What dose it mean when your computer says it is low on virtual memory?

Question

That keeps poppig up in a little box it the bottom right of my computer every once in a while...

Answer 1

There are 2 types of memory Windows uses, physical memory and virtual memory. Physical memory is a fancy name for the RAM. Oftentimes, the amount of RAM installed on a computer is insufficient, Windows solves this problem by converting some space on the hard drive to act like RAM (i.e. virtual memory). What is important is to know is that RAM is much faster than virtual memory (i.e. RAM better than virtual memory). In your case, you need to increase the size of the hard drive which is converted in to virtual memory. Here is how to do it:

1. Right click the "My Computer" icon on the desktop
2. Select Properties > Advanced tab > under Performance, click [Settings]
3. Select the Advanced tab > under Virtual memory, click [Change].
4. Select Custom Size
5. Set the size of the virtual memory to 1.5x the amount of RAM installed on your computer. (for example, if you have 256MB of RAM then set the virtual memory to 375). Give the same value for both the initial and maximum size.
6. Click [Set] > [O,K.] > [O.K.] > Restart

Answer 2

windows uses part of your HD as a type of memory. they call it virtual memory this is mist likely cause you hd is getting to the point its almost full. If not you can make your virtual HD a little bigger and that should fix the problem.