virtual memory help?

Question

I know this is a dumb question!!!! But how can check and see how much memory is left on my computer? I had a message that said something like I was low on virtual memory and windows was adding virtual memory to my computer. Also how can I increase my speed? It takes forever to open things up. It is a pentium 4 processor if that tells you anything. Beyond that, thats all I know.

Answer 1

run less programs in the background.
Virtual Memory is temoprary storage of data on your hard drive because you have used all the physical memory available.
If it says Windows is increasing virtual memory, it is set properly (system managed size).
The only solution is to run less stuff or add more physical memory.
I'll bet your system tray is filled with useless things that run at bootup, and you don't even know what many of them are.

Answer 2

The amount of memory installed is important. Many XP systems from major vendors only have the bare minimum of RAM (128 MB) to run XP. If you have much more than that and do not have a large number of programs in startup (get rid of anything that is not ABSOLUTELY necessary) then try the tip below.

You need to shut down your computer fully, wait one full minute, then reboot. The problem you have is that the cache for the processor is storing data from one session to the next (warm boot). Shutting down your computer and rebooting after one minute (or more) is called a cold boot and is the only way to clear the (processor) cache.

Answer 3

When your computer has used most of its RAM, it will write and read to a portion of your hard drive. This is called a swap file or virtual memory. Usually, Windows is set to automatically adjust the amount of virtual memory it uses. The message you got was Windows telling you it did this.

Adding more RAM will speed up your PC because it is faster to read and write to RAM than to a hard drive. The manual to your PC or motherboard will tell you the type of RAM you can add. Doing this will speed up your PC and reduce or eliminate the need for the swap file.

Also, most stores and RAM manufacturers online have a place where you can put in your model of PC and they will tell you the type of RAM you can use.

Answer 4

right click My Computer, pick Properties, goto the Advanced tab, click the button for Performance options, find the Page File thing and change the # in the 2 boxes to 2000 in both boxes and press SET then click ok there and the properties window.

here is a better page by micro$oft on how to change this:
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/sysdm_advancd_perform_change_vmpagefile.mspx

Answer 5

u need to add more RAM (memory) to your computer. you should have at least 512 MB of RAM when running windows XP. or else your computer will drag forever.

Answer 6

while your system is booting up it should tell you (2-3 seconds to see it)