Virtual Memory
by My computer keeps telling me that my virtual memory is low. I tried to look it up on the Help function but it didn't seem to make any sense. Can someone explain to me why my computer is doing this and how I can fix it?
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Virtual memory is a file on your hard disk that the computer uses as if it were RAM. Your computer is doing this because it is running out of space in that file. If you're running XP you can increase the size of the virtual memory file as follows:
Open the Control Panel.
Double-click on System.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Under Performance click the Settings button.
In the new window click the Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory click the Change button.
In that dialog box increase the virtual memory file to the desired size.
But is increasing the virtual memory size a good idea? or is it going to make my comp go slow?
Your computer definitely slows down when it has to access virtual memory, but Windows is such a memory hog that it really needs a lot of virtual memory. How much physical memory do you have and what is your virtual memory file size set to?
yeah, how much RAM do you have?
To find out:
While holding the WINDOWS key, press the PAUSE/BREAK key. It'll tell you right on that screen.
256 MB? Does that sound like the right kind of number?
yeah, that was the right number. hm. 256MB isn't too bad. But, 512MB is better. I would just follow the instructions posted abover to increase your virtual memory. If you put another 256MB of RAM into the computer, it would run much better.
How much would something like that cost?
It shouldn't cost much at all. Almost definitely less than $100, and possibly much less depending on how your memory is configured right now.
That's an ok amount of memory. What's your virtual memory set to? (To find out go through the same steps I mentioned in my first post only don't change the settings on the final page.)
Initial Size-384
Max Size- 768
Really? That should be enough for most purposes. My computers rarely even get up to 400MB of total memory used. Are you running a lot of memory-intensive applications at once?
Usually I'm just on IE and AIM and Media Player.
I have no idea why you'd be running out of virtual memory then. Those applications shouldn't come anywhere near to using up the 1024MB of total memory that you have on your computer.
might be some background application. is Kazaa or anything running? If you bring up the Task Manager (hit CTRL-ALT-DELETE), look under Processes, and sort by Mem Usage. What's the largest one, and how much is it using?
Internet Exploer 24,852K
yo. e. it's probably all the ram hogging apps like quicktime, realplayer, that stupid weather thing, spyware, AOL, norton, all that crap that sneaks into your system tray. XP hides that sometimes, because it thinks it's helping.
TDG, what OS are you using...and when was the last time you re-booted?
What is OS and by rebooted do you mean turn my computer off and on again?
OS means Operating System, which means "Which version of Windows are you using? For example: Windows XP, Windows ME, Windows 98, etc."
And, basically yes, rebooting means turning your computer off/on.
I'm using Windows XP and I turn it off every night.
ok. good. NOW. what is in that little system tray in the bottom right hand corner of the screen OTHER than the clock and your volume control. tell me EVERYTHING. and if there is a little arrow - hit that...and then describe and count whatever is there.
New Updates are ready to install; yahoo messenger (I never use that..); AIM; Quick Time; Date Manager; AOL; Notron Antivirus; Safely Remove Hardware; Printer.
ok...date manager is unnecessary - if no one in your family uses it, uninstall it. same for quicktime (although, you can always just right click and close it). set AIM NOT to start with windows (that's in the settings.) Uninstall AOL if you don't use it to get online (why else would you have it?) Yahoo Messanger, uninstall if no one uses it (again...what's it for?)
when you've done all that - open your print queue. and delete any pending jobs held up in there - if there are any. i don't know why your printer would be there.
lastly...go to start, programs, STARTUP...and delete anything that is in that folder.
hey, while you're saying all this helpful stuff....i was wondering if there was any way to make the stuff that appears when i hit ctrl alt del not appear anymore, there are like 20 programs that come up on it everytime i restart.
wow. dude. can you say ADAWARE...HAHA
ok, anyway.
start - programs - startup - delete whatever is in that folder. EVERYTHING. nothing in there is necessary.
apart from that...start - run - msconfig - selective startup - we're getting complicated now!!!!! (ian...i'm in over my head!)
okay, that helped....so what stuff DO I NEED? cause i have a lot in there...and half of it ussually says not responding when i try to close it...like, do i need:
ocraware.exe
hidserver.exe
rundll32.exe
tppaldr.exe
hphmon04.exe
scanreg thingy (i'm assuming thats a must)
loadqm.exe
atitask.exe (task monitor)
aticwd32.exe
still image monitor
download ware from msn messenger
norton auto-project
system tray
...and a bunch of others...i dont know, help me with that first
what operating system are you running, tinser...
you should be really nice to mattytty, he can come over and do this for you in about 5 seconds...(hopefully)...actually, on 2nd thought, maybe not
im running win 98
matts one of my big brothers...oops, i mean twin sister
OMG, there are people that are still running that horrible, horrible piece of crap OS???
Yeah, but only barely. I feel sorry for people who are still running those versions of Windows.
well, you shouldn't. who cares what OS you're running?? like XP makes you happy and healthier. it's an OPERATING SYSTEM.
Courtney, you're fine with 98 or whatever you have. keep it clean - run adaware, a virus checker, and run a registry cleaner every now and then.
and IGNORE what other people say.
"sheesh, you're still driving a 1998 model car! holy crap! get with the future!"
no way man, XP is a LOT more stable than 98. You'll get a lot less crashes, and if something does crash, it won't crash the whole system. And Microsoft has dropped support for 98, so forget about new patches and stuff.
blah...all these patches mean i have do "SERVICE PACKS"...who knows what's REALLY happening when i install those
98 was a MUCH smaller operating system...i installed xp on my pentium 3 box, and it took a FULL 24 hours to install (after that it worked perfectly, but still, i digress)
98 may have been much smaller but it crashed all the time. I've been running 2000 on my machine at home for a while now, and the only time I had serious issues with it crashing was when my graphics card was dying on me. (And then it was a hardware problem, so it had nothing to do with the OS.) Also, I've been running XP on my laptop, and I don't think it's even crashed once yet.
I'm really in love with this adaware stuff. I run the program every day and it makes my computer nice and fast again!
I'll feel sorry for whomever I feel like. There is nothing you can do to make either 98 or ME good OS's. They're fundamentally flawed.
don't encourage him, ian
the OS's are fundamentally flawed, sure, looking back 6 later. i'm sure 6 years from now we'll all say XP was horrible.
remember win 3.1?
It has nothing to do with it being old. Unix has remained essentially unchanged for 30 years and XP is the first Microsoft OS that has even come close to being as good as it is. Microsoft's big problem is that instead of starting with a proven OS like Unix and building on it, they insisted on reinventing the wheel with DOS, and it's taken them the last 20 years to finally get a product that can compete with Unix.
yeah, but windows still crashes - look at all those "send error report?" messages that pop -up - Micro$oft blames them on the program. And LOOK how much RAM XP takes to run! I wouldn't run it on ANYTHING less than 256MB of RAM - Unix can run on a fraction of that, literally
Actually, BizarreT told me that Win XP, 98, etc, even DOS, are all unix or linux based. Ask him.
DOS was written completely independently of Unix. It may have been "based on it" in the sense that a lot of the metaphors (files, folders, etc...) were carried over from Unix, but as far as the actual technology goes, it's completely separate from Unix. I'm not sure about XP, but I think it's still based on NT, not Unix. The most recent Mac OS, however, *is* based on Unix, and even has a command line that you can use.
So sad..I was using 3.1 when people at 98
oh wow. win 98. i don't think you need ANY of those processes, at ALL. NT/2000/XP have some things automatically running.
in 98, all you REALLY need is explorer and systray running. that's it.
i'm too tired now, though. sorry.