Siders77 Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 Hey. I've noticed a few times when my computer has been left on all day. I get a little pop up in the bottom right hand of my screen saying Windows Virtual memory is low blah blah blah blah.... I was just wondering if this is anything to worry about? I'm not really that computer minded so could you please explain in simple terms please? ;) Cheers :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Endohopper Posted May 30, 2005 Report Share Posted May 30, 2005 We now have two types of memory; random access memory (RAM) and virtual memory, or the page file. The page file is created during the Windows XP installation and resides on the hard drive. Page files are measured in megabytes. The size of the page file is based on how much RAM is installed in the computer. By default, XP creates a page file which is 1.5 times the amount of installed RAM and places it on the hard drive where XP is installed. From " Elder Geek ." If virtual memory is low , either delete some uneccesary files , or a restart can help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Ah right, nice one mate ;) Would putting more memory in sort this out? I'll delete some folders now. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank_rider Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Virtual memory is basically a section of the hard drive that windows uses for storing parts of running programs that arent needed in the RAM, or if you dont have much RAM. Endohopper outlined how much there usually is, however if you have a small amount of RAM, but a large hard drive you can often prevent this error happening by manually increasing the amount of virtual memory windows has available. However this will affect the performance of your PC. Therefore it is advisable to either if you dont have much RAM (say less than 512Mb for a system running XP) get some more RAM, OR, free up some hard drive space (If you have less than say 1Gb free, OR, close some of the programs you have running (every program open uses up memory, both virtual and RAM), OR, re-start your computer (if your computer has been on for several days, and/or you have been opening lots of programs they all use up a small amount of RAM with the residual processes they leave running to aid and quicken their startup next time). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 I have 265MB or RAM. I've used 13.4 Gig of my HDD and I have 58.4 Gig left. So If I put in say....512 of extra RAM do you think that'll solve it? Cheers for the help so far guys, it's much appreciated :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 I have 265MB or RAM. I've used 13.4 Gig of my HDD and I have 58.4 Gig left. So If I put in say....512 of extra RAM do you think that'll solve it? Cheers for the help so far guys, it's much appreciated :) ← Yeah, probably, but if you've got 58GB of hard drive left, Windows shouldn't be complaining. Control Panel > System >Advanced (tab) > Performance Settings > Advanced (tab) > Virtual Memory change. Make sure it's set onto the drive with free space, preferably the fastest drive you have (if you have more than one), NTFS partition. If should be on "system managed". Most likely you've got too many things running. Start by doing a virus check, then do spybot S&D and Adaware. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 (edited) Thanks Tomm, i've done an Adaware check and I had 2 Critical Objects :) They're gone now. I'm doing a virus scan now then i'll do a Spyware scan ;) Edited May 31, 2005 by Siders77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biketrialler Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Yeah, probably, but if you've got 58GB of hard drive left, Windows shouldn't be complaining. Control Panel > System >Advanced (tab) > Performance Settings > Advanced (tab) > Virtual Memory change. Make sure it's set onto the drive with free space, preferably the fastest drive you have (if you have more than one), NTFS partition. If should be on "system managed". Most likely you've got too many things running. Start by doing a virus check, then do spybot S&D and Adaware. ← Actually i'd say more like... Control Panel > System >Advanced (tab) > Performance Settings > Advanced (tab) > Virtual Memory change. Then set it to 512mb min. 512max. Youre meant to set virtual memory at double the amount of ram that you physically have. Windows does a fairly poor job at getting the level right as it just adjusts it around as it feels free to. And gives the errors that he has seen! Also letting windows resize VM on the fly means it fragments your hard drive which is never good. I can almost guarantee setting it to 512 will stop the errors. Ben. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 (edited) This might sound stupid, but will playing around with the settings much up my comp'? I don't really wanna much it all up 'cause it's fairly new. :"> ;) EDIT: The Spyware scan has found nothing. I'm just waiting on the Virus one and see if that picks anything up :) Edited May 31, 2005 by Siders77 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 This might sound stupid, but will playing around with the settings much up my comp'? I don't really wanna much it all up 'cause it's fairly new. :"> :) ← Not at all, if you get it right... Just post a pic up of what it says and we'll tell you if it's right. There's no chance you can do anything that's not fixable ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Right, this is what I have it set at now. All I need to do is change it to 512MB on both boxes? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomm Posted May 31, 2005 Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Yeah. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Thanks for your help guys! I just need to restart now and i'll see if that's any better. And I apologize for my huge retardedness (Is that even a word?! ;) )towards computers! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Siders77 Posted May 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 31, 2005 Yeah! It's all been sorted out now. Thanks so much for all of the help given ;) :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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