Virtual Memory Paging File?

Question

I have a box that pops up on my computer that says that my virtual memory is to low and that Windows is increasing the size of my virtual memory paging file. Can someone explain what this means>> Thanks.

Answer 1

Virtual memory is probably the most important feature of a multi-tasking operating system.
In Win9x, the page file was referred to as a swap file. Even Windows 3.1 had a swap file.

Virtual memory is a system where computer code and data can be swapped to and from a file on the hard drive. This allows the operating system to use more memory than what is available in physical memory. Unused 'pages' of computer memory can be swapped to the page file (or swap file), and then Windows can allocate the memory that was swapped to other programs. Windows makes efficient use of virtual memory. For example, if a program is sitting in the background in an idle state, Windows will automatically move the program's unused code and data memory pages to the page file. Then, when the program becomes active again, Windows loads the code and data back.

Now, I think I can help you avoid that virtual memory message that Windows gives you.
Right click My Computer on the desktop and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab and click the Settings button, under Performance.
Click the Advanced tab and then click the Change button. You essentially have two options here. You can either select the button which allows Windows to handle the size of the page file (click the System Managed Size button), or you can use the page file size that Windows recommends listed at the bottom of the page. Usually Windows recommends a size somewhere around 1150. I manually set mine to 1200. If you want a custom size, click the custom size button and set the Initial size to whatever Windows recommends. The Maximum Size can be the same number, or some number above the recommended size.
You'll have to reboot the computer after you okay the settings.

Answer 2

Your virtual memory paging file is the portion of your hard disk space that windows use as virtual ram when running applications. You can specify the size of this memory file at my computer> properties>advanced> performance> virtual memory. For the problem in your question I will suggest running the disk clean up from programs>accessories>system tools and also try to increase the size of the page file if you can.

Answer 3

Blizzy honey it means

Virtual memory or virtual memory addressing is a memory management technique, used by multitasking computer operating systems wherein non-contiguous memory is presented to a software (aka process) as contiguous memory. This contiguous memory is referred to as the virtual address space.

Virtual memory addressing is typically used in paged memory systems. This in turn is often combined with memory swapping (also known as anonymous memory paging), whereby memory pages stored in primary storage are written to secondary storage (often to a swap file or swap partition), thus freeing faster primary storage for other processes to use.

In technical terms, virtual memory allows software to run in a memory address space whose size and addressing are not necessarily tied to the computer's physical memory. To properly implement virtual memory the CPU (or a device attached to it) must provide a way for the operating system to map virtual memory to physical memory and for it to detect when an address is required that does not currently relate to main memory so that the needed data can be swapped in. While it would certainly be possible to provide virtual memory without the CPU's assistance it would essentially require emulating a CPU that did provide the needed features.

Windows example

Virtual memory has been a feature of Microsoft Windows since Windows 3.0 in 1990; it was done in an attempt to slash the system requirements for the operating system in response to the failures of Windows 1.0 and Windows 2.0 respectively. 386SPART.PAR or WIN386.SWP is a hidden file created by Windows 3.x for use as a virtual memory swap file. It is generally found in the root directory, but it may appear elsewhere (typically in the WINDOWS directory). Its size depends on how much virtual memory the system has set up under Control Panel - Enhanced under "Virtual Memory". If a user moves or deletes this file, Windows will BSoD the next time it is started with "The permanent swap file is corrupt" and will ask the user if he wants to delete the file (It asks this question whether or not the file exists).

Windows 95 uses a similar file and the controls for it are located under Control Panel - System - Performance tab - Virtual Memory. Windows automatically sets the page file to start 1.5x physical memory, and expand up to 3x physical memory if necessary. If a user runs memory intensive applications on a low physical memory system, it is preferable to manually set these sizes to a value higher than default.

Under NT-based versions of Windows (including Windows 2000 and Windows XP) the name is pagefile.sys. The default location of the page file is in the root directory of the partition where Windows is installed. Windows can be configured to use free space on any available drives for page files.

Answer 4

It just means that the Virtual memory is low.

If no other symptoms, then the increasing of the size of trhe virtual memory done by window is safe and normal. Just let it perform the task and wait ... shouldn't take long ....

Suggest that you let Windows do the virtual memory adjustment... do not perform task you are not sure of within windows..

regards

Answer 5

It means you should add a stick of memory to ur computer,