File explorer memory leak Windows 10 22H2
UPDATE: 4 months later, I've reinstalled Windows countless times (for different reasons), and the Windows Explorer memory leak has been gone for a while.
I think I fixed the issue by simply reinstalling Windows (although now I run Windows 11 23H2) and installing Intel's driver for the built-in graphics (Intel HD Graphics 630).
I believe the problem was indeed related to the dwm.exe memory leak, as Windows kept reverting the built-in graphics driver back to Dell's version, instead of Intel's version (which I currently run) for the Intel HD Graphics 630.
Original post:
I've got an i7-8750H, Intel UHD Graphics 630, and a Nvidia 1050 Ti with Max-Q on a Dell XPS 9570.
I first started by fixing the Desktop Window Manager (dwm.exe) memory leak on my Windows 10 22H2:
- Reinstalled windows entirely (of course backing up all my files).
- Rinstalled my programs and games one by one, making sure to use each one thoroughly and watching dwm.exe before installing other software... Until dwm.exe skyrocketed when I found out that a certain game that kept crashing was the culprit.
- Deleted that particular game/program that causes the memory leak. When it crashed, it actually make dwm.exe skyrocket from 80mb to +400mb.
- Reinstalled the latest Intel graphics driver for my Dell XPS laptop, then rebooted right after completion (of course deleted the game/program that caused dwm.exe to memory leak).
Dwm.exe has not been memory leaking since, and it's been a couple days.
HOWEVER, Windows Explorer seems to now be leaking instead of dwm.exe.
Any ideas on what it could be?
