Thanks everyone for your replies! Here is a better explanation of the issue, and the 3 current resolutions that I've found so far.
I am running a HP laptop, with 8 GB ram, and Windows 10. I consider 1.6 GB mem usage, as shown by Task Manager, as my baseline number. That's because it always resets to 1.6 GB when one of these three things occur. After getting the usage reset to 1.6 GB by one of the 3 methods, then the usage begins to creep up over time as I use the computer, and after it reaches about 4 GB then I perform one of these 3 things:
1. when Windows does an update, and reboots, the usage is 1.6 GB
2. when I download and run Norton Power Eraser. When it reboots, it goes back to 1.6 GB
3. And now a new procedure, thanks to nukecad above, which is running mdsched . After reboot, its back to 1.6 GB