Anyone heard of virtual memory?

Question

My computer has been moving very slow for the last few weeks. I saw a message saying that its virtual memory is full. What is this and how can I fix it?

Answer 1

Ok well once you run out of physical memory (RAM) your computer starts utilizing your hard drive as RAM but this is virtual memory and its going to be slower than your RAM. It's called your pagefile and is 1.5 to 3 times the amount of RAM you have by default. If your running even out of virtual memory you really should upgrade the amount of RAM you have in your computer.

Answer 2

One way to make sure of optimal performance of the swap file (Virtual Memory) is this:



1) Use Windows built-in "Disk Cleanup"

2) Use Windows built-in "Disk Defragmenter"

3) Shut down (reboot) the computer

4) Follow the method outlined below



Virtual memory, also called page file or swap file, is a file on your hard drive (C:\pagefile.sys by default) that Windows and applications use in addition to physical memory (RAM) as needed.



The rule of thumbs for the size of this file is 1.5 times the amount of physical memory, it is also recommended to make the minimum and maximum size the same to avoid serious fragmentation.



Here are a few examples:



512 MB RAM = 768 MB Page File - 1 GB (1024 MB) RAM = 1.5 GB (1536 MB) Page File - 2 GB (2048 MB) RAM = 3 GB (3072 MB) Page File - 3 GB (3072 MB) RAM = 4.5 GB (4608 MB) Page File and so on.





Getting your paging file into shape is a simple operation, if you're confident delving into submenus and manually making adjustments.



In Windows XP, open your My Computer Properties, then under the Advanced tab click on Performance Settings, hit the Advanced tab in the new window, and click on Virtual Memory Change. The paging file should be set to at least 1.5 times the amount of RAM onboard. Many experts caution against any smaller than that. Set both the Initial Size and Maximum Size to the same level. By doing this, you prevent the paging file from growing incrementally and adding to disk fragmentation.



Vista users face a similar procedure. From the Start menu, hit the Computer button on the right, and then right-click on your C drive and choose System. From there, click on Advanced System Settings and under the Advanced tab, choose Performance Settings. Choose the Advanced tab in the window that opens and Change Virtual Memory. Vista users should follow the same guidelines as those with XP machines: keep the Initial Size and Maximum Size the same, but no less than one and a half times the amount of RAM you've got.



( Don't worry about making all those operations, as long as you take your time (go slowly) and follow the steps one by one in order, everything will be fine (I know because I've done that many times and I wasn't an expert the first time) )





NOTES:



This operation needs to be done only once and will only need to be repeated if you change the amount of RAM.



If you have more than one drive, the paging file should always be on the "FASTEST" drive not just the biggest one.

Answer 3

Here is what happening when you have a warning sign showing " virtual memory is low warning". Your computer uses physical memory, aka RAM, and virtual memory. Virtual memory is used to simulate more RAM when your computer is reaching its maximum CPU and RAM usage. It very similar to a bucket filling up with water. If your CPU needs water you can bring this resources to it. But your bucket size is limited. The more programs you use and disk space the more water is needed. But you can only deliver the set amount of water because your bucket size is limited. The bucket is your RAM. However, you can use a spare bucket to quickly to help meet the demand. The virtual memory is that spare bucket.



You can change your virtual memory by altering amount of free resources for your computer to use for it, in a sense making the spare bucket bigger. Virtual memory uses free space as a resource. So you can change the the amount free space reserved for the Virtual memory.



When you get to the Virtual Memory menu select the Custom Size check box. Then choose the initial size and the max size. Depending on how much free space you have you can choose what that amount of free space you want. If you are still confused the link below has a visual step by step instructions.



1.Click Start, and then click Control Panel.

2.Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.

3.On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.

4.Under Virtual memory, click Change.

5.Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file that you want to change. In most computers its C:

6.Under Paging file size for selected drive, click to Custom size check box. You can enter the amount of memory you would like to reserve for Virtual memory by entering the initial and maximum size.

7.Click Set



Hot tip: Keep the initial and maximum size the same to cut down on your CPU access. This will stop your CPU from constantly change your Virtual memory paging size. Also set the size 1.5 times higher than your physical memory.



Hope this helps!

http://www.delete-computer-history.com/increase-virtual-memory.html

Answer 4

Virtual Memory is used on your computer to swap memoory back and forth from your RAM to the hard drive, when you do not have enough physical memory.



You can take a look at this article (if this is in windows) http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc737315.aspx



Which will tell you how to increase the swap size.



However if you have a low amount of physical ram the best course of action is to upgrade your ram.

Answer 5

Ever do a defrag? I defrag with Auslogics Disk Defrag It does ever so much better than the windows defrag.



http://www.download.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html?tag=mncol

Answer 6

It's Simple.......Get rid of some junk you don't need anymore. Don't run so many things at one time and add more memory to your computer if possible.