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Virtual memory? low
Hi
OK when this message appears it says windows is sorting the problem out.
how can this be remedied - rectified -what would or could you do to increase the virtual memory.
a work colleague is having this problem when he is on the internet & it usually disconnects when he is on a site,
i not sure if he said the computer shuts of or reboots??
presumably a Windows thing.
thanks in advance.
GSR600
OK when this message appears it says windows is sorting the problem out.
how can this be remedied - rectified -what would or could you do to increase the virtual memory.
a work colleague is having this problem when he is on the internet & it usually disconnects when he is on a site,
i not sure if he said the computer shuts of or reboots??
presumably a Windows thing.
thanks in advance.
GSR600
Answers
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Virtual Memory is actually an area of you hard disk.
Windows uses this when REAL memory is full and it dumps parts of REAL memory out to hard disk and stores it there temporarily until it needs it again.
You may be running out of Virtual Memory because your hard disk is full (or nearly full) so the first thing to do is see if you can clear out some files off the hard disk.
You could increase the amount of Virtual Memory as much as you like but that is a waste of time if your hard disk is nearly full.
If you are using Virtiual Memory a lot it is a sign that you have not got enough real memory. Maybe look at adding more REAL memory to your PC.
I am surprised you get this problem when working on the internet because that does not actually use that much memory (or course it depends what ELSE is going on with the PC at the same time).
Here is how you increase your Virtual Memory (next page)
Windows uses this when REAL memory is full and it dumps parts of REAL memory out to hard disk and stores it there temporarily until it needs it again.
You may be running out of Virtual Memory because your hard disk is full (or nearly full) so the first thing to do is see if you can clear out some files off the hard disk.
You could increase the amount of Virtual Memory as much as you like but that is a waste of time if your hard disk is nearly full.
If you are using Virtiual Memory a lot it is a sign that you have not got enough real memory. Maybe look at adding more REAL memory to your PC.
I am surprised you get this problem when working on the internet because that does not actually use that much memory (or course it depends what ELSE is going on with the PC at the same time).
Here is how you increase your Virtual Memory (next page)
Open the Windows Control Panel.
Select "Performance and Maintenance" then System
On the Sysytem Properties window select the Advanced tab
The top area of the Advanced tab shows Performance, press the Settings button.
On the Performance Options window select the Advanced tab.
Near the bottom is an area called Virtual Memory.
Press the Change button to change it.
At the bottom of the Virtual Memory window it does say what the Recommended amount of Virtual Memory is. Make sure your are AT LEAST that.
Note that if you make it too big then Windows grabs this amount of hard disk when it starts up and you cannot use it for anything else.
Select "Performance and Maintenance" then System
On the Sysytem Properties window select the Advanced tab
The top area of the Advanced tab shows Performance, press the Settings button.
On the Performance Options window select the Advanced tab.
Near the bottom is an area called Virtual Memory.
Press the Change button to change it.
At the bottom of the Virtual Memory window it does say what the Recommended amount of Virtual Memory is. Make sure your are AT LEAST that.
Note that if you make it too big then Windows grabs this amount of hard disk when it starts up and you cannot use it for anything else.
Tell him to right-click my computer, then click on properties. A window will pop open, with the amount of RAM listed at the bottom right. What is this number?
Also, he may have low hard drive space -- find this out by going into my computer and right-clicking his hard drive, then clicking properties. it'll tell you the free space there. what is that?
Also, he may have low hard drive space -- find this out by going into my computer and right-clicking his hard drive, then clicking properties. it'll tell you the free space there. what is that?
In the first instance its always better to increase the RAM of your pc as using a part of your HDD as if it were RAM because this can mean your machine gets symptoms of thrashing.
Meaning that the cpu is swapping applications between RAM and the page file more than its doing anything else which causes a massive slow down.
With regards to the intermittent rebooting or shuting down it sounds like this pc that is being used is actually needing some TLC and some serious housekeeping.
The problem with pc's is that its only as fast as the slowest component so if you RAM is too low it will end up causing problems with everything else. RAM is very cheap now and can be one of the most important upgrades.
Meaning that the cpu is swapping applications between RAM and the page file more than its doing anything else which causes a massive slow down.
With regards to the intermittent rebooting or shuting down it sounds like this pc that is being used is actually needing some TLC and some serious housekeeping.
The problem with pc's is that its only as fast as the slowest component so if you RAM is too low it will end up causing problems with everything else. RAM is very cheap now and can be one of the most important upgrades.
collywobs, we cannot suggest a number because each PC is different based on factors like your real memory, your hard disk space and so on.
If you see my second append above I say Windows does suggest a number and that should be OK.
On your system, whatever number is suggested just keep adding small amounts until you stop getting the error.
If you see my second append above I say Windows does suggest a number and that should be OK.
On your system, whatever number is suggested just keep adding small amounts until you stop getting the error.
The guys are right - can't beat real RAM
but
The rule of thumb is 1.5 to 2x the amount of RAM you have fitted to your machine (if you aren/t sure leave it alone - set it too low ... and windows won't startup - too high and windows won't start up!!!!) - best is system managed (unless you create a new partition (5-10 Gb- is enough) and use it exclusively for the pagefile)
One problem is that windows likes the page file to be contiguous
so a defrag and disc check won't go amiss
but the page file isn't the only file that makes up virtual memory - the NTFS file system uses free space also (windows hides these temp files - along with many of it's own - download ExplorerXP and see!)
Clean out all your temp files (see recent questions for how to)
but
The rule of thumb is 1.5 to 2x the amount of RAM you have fitted to your machine (if you aren/t sure leave it alone - set it too low ... and windows won't startup - too high and windows won't start up!!!!) - best is system managed (unless you create a new partition (5-10 Gb- is enough) and use it exclusively for the pagefile)
One problem is that windows likes the page file to be contiguous
so a defrag and disc check won't go amiss
but the page file isn't the only file that makes up virtual memory - the NTFS file system uses free space also (windows hides these temp files - along with many of it's own - download ExplorerXP and see!)
Clean out all your temp files (see recent questions for how to)
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