free my RAM!

[ero87]

Basic RAM question: When I start my computer up, my Free RAM is very large (obviously, i haven't used any apps yet). As I use the computer, the RAM becomes spread out over various applications and the computer gets a little slower.

Is there a way to "reset" the RAM, or clear it for a certain application, without resetting the computer? For instance, if i use a memory-hog like Excel for 2 seconds, my free RAM will be lower until i reboot. This is because some RAM is being dedicated to Excel, righT? How can i "free" that RAM?!

Thanks!

 

[gauchogolfer]

There's no need to worry about this. As soon as you close Excel, for example, the RAM may not be 'free' but it is 'inactive'. This means that as soon as another program comes along with a memory request, it's instantly available. The rest is just semantics.

 

[polevault139]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107918

This link shows how the activity monitor shows RAM usage.

Hope this helps.