Hi, all you computer geeks; can you help, please?

Question

My computer regularly tells me that my system is low on virtual memory. I have plenty of free space on my hard drive, so that's not the problem.
Q1: - What's virtual memory? Q2: - what action, if any, should I take?
Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

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.

and you can increase the virtual memory by following steps :

right click my computer > properties > click Advanced Tab > when you see performance there's a Settings button on the right click it > another menu will show > click the advanced tab again > now you see another menu > go down you'll see "Change" button click it > select drive C:\ and put the virtual memory value you want .

NOTE :if you put the initial size to 500MB you should put the maximum size to 1000 MB which means the Double of it ..


Good Luck

Answer 2

Virtual memory is a portion of your hard drive reserved for transferring "temporary" data. Essentially it's extended RAM, you can increase/decrease this amount by going to

My computer > Properties > Advanced > Performance options > advanced and look at the number for "virtual memory"

This error can lead to a severely decreased system performance, especially if multitasking, as the poster above suggested, i too suggest more RAM, how much do you have now?

(My computer > Properties)

the first thing that comes up should be the general tab, under which there is a heading

Computer:

Under that there will be a bunch of information, look for something like 256 RAM or 512 or 1gig (1024 megs)

Answer 3

You may need more RAM...(BTW, having low virtual memory in no way means that you don't have a lot of free space in your HD)

When all of your computer's real physical memory (RAM) is in use, Windows will try to create virtual memory by grabbing a chunk of hard drive space and treating it like real memory. Your software can't tell the difference between real and virtual memory, but you might because virtual memory access is much slower, due to the hard drive activity it requires.

If you encounter the low virtual memory error message, then you have used the maximum amount of real plus virtual memory that is supported on your system. Sometimes programs that crash or ones that are poorly designed will not return their working memory space to the operating system when they're done using it. Other programs that need a large amount of memory to run may fail because Windows cannot "see" the available memory. In most cases, a shutdown and restart will resolve this problem.

If you still see the dreaded "Your system is low on virtual memory" message then the first thing to do is make sure your computer is configured to allow Windows to automatically manage the virtual memory. In Windows XP, follow these steps:

* Click Start, then open the Control Panel.
* Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
* Click the Advanced tab.
* Under Performance, click Settings.
* Click the Advanced tab.
* Under Virtual memory, click Change.
* Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file (virtual memory) settings that you want to change. In almost every case, this will be your C: drive.
* Click to select the "System managed size" option, then click Set.
* Click OK three times and restart your computer.

When you allow Windows to manage your virtual memory, it should make the optimum amount of virtual memory available, by automatically shrinking or enlarging the paging file as needed. If that doesn't solve the low virtual memory problem, there are a few more things you can try.

You can also eliminate your non essential programs. Over time, we tend to accumulate a bit of clutter on a computer. My article "Making Windows XP Run Faster!" will show you how to keep your system updated, eliminate viruses & spyware, scrub the hard disk of unneeded files, slim down your startup selections, and eliminate unnecessary system services. All of these things will free up resources in your computer, making it run faster and more reliably.

And last but not least, add more RAM memory to your computer. It might just be the case that your computer needs more real, physical memory. The more RAM you have, the better your computer will perform. I recommend you have a minimum 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM, but with 512 MB or even 1GB you'll notice much better performance.

Answer 4

Lot of answers, all good. All I can add is a quick fix to stop the message until you buy more RAM: When you set the size of virtual memory set the minimum and maximum to the same value, at least 512mb. That will stop windows from bugging you.Use 1000mb if you have the free space.

Answer 5

Virtual Hardware is memory on the HD to which Windows moves programs from the RAM memory when it is full.
To add to increase it:
Right click on my computer > Properties>"Settings" button under performance > Advanced > "Change" button under virtual memory > Custom the size to between 1.5 to 3 times the amount of RAM you have.
If this massage persists buy more RAM.

Answer 6

I will tell you if you stop calling me a computer geek :-)

ok, since you said please.

Virtual memory : It is part of the hard drive that windows set up to use as RAM. When windows runs out of memory, it uses part of the hard disk to 'page out' unused chunks of software.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_memory

now, to change the size -

Click Start - Settings - Control Panel - System - Performance tab then click the Virtual Memory button.

Increase the size. To what size? (use 8-10% of your free space)
http://www.pcnineoneone.com/howto/swpfile2.html

Answer 7

Virtual memory is the substitution of hard disk space to deal with running out of RAM. When your virtual memory is low, then you are using up all the space on the hard drive that is assigned for this use. The real answer is to add more ram to your system, although you can assign windows a larger portion of the disk to use for virtual memory as a quick fix.

Answer 8

You need to increase the size of your paging file:

To increase your paging file size

Right-click the My Computer icon, and then click Properties.
The System Properties dialog box appears.


Click the Performance tab, and then click Change.
The Virtual Memory dialog box appears.


In the Initial Size box, type 128 (for example). The value in the Maximum Size box must be greater than that in the Initial Size box.

Click Set, and then click OK.
The System Properties box appears.


Click Close.

When prompted, restart your computer.

Answer 9

Virtual Memory aka Swap File is space that windows allocates on your HDD for use when your Physical memory is running low.
How much ram do you have? If 512MB or less than add more, alternatively run less programs at any one time.
If you decide to increase the size of your paging file/ swap file/ virtual memory it should be set to 1½ times the amount of your physical memory.

Answer 10

they've explained what ram means so the action you should take is to go to your nearest computer store and buy you some memory stick. be sure you know what kind of memory is supported by your motherboard.
1 gig of virtual ram is a lot, but 512 mb is good enough