Tag Archives: handles

Finding a VS Code Memory Leak

Posted on October 9, 2025 by brucedawson

In 2021 I found a huge memory leak in VS code, totalling around 64 GB when I first saw it, but with no actual limit on how high it could go. I found this leak despite two obstacles that should … Continue reading →

Posted in Bugs, Code Reliability, Debugging, Investigative Reporting, memory, Programming, Rants | Tagged , , , , | 17 Comments

Finding Windows HANDLE leaks, in Chromium and others

Posted on July 25, 2021 by brucedawson

Three years ago I found a 32 GB memory leak caused by CcmExec.exe failing to close process handles. That bug is fixed, but ever since then I have had the handles column in  Windows Task Manager enabled, just in case … Continue reading →

Posted in Bugs, Code Reliability, Investigative Reporting, uiforetw, xperf | Tagged , | 20 Comments

Zombie Processes are Eating your Memory

Posted on February 11, 2018 by brucedawson

Zombies probably won’t consume 32 GB of your memory like they did to me, but zombie processes do exist, and I can help you find them and make sure that developers fix them. Tool source link is at the bottom. … Continue reading →

Posted in Debugging, Investigative Reporting, Performance, Programming, Rants | Tagged , , | 74 Comments