don't exactly want to leave my system completely naked without any protection.

I actually went ahead and disabled Windows Defender via the registry myself—not because it was hogging all my RAM, but honestly, I’ve always felt it’s a bit of a weak antivirus. Instead, I decided to run Avast Free alongside Malwarebytes... and man, it works perfectly. Definitely worth a shot if you're looking for a better setup.

Larry Ortiz5 said:I actually went ahead and disabled Windows Defender via the registry myself—not because it was hogging all my RAM, but honestly, I’ve always felt it’s a bit of a weak antivirus. Instead, I decided to run Avast Free alongside Malwarebytes... and man, it works perfectly. Definitely worth a shot if you're looking for a better setup.

It's all five. This low memory error has been haunting me for the last few days, and I can't figure out why. Did some buggy update hit this ridiculous Windows 10 build? Or did I pick up a virus somewhere? Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue.

Run a full system scan on the computer.

This smells like you've got some malware or a virus lurking around that Windows Defender just couldn't shake, and now it's just spinning its wheels until everything is a mess.

My suggestion? Grab a TRIAL of Norton Smart Security—install it, let it automatically take over from Windows Defender and the Windows firewall, run an update on the database, and then kick off a deep scan to see if any intruders are still hiding in there.
Once you've got the PC cleaned up, you can always uninstall it and go back to using Defender... or just stick with Norton until the TRIAL runs out. It’ll still work after the TRIAL ends, it just won't get those important updates anymore.

With all those free options out there, you're really going to go looking for a Norton TRIAL? You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be...

goldentrucker92 Just grab Avast Free and Malwarebytes—run a scan with both of them. Once you're done with that, head over to Bleeping Computer and grab AdwCleaner and the Junk Removal Tool. After those programs have had their turn, your computer should be pretty much cleared of any viruses. Oh, and definitely grab CCleaner too—it'll help clear out all that digital junk you've picked up along the way.

Larry Ortiz5 said:With all those free options out there, you're really going to go looking for a Norton TRIAL? You're making this way more complicated than it needs to be...

goldentrucker92 Just grab Avast Free and Malwarebytes—run a scan with both of them. Once you're done with that, head over to Bleeping Computer and grab AdwCleaner and the Junk Removal Tool. After those programs have had their turn, your computer should be pretty much cleared of any viruses. Oh, and definitely grab CCleaner too—it'll help clear out all that digital junk you've picked up along the way.

Look, kids, when you first install Windows 10, step one is killing those automatic updates. Then just toss on Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and call it a day—your system will actually stay stable. Maybe an anti-exploit tool if you're feeling fancy, but that's optional. Finally, tweak your host file. There are plenty of guides online, but if you can't find one, I've got a 600 KB file I can send you myself.
Microsoft thinks they know what's best for your machine, but they don't. Every single update seems to reset my personal settings, and we all know it. Honestly? Just tell the updates to piss off.

Turning off updates is a pretty bold move, especially if you don't really know what you're doing...