title: Will Visual C++ runtime malloc / free return memory to OS?
body: <p><em>The question is a lot similar to <a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2215259/will-malloc-implementations-return-free-ed-memory-back-to-the-system">Will malloc implementations return free-ed memory back to the system?</a>, but I am interested about an answer for Windows / Microsoft Visual Studio, and about details on the exact virtual memory state.</em></p>
  
  <p>Will Visual C++ CRT <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/we1whae7.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">free</a> return the memory back to the system? What will be the exact state of the memory in respect to virtual memory allocations? After doing free on a large memory block, will the memory in the block be committed, reserved, or free? What if I call <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/fc7etheh%28v=VS.100%29.aspx" rel="nofollow noreferrer">_heapmin</a> after the free?</p>