Avast Free (19.3.2369 19.3.4241.404) Defs 190318-4 UI 1.0.349 on Windows 10 Pro 1809 17763.316 24GB RAM 12TB storage on various rust and SSDs.
Machine runs 24x7. During daytime Commit (KB) as displayed by Resource Monitor is stable at around 2,224,596 (i.e. 2GB) (rather a lot - but swapped out so who cares)
But overnight Commit grows to (for example) 23,812,536 (i.e. 24GB) sometimes triggering a 24GB crash dump (.mdmp) file in the Avast log folder.
If this happens twice, it fills my C: drive, and everything grinds to a halt.
I can see it is AvastSvc.exe that is using the memory. It fills RAM and the whole of my static SwapFile.sys (split over three physical SSDs).
I can relieve the situation by turning off the Web Shield and within 10 seconds the memory is reclaimed, then turn it back on and all OK again.
So what is triggering this?
Overnight various remote NAS devices are updated - by FTP. Some local spinning rust disks are defragmented. Some browsers will be updating RSS feeds, and Mailwasher will be collecting mail. The screen saver will be labouring away even though the screens are turned off. Not a lot else.
Each of these activities I've triggered during the day to see if they cause Avast to grab the RAM. Nothing found.
I cannot see any interesting events in the Windows Logs/Application or /System in Event Viewer.
I could write some software to logs the RAM usage of AvastSvc.exe and to log what is running when it grows. I don't know if it grows incrementally over a few hours, or in one big chunk. But maybe there is a free tool already out there that logs this already - any ideas?
I assume that the Web Shield monitors anything on the Internet that is inbound. Not just http and https traffic.
Can Avast log itself?
Otherwise, it does seem to be an Avast problem - quite simply, I can fix it each day by turning the Web Shield off and on.
Sorry if there is a thread about this already, I can see several on RAM usage, but none describe the situation I seem to have.
Thanks for any information and help on the various questions I have raised.
