Memory-No, not mine

Submitted: Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 11:33
ThreadID: 19174 Views:2158 Replies:4 FollowUps:4
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Hello Folks.

Wife's computer is saying it is low on "virtual memory". What's this mean, and how would she correct the problem?

Thanks...
Seen it all, Done it all.
Can't remember most of it.

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Reply By: The Explorer - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 11:48

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 11:48
Virtual Memory
Temporary storage used by a computer to run programs that need more memory than it has. For example, programs could have access to 4 gigabytes of virtual memory on a computer's hard drive, even if the computer has only 32 megabytes of RAM. The program data that does not currently fit in the computer's memory is saved into paging files.
Page File
A hidden file on the hard disk that Windows uses to hold parts of programs and data files that do not fit in memory. The paging file and physical memory, or RAM, comprise virtual memory. Windows moves data from the paging file to memory as needed and moves data from memory to the paging file to make room for new data. Paging file is also called a swap file.

Solution to problem
Increase amount of virtual memory allowed (though generally done automatically if required) – go to Control Panel, System Properties, Advanced Performance, Settings Advanced, Virtual Memory. You must have required space on Hard Drive – if not delete unnecessary files from Hard drive.

Increasing RAM will off course also help

Cheers
Greg

I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874

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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 14:40

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 14:40
Thanks, Greg.
Have printed these replies out, and passed onto The Boss.

Have plenty of Hard Drive space, it's 80Gb, but can't remember if it's 256 or 512 RAM.

However the info will give her something to work on.

many thanks...
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Reply By: Member - Chrispy (NSW) - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 11:59

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 11:59
Also it might be pertinent to make sure that you aren't running low on disk space. For an operating system to perform at it's best, you really need to make sure that you have around 20% of available disk space left free at all times if you can. OS's in general tend to choke a bit after this limit has been reached....especially ones that page to and from disk for virual memory tasks.
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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 14:50

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 14:50
Thanks prompt reply, Chrispy.

Don't think the Hard Drive is near limit, it's 80 Gig, though does have a lot of images on it. Wife has been preparing a few slideshows recently, and cataloging?? many of family photos.

Understand what you mean about about overloading the h/d, friends 'puter froze up, and had to go back to IT dept, for repairs.

How's the Jeep going? Often thought they would be a lively alternative to our current L/C turbo, when we need a smaller vehicle.

Thanks again...

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Follow Up By: Member - Chrispy (NSW) - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 15:08

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 15:08
Bob -

Image manipulation programs such as Photoshop on Corel do require a lot of memory to run in - especially if you editing large image files. As suggested, I'd look at the virtual memory settings and up the disk allocation to virtual memory useage a tad or two.

In regards to the Jeep, I've had an absolute ball in it now for 55,000kms. Contary to popular belief, I've had very few issues if any with its reliability. I mainly do freeway and dirt-road driving (touring) to our place in Cooma and back to Sydney. I also use it on trail runs with our club - the Sydney Jeep Club - and it has proven quite capable givin that it is in nearly stock form. I run slightly oversize Cooper ST's and a full OME suspension setup which gets me into quite a few places - and some that even our lifted Patrol and other's 'Cruisers would think twice about in stock form. The engine (Merc 2.7 common rail) is an absolute cracker. Almost car performance (120kw and 400mn) without the fuel bill. I average 8.0-8.5L/100km on the freeways, 9.5 around town and around 10.5 on rough tracks in low range. The Merc 5-speed auto gearbox is just beautiful - liquid smooth and you can't tell its changed gears sometimes.

I tow a fair bit with it (our 19-foot caravan and a 800kg horse float with a 600kg+ horse) and it just pulls away without fuss. I can still stay at 100kmh on the highways on cruise control and it never dips below the speed set. Pretty admirable really.

It's a little smaller (!!) than our GQ and your 'Cruiser - but it does us just fine for country trips. We also have an offroad trailer for when we want to pack more stuff.

I like it.

Cheers
Chris
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Reply By: glenno(bris) - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 16:44

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 16:44
If you have xp then 256 memory is useless . Upgrade to 512 meg . Dont just buy another 256 because if the new ram you buy is faster than the one you already have then it is my understanding that it will run at whatever the slowest memory stick runs at . Get a new fast 512 memory stick . Approx $100
AnswerID: 91952

Reply By: Johnno1 - Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 17:10

Saturday, Jan 08, 2005 at 17:10
What OS are you using ?

If it is Xp there is a heap of crap that can be turned off to free up more ram for other programs.

There is a freeware utility which lets you manually free up ram in XP . Check it out here.

click
AnswerID: 91953

Follow Up By: Member - Mungo Explorer (NSW) - Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 01:02

Sunday, Jan 09, 2005 at 01:02
These utilities do nothing useful in XP. XP will always use virtual memory, no matter how much free RAM it has. Contrary to popular misconceptions, it doesn't just page things to the hard drive when it runs out of RAM.
And the error message "low on virtual memory" is nothing to worry about. All it means is that there's so much running concurrently that the pagefile size needs to be increased. No big deal that, it's done automatically and XP is just letting you know what it's doing.
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