My computer is constantly using 2.4 gigs of my ram how do I stop this? Is this normal?

I just got a new laptop which is nice and has good specs, i7 processor 6gigs of ram and a 2gig dedicated graphics card and a 20 gig ssd. I opened my task manager for the first time and noticed that while I had no windows open my computer was already using 20-30% of my ram… Is this normal for windows8? I'm scared to stop processes that may be essential.

Yes- this is normal- This is how they work. The operating system alone would account for what you see. You are right to ask before you start randomly changing a normal pc.