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Virtual memory is space on disk that emulates RAM, where the OS moves code or data that is currently not being accessed to make room in RAM for code or data that is being accessed.
Modern operating systems do a good job of managing the size, so it is unlikely you need to or should manually control it. More virtual memory does not help with performance.
Virtual memory is space on disk that emulates RAM, where the OS moves code or data that is currently not being accessed to make room in RAM for code or data that is being accessed.
Modern operating systems do a good job of managing the size, so it is unlikely you need to or should manually control it. More virtual memory does not help with performance.
Mine also said " Virtual Memory Low " Of course I was running yahoo games , have a gazillion pics , multiple things open...
Virtual memory is space on disk that emulates RAM, where the OS moves code or data that is currently not being accessed to make room in RAM for code or data that is being accessed.
Modern operating systems do a good job of managing the size, so it is unlikely you need to or should manually control it. More virtual memory does not help with performance.
I'd beg to differ regarding those last two statements. There are times, even on my ~2 year old Dell laptop w/ maxed out RAM, where due to the number of apps [including both FF and IE - both latest upgrades] and photos and docs and files that I've running that the system will indeed slowwwwwwwly bog down, responding slower and slowwwwwwwwer, until finally that message will appear. What works best for me in my case: kill all, and reboot. I dunno, but things like Adobe pdf, when I shut them down first, that does add some speed back. Maybe more VM doesn't help w/ performance, per se, IF all is hunky dory [my Saturday night highly technical terminology], but,,, if more CAN help prevent / minimize the dreaded slow down, when using so many apps, etc. Guess what it means per your definition of "performance"?
Last edited by ShadowCaver; 07-25-2010 at 07:12 AM..
Virtual memory is space on disk that emulates RAM, where the OS moves code or data that is currently not being accessed to make room in RAM for code or data that is being accessed.
Modern operating systems do a good job of managing the size, so it is unlikely you need to or should manually control it. More virtual memory does not help with performance.
Asheville Native is dead on here (absolutely correct). Virtual memory allows your OS (i.e. Windows) to trick applications to thinking that your computer has more RAM (usually a multiplier of 4x by default) than it really does.
So let's say you have 4GB of RAM. Windows will create an address table for 16GB of RAM. It does this for 2 reasons:
1) You can run more software at once than you would be able to without Virtual Memory.
2) It enables Windows to use RAM as file cache without limiting how much memory is left for other software.
So, technically, Virtual memory is nothing than extended RAM. The extended RAM, in this case, is stored on the hard drive. Since the hard drive is extremely slow, there is no speed benefit at all... and often a speed loss when you have lots of software open.
When you get the message that the Virtual Memory is low, it is just an indicator. Windows will automatically resize it to a larger size. The only time this will fail, is if your hard drive is full. If your hard drive is full, Windows will warn you that your C Drive is out of space.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShadowCaver
I'd beg to differ regarding those last two statements. There are times, even on my ~2 year old Dell laptop w/ maxed out RAM, where due to the number of apps [including both FF and IE - both latest upgrades] and photos and docs and files that I've running that the system will indeed slowwwwwwwly bog down, responding slower and slowwwwwwwwer, until finally that message will appear. What works best for me in my case: kill all, and reboot. I dunno, but things like Adobe pdf, when I shut them down first, that does add some speed back. Maybe more VM doesn't help w/ performance, per se, IF all is hunky dory [my Saturday night highly technical terminology], but,,, if more CAN help prevent / minimize the dreaded slow down, when using so many apps, etc. Guess what it means per your definition of "performance"?
Typically just killing all processes should do the trick. No need to reboot.
Last edited by ShadowCaver; 07-25-2010 at 07:15 AM..
It would help to know what OS you are running... one other thing would be how much disk space do you have free??
Assuming it's windowz it can manage VM all on it's own ~or~ it could be hard-coded to a value.
Typically just killing all processes should do the trick. No need to reboot.
As you say, typically,,, but I've found that the vast majority of the time if I don't reboot, which seems to "wipe" everything clean, then the situation will come back faster.
As you say, typically,,, but I've found that the vast majority of the time if I don't reboot, which seems to "wipe" everything clean, then the situation will come back faster.
I aggree, it just seems like some processes are left running by the program you just closed, and your computer is still slow. Since VM is much slower than RAM, you should try to max your RAM out (as much as your OS supports)
Typically just killing all processes should do the trick. No need to reboot.
This assumes all programs play nice....
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