what is virtual memory?

Question

what is virtual memory, computer said my virtual is full.

Answer 1

Virtual memory is a common part of most operating systems on desktop computers. It has become so common because it provides a big benefit for users at a very low cost.



Most computers today have something like 64 or 128 megabytes of RAM (random-access memory) available for use by the CPU (central processing unit). Often, that amount of RAM is not enough to run all of the programs that most users expect to run at once. For example, if you load the Windows operating system, an e-mail program, a Web browser and word processor into RAM simultaneously, 64 megabytes is not enough to hold it all. If there were no such thing as virtual memory, your computer would have to say, "Sorry, you cannot load any more applications. Please close an application to load a new one." With virtual memory, the computer can look for areas of RAM that have not been used recently and copy them onto the hard disk. This frees up space in RAM to load the new application. Because it does this automatically, you don't even know it is happening, and it makes your computer feel like is has unlimited RAM space even though it has only 32 megabytes installed. Because hard-disk space is so much cheaper than RAM chips, virtual memory also provides a nice economic benefit.



The area of the hard disk that stores the RAM image is called a page file. It holds pages of RAM on the hard disk, and the operating system moves data back and forth between the page file and RAM. (On a Windows machine, page files have a .SWP extension.)



Of course, the read/write speed of a hard drive is much slower than RAM, and the technology of a hard drive is not geared toward accessing small pieces of data at a time. If your system has to rely too heavily on virtual memory, you will notice a significant performance drop. The key is to have enough RAM to handle everything you tend to work on simultaneously. Then, the only time you "feel" the slowness of virtual memory is in the slight pause that occurs when you change tasks. When you have enough RAM for your needs, virtual memory works beautifully. When you don't, the operating system has to constantly swap information back and forth between RAM and the hard disk. This is called thrashing, and it can make your computer feel incredibly slow.





hope this F1

Answer 2

Computers have some physical memory calld RAM and at the same time can use part of hard disk as if it was RAM (virtual memory). You can consider virtual memory as very very slow RAM. No these days 80 GB is not enough. I have no knowledge about macs but I would recommand a Intel Core 2 Duo, with 2GB RAM, 250GB Hard disk,...

Answer 3

When you purchase a computer it comes with something called "RAM" - short for random access memory. The reason your computer requires RAM is ultimately for speed. Ram allows your computer to store information in it's circuits as long as there is an electrical charge. The problem with ram is that it is volatile, meaning that if you turn off your computer all the information in your RAM is instantly lost.



As you open more and more program (like iTunes, Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, etc,etc) your computer uses more and more ram. Once the ram is fully utilized with information that helps operate all the program files your computer would get a "low memory" message.



Virtual memory is a way to avoid and solve this problem. It allows you to allocate a space of memory to your hard drive designated as "virtual memory". So this allows you to open more programs even if you have used up all the memory in your RAM chips.



So, if you had 1 GB of RAM in your computer, and 1 GB of virtual memory to use on your hard drive, you technically have 2GB of memory!



Now here's the problem with virtual memory - because it uses a hard drive to store the data for currently running programs it is much slower to read and write than RAM. This is because unlike how RAM stores data with an electron current (making it super fast), the data on a hard drive is stored on platters. The platters spin very fast but much like a record player there are heads that must physically move to the location where the data is stored to read and write the data. This means that the time it takes to access the data for your running programs will slow down your computer considerably.



Try to avoid using too much virtual memory. Instead upgrade your RAM to ensure your computer is operating at maximum capacity.



Virtual memory, however, can be useful - newer operating systems makes as effective use of virtual memory as possible. Many modern operating systems will store data in virtual memory for programs that do not require heavy read-write access, or, for programs that are opened but have not been used recently.



You may also hear the term virtual memory be referred to as a "swap file" as this is essentially a file that is on your hard drive that can "swap" data from RAM to Hard Drive and vice-versa for optimization.



You can increase virtual memory in windows by right clicking the my computer icon, clicking on the advanced tab and clicking on settings. Try increasing your virtual memory by 50% at a time, or, close a few programs.



You can also get your computer tuned up so that less programs load when your computer starts not only making your computer faster while using it, but also at startup.



In MS Vista, click start, right click my computer > properties click Advanced System Settings on the left pane and the click settings to increase virtual memory.



I added a source with more technical details at wikipedia. Hope this helps!



Chris Botterill

www.exids.com

Answer 4

Virtual memory is also called pagefile. It is something on the hard drive that all windows os use regardless of how much real ram your system has. It functions like ram and was developed when ram sticks were in the low mb's.



Commonly it is set to about 1.5 times the amount of your actual ram. Though if you have 4gb of ram or more it is essentially redundant but still should be switched on.

Answer 5

It is swap space on the hard drive, when the memory is full, the computer starts to move some unused parts of the memory to the hard drive.



Get more RAM, or increase your paging file.

Answer 6

Virtual memory is the same thing as ram. Your computer's performance depends on your ram. That message happens when you have too many things going on on your computer. just close a couple of programs running on your computer. If it keeps happening, just reninstall the computer by using the operating system disk that your computer came with.

Answer 7

It is the ram. You have too many programs operating upon start up.

Your registry needs changing.