How do you free up Virtual Memory on your computer?

Question

My computer has alerts comming up that say that the system is running low on virtual memory and some applications may not work.... what can I do to fix this and free up some virtual memory??

Answer 1

First of all you don't need any additional programs to manage your Virtual Memory. As I can see, you have your Virtual Memory management set to Windows' default.

Here's what you have to do:
1. Defrag your drive.
2. Right click My Computer->Properties->Advanced (is a tab)->Performance Options->Change
3. Set the same value for "Initial size" and "Maximum size". This value is equal to 2,5 times the amount of your RAM, measured in MB.
4. Confirm all the changes.
This way you will never have Virtual Memory problems and it will speed-up your system.

PS: These steps are for Win 2000, but they might be the same for WinXP. If not, use the Windows' "Help" to find the Virtual Memory settings.
Also you must be an admin. of the system to do these changes.

Answer 2

Before you worry about virtual memory, try cleaning your hard drive and get rid of the stuff clogging up your primary memory (RAM.) Whenever you run a program (game, spreadsheet, etc.) the first memory to be used is RAM. When the program runs out of RAM, it goes to virtual memory, which is just a portion of space set aside on your hard drive. In Windows, virtual memory is automatically set at 1.5X your RAM and for probably 95% of the people who use computers, this is more than enough.

For Windows XP, the quickest way to clean your hard drive is close any open programs so you're at the desktop. Click start > all programs > accessories > system tools > disk cleanup. Run the scan, check mark everything, then do the actual cleaning. If you've never done this before it can take over an hour depending on size of hard drive, etc. After doing the cleanup, follow the same steps as above but instead of disk cleanup, click on defragmentation. This physically rearranges the files on your hard drive and makes it a little faster to find things. The defrag could also take over an hour.

Finally, the best way to free up RAM and virtual memory is to install as much RAM as your sytem can handle (or you can afford to buy.) RAM is all electrical (very fast). Since virtual memory is on a hard drive, that's mechanical (much, much slower.) So increasing virtual memory might not help all that much if your program is video intensive.

plrr

Answer 3

If a computer running Windows requires more memory/RAM then there is installed in the system to run a program, etc, it uses a small section of the hard drive for this purpose. This is called “Virtual” memory, or “Swap Filling”. If the “Swap” file is to small, then you will get a warning that the system can’t perform the operation that you have requested because sufficient “Virtual” memory isn’t available. You need to enlarge the size of your “virtual memory/swap file”. So, do the following. Right click “My Computer” and choose “Properties”. In the “System Properties” window, click the “Advanced” tab. Under “Performance”, click “Settings”. In the “Performance Options” window, click “Advanced”. Under “Virtual memory”, click “Change”. Increase the size of the “Paging file” so that it is at least twice the size of your RAM. You can increase the size to “Maximum”, it won’t hurt your system at all. Best cure. If you really want to eliminate this problem, all you need do is to install more “Memory/RAM”.

Answer 4

You can either close some of the programs running on your computer or try a memory manager. I use a program called FreeRam XP Pro. It's free. When you start running low on memory, it will free up memory. It will run slowly while it is freeing up ram but may help you. You can download FreeRam XP Pro at http://www.download.com/FreeRAM-XP-Pro/3000-2086-10070530.html?part=dl-FreeRAMXP&subj=dl&tag=button

Answer 5

Try using this program:
Free Ram Optimizer XP 1.0
4 out of 5 stars (users and CNET editors)

Optimize your memory (RAM) using this lean program. Avoid application crashes due to low memory. This program monitors your memory, and frees up RAM if it falls below a certain minimum. It consumes little memory. You can configure it to free memory automatically or manually.

Answer 6

best way is disabling as many programs that are running for no reason as possible. easiest way to do this is to hit start/run then type in msconfig and click ok. when the pop up screen comes up go to the startup tab and then hit the disable all button and then ok again. reboot your pc and see what happens with all startup programs disabled to free up memory. that should be enough to get rid of the problem.