This can cause fragmented memory. Fragmented memory can slowly grow as programs are used, eventually growing to a point where the free memory is insufficient to allow the computer to run properly. Spyware allows advertising agencies to receive reports about where you are surfing and what web-ads you click on. Most of these Adbots, or spyware programs, DON'T collect specific information about you, but only report general demographics, and therefore are NOT stealing your name, credit card, or other personal information. Click Here to learn more about Spyware, and test to see if you have any in your computer.
Many computers have way too many things running in the background.
Memory Fragmentation Not to be confused with defragmenting you hard drive , fragmented memory can only be fixed by doing a complete power-off shut down of your computer, then restarting. As you open a program, or use a feature of the program, like the spell checker feature in your word-processor, the program or feature is loaded into memory. When you stop using a program's feature, or close the program all together, it should release all of the RAM memory it used while it was loaded and running, thus making that memory available for the next program that you elect to load. The problem is that many programs don't release their memory cleanly. Many programs, when closed, will leave fragments of themselves in the RAM memory.