This guide shows how to check current memory usage on a BinaryLane VPS running Windows Server 2025. Use Task Manager for a quick overview, then use Resource Monitor when you need more detail about physical memory, committed memory and paging activity.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


Check memory usage in Task Manager

  1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
  2. Select Processes.
  3. Select the Memory column heading to sort processes from highest to lowest memory usage.

The percentage at the top of the Memory column shows overall physical memory usage. The values beside each process show the physical memory currently associated with that process.

Windows Server 2025 Task Manager Processes page sorted by memory usage

Do not end a process only because it appears near the top of the list. Confirm what the process does first, particularly for Windows services, security software, databases and web applications.

View overall memory details

  1. In Task Manager, select Performance.
  2. Select Memory.

Windows Server 2025 Task Manager Performance Memory page

The main values on this page are:

  • In use (Compressed): physical memory currently used by Windows, applications and drivers. The value in brackets is the amount stored in compressed form.
  • Available: physical memory that Windows can make available to applications immediately. This includes free and standby memory.
  • Committed: the first value is committed virtual memory currently in use. The second is the commit limit, which is based on physical memory and the page file.
  • Cached: memory holding recently used data and code that Windows can usually repurpose when required.
  • Paged pool: kernel memory that Windows can move to disk.
  • Non-paged pool: kernel memory that must remain in physical memory.

Inspect memory in Resource Monitor

  1. Press Windows+R.
  2. Enter resmon, then press Enter.
  3. Select the Memory tab.

Windows Server 2025 Resource Monitor Memory tab showing processes and physical memory


The Processes table provides several different views of process memory:

  • Commit: virtual memory reserved for the process.
  • Working Set: process memory currently held in physical memory.
  • Shareable: working-set memory that can be shared with other processes.
  • Private: working-set memory that cannot be shared with other processes.

The Physical Memory bar separates memory into Hardware Reserved, In Use, Modified, Standby and Free. Standby memory contains cached data but remains available for Windows to reuse.

Hard Faults/sec does not mean that the RAM is faulty. A hard fault occurs when Windows must retrieve a required memory page from disk because it is not currently in physical memory. Brief spikes are normal. Sustained paging together with very low available memory and poor server performance can indicate memory pressure.

Decide whether the server is under memory pressure


A single high memory percentage does not necessarily mean the server needs more RAM. Windows uses otherwise idle memory for caching and can reclaim it when applications need it.

Check the server during its normal busy period and look for a combination of these signs:

  • Available memory remains very low for an extended period;
  • Committed memory approaches the commit limit;
  • hard faults remain elevated while applications respond slowly;
  • one process continues to increase its memory use over time; or
  • Windows logs resource-exhaustion events, such as Event ID 2004.


If one application is responsible, review its configuration, workload and vendor guidance. Restarting an application may temporarily release memory, but repeated growth can indicate a memory leak that still needs investigation. If the workload consistently requires more memory than the VPS provides, resize the VPS to a plan with more RAM.