Memory
I keep getting a notice on my screen that my virtual memory is low.What is this and any easy way to fix it?
Asked by: Anita Davidson
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June 10th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
Hi Anita
It may be easiest to help you with this if I can speak to you directly.
If you call Digital Unite they will pass on my contact details.
The cause of the problem could be that your system doesn’t have enough memory (RAM), or you have too many applications open at once, or some of your system settings need changing, or something else!
June 11th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Virtual memory is a clever trick used by Windows (and other operating systems) to increase the amount of memory available to applications.
An area of the hard disk is designated as virtual memory (also known as a swapfile or paging file) and when Windows starts to need more memory than the real memory (RAM) installed on the PC because of the number of programs which are running on it, it moves one or more of the programs into virtual memory to free up some RAM.
When it’s time to run one of the programs which has been shunted into virtual memory, it swaps it back into RAM and moves something else into virtual memory.
Think of the process a little like having too many books open on your desk – in order to be able to do your work, you put a couple of them on the floor by your feet until you need them again.
Virtual memory setting are well hidden. In Win XP, go to Control Panel | System | Advanced | Performance Settings | Advanced | Virtual Memory. Click on the Change button to display settings. If you’re not familiar with how to calculate the best setting, select the button labelled “System Managed Size” and click the “Set” button. You may need to reboot afterwards.
In Vista, you can get to the virtual memory settings via Control Panel | System | Advanced System Settings (click on continue) | Performance Settings | Advanced | Virtual memory (click on Change button). In Vista, it’s best to put a tick in the box labelled “Automatically manage paging file”.
The underlying reason that PC is running out of virtual memory may be that it needs more RAM for the type of programs you are running on it. RAM is very cheap nowadays and relatively easy to fit.
AS a rule of thumb, I would recommend 1.5 – 2GB of RAM for XP and at least 2GB for Vista, but bear in mind that you need to use the correct type and that each computer has an absolute maximum amount of RAM that it can accommodate.
If you want to find out how much RAM is presently installed, how much your PC can take and what type to use, try the Crucial website – they have a free RAM scanner utility at http://www.crucial.com/uk/index.aspx which is very effective.
June 21st, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Thanks Chris.Memory seems ok now.