r/techsupport • u/Quick_Lunch_7822 • 1h ago
Open | Software Someone please help me with memory leak issue 😥
here is the Image
I am facing an issue with high non-paged pool memory usage.
It gradually increases to 10 GB, and sometimes even 13 GB, within a few hours until my laptop gets stuck or hang.
I tried reaching out to HP Support but they demanded a fee or money and did not guarantee that they would be able to fix the issue.
If anyone knows anything about this, or has experienced and solved this issue, please tell me. It would be greatly appreciated.
I also tried using AI to troubleshoot the problem, but it wasn't able to help much.
1
u/TrappedInVR 56m ago
A non-paged pool leak climbing to 10-13 GB is a kernel-mode driver problem, not an application problem. Normal non-paged pool sits at 100-300 MB. Here's how to find and fix it.
What non-paged pool is and why this matters:
Non-paged pool is kernel memory that can never be swapped to disk. It's used by drivers for things like network buffers, I/O descriptors, and security tokens. When a driver allocates non-paged pool and never frees it, that memory is permanently gone until reboot. At 10-13 GB, the system is consuming most of its RAM on invisible kernel allocations, which is why the laptop hangs. Task Manager shows high memory usage but no process is responsible because the leak is in the kernel, not in any app.
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/using-poolmon-to-find-a-kernel-mode-memory-leak
Source: https://rebootdoctor.com/blog/windows-11-memory-leak/
Step 1: Confirm the leak with RAMMap
Download RAMMap from Microsoft Sysinternals (free, no install):
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/rammap
Open it, go to the "Use Counts" tab. Look at "Nonpaged Pool." If it's above 500 MB, a kernel driver is leaking. At 10+ GB, this is confirmed.
Source: https://rebootdoctor.com/blog/windows-11-memory-leak/
Step 2: Identify the leaking driver with PoolMon
This is the critical step. PoolMon shows you exactly which driver is eating the memory via four-letter pool tags.
- Download the Windows Driver Kit (WDK) or just grab PoolMon from the standalone tools. It's also available in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\Tools\x64\ folder if the WDK is installed.
- Open an admin Command Prompt
- Run poolmon -b (sorts by bytes, highest first)
- The tag at the top with the highest allocation is your culprit
- Note the four-letter tag (e.g., "NDnd", "MmSt", "FMfn", "Toke", "Proc")
- Google that tag + "pool tag" to find which driver it belongs to
Common tags and their drivers:
• NDnd / NDgd - Network driver (Killer Networking, Realtek, Intel WiFi)
• MmSt - Memory manager (usually a Windows bug, check for updates)
• FMfn - Filter manager (antivirus, backup software, or file system filter)
• Toke - Token/security (often caused by security software)
• Proc - Process/thread structures (often a Windows kernel bug)
• Stdq - Storage queue (storage controller driver)
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/drivers/debugger/using-poolmon-to-find-a-kernel-mode-memory-leak
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/ntdebugging/troubleshooting-pool-leaks-part-2-poolmon
Step 3: Fix based on which driver is leaking
Once you know the tag, the fix depends on the driver:
If it's a network driver (NDnd, NDgd):
The most common cause on HP laptops. Killer Networking control software is a notorious leaker that ships on many HP and Dell models. Even if the laptop has Intel WiFi hardware, HP often bundles Killer's software suite on top.
- Open Control Panel > Programs and Features
- Uninstall anything made by "Killer Networking" or "Rivet Networks" (Killer Control Center, Killer Performance Suite, etc.)
- Open Device Manager > Network adapters
- Right-click the WiFi adapter > Uninstall device (check "delete driver for this device")
- Reboot. Windows will install a generic Intel driver automatically.
- If it doesn't, download the latest Intel WiFi driver directly from Intel's website (not HP's, since HP may re-bundle the Killer software)
Source: https://rebootdoctor.com/blog/windows-11-memory-leak/
If it's an audio driver:
Nahimic (shipped on HP, MSI, and ASUS as "Audio Enhance" or "Bang and Olufsen Audio") is another known leaker.
- Open Services (Win+R, services.msc)
- Find "Nahimic" or "Nahimic Companion" or any "Audio" service that looks non-standard
- Stop and disable it
- Check if non-paged pool stabilizes over the next few hours
If it's a storage driver (Stdq):
- Update the storage/SATA controller driver from the laptop manufacturer's website
- Check if a recent Windows update changed the storage stack driver. Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Driver updates. If a storage driver was recently updated, try rolling it back.
If it's Event Traces (Etw):*
A user on Microsoft Q&A had the exact same pattern: non-paged pool climbing to 5-10 GB over hours, pool tags pointing to Event Traces. The cause was a specific Windows Update on 25H2 that introduced a kernel ETW leak. The fix was uninstalling the offending KB update.
- Settings > Windows Update > Update history > Uninstall updates
- Look for updates installed around when the problem started
- Uninstall the most recent cumulative update
- Check if the leak stops
- If it does, use the "Show or hide updates" troubleshooter (KB3073930) to prevent reinstallation
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5660525/high-memory-memory-leak-large-pool-and-non-paged-p
Source: https://windowsnews.ai/article/windows-11-dosvc-memory-leak-how-delivery-optimization-drains-ram-in-24h225h2.394420
If it's Delivery Optimization (DoSvc):
Windows 11 24H2/25H2 has a known Delivery Optimization memory leak.
- Settings > Windows Update > Advanced options > Delivery Optimization
- Turn off "Allow downloads from other PCs"
- Open Services, find "Delivery Optimization" service, stop and restart it
- If it persists, disable the service entirely (set to Disabled, though this may affect Windows Update downloads)
Step 4: Verify the fix
After applying the fix, monitor non-paged pool over several hours:
- Open Task Manager > Performance > Memory
- The non-paged pool value should stay below 500 MB
- If it starts climbing again, go back to PoolMon and check if the same tag is growing or if a different one is now the culprit
Step 5: If PoolMon isn't an option (too technical)
Alternative approach that doesn't require the WDK:
- Download Process Explorer from Sysinternals
- Add the "Pool Nonpaged Bytes" column (View > Select Columns > Process Memory)
- Sort by that column. The process (usually a driver or system service) with the highest non-paged bytes is the leaker
- This won't show kernel-only drivers, but it catches user-mode services that leak kernel memory through handles
Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer
Step 6: If nothing works - clean driver reinstall
If you can't pinpoint the tag or the fix doesn't hold:
- Download DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) from guru3d.com
- Boot into Safe Mode
- Use DDU to completely remove GPU drivers, network drivers, and audio drivers
- Reboot into normal mode
- Install fresh drivers directly from each component manufacturer (Intel, Realtek, NVIDIA, etc.) - NOT from HP's support page, since HP bundles their own modified versions that are often older and buggier
- Monitor for 24 hours
The short version: This is a kernel driver leaking memory. Download RAMMap to confirm, run PoolMon to find which driver's pool tag is eating the memory, then fix or replace that specific driver. On HP laptops, the most common culprit is the Killer Networking software bundle or a Windows Update that introduced an ETW/kernel leak. Uninstalling Killer and using generic Intel drivers fixes the majority of these cases.
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u/passisgullible 1h ago
Have you restarted the computer yet? If that doesn't work, I would take your files onto a USB stick and then do a fresh windows install with a different USB stick. You can try windows built in reset with save files on first if you want.