Repeated error messages
My computer tells me my virtual memory is too low and adds more virtual memory to continue working. How do I add virtual memory and eliminate this problem?1 person needs an answerI do too
August 23rd, 2010 2:31pm

Right-click My Computer > Properties > Advanced Tab > Performance pane > Settings > Advanced Tab > Virtual memory pane > Change. Now change the Initial size value and the Maximum size value to higher values, click Set > OK, etc. to close all the boxes. Ordinarily, the allocated initial figure is 1.5 times the amount of RAM that you have, but the maximum can be three times.Also, you may be running out of disk space.
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August 23rd, 2010 4:37pm

If you mean you are seeing an informative message like this:Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low: Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file.That means Windows XP is letting you know it is doing it's job. The message is not an error message - it is an informational message.If XP thinks the size of the paging file (usually c:\pagefile.sys) is too small to accommodate your current operations it will adjust it to make it larger and display that message.Most of the time it means somebody has been tampering with the paging file to try to solve some other problem that usually has nothing to do with their paging file.To see what your current settings are, right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance Settings, Advanced tab, Virtual Memory, Change button.Unless you know more about managing memory that Windows XP, you should let XP handle the size of your virtual memory paging file.The best setting for Paging file size is usually going to be:System managed sizeWindows XP will try to allocate a paging file approximately 1.5 times the total amountof the RAM installed in your system. Letting Windows XP handle the paging file size is adequate for most configurationsIf yours is not set to System managed size you need to determine how it got changed and why (usually some wrong reason), make a note of the current settings, change the setting to System managed size, click the Set button and Apply the changes (you will be asked to reboot). "Because somebody told me to" is not a good reason to make adjustments to the paging file size. You need to figure it out and fix it properly - not just try things.After making the adjustments, reboot, then check the paging file settings again to make sure they stick, then test your system again and see if you still get the messages.If you are still seeing the message, you should determine what applications you are running that are consuming so much of your virtual memory that Windows XP needs to adjust it. Some applications are notorious for consuming large amounts of virtual memory (like the Spybot Teatimer - do you have that installed?).You can determine how applications are using your virtual memory using Task Manager.To do that:Right click the Taskbar, choose Task Manager and select the Processes tab.Click View, Select Columns, check the box that says: Virtual Memory Size. Expand the height and width of the Task Manager by dragging the corners and edges so you can see all the columns and processes in one window if possible.Double click a column heading in TM to sort by the column. For example, sort Task Manager by the CPU or Virtual Memory size column.What are the processes are on top using the most Virtual Memory? If you need another set of eyeballs on your settings, describe the top 5 applications you see in Task Manager that are using the most virtual memory and, do this:Click Start, Run and in the box enter:msinfo32Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select All, Copy and then paste the results back here.There will be some personal information (like System Name and User Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just delete the personal information from the pasted information.This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork and assumptions.Please vote my posts as helpful so I can get lots of points. I am saving up for a pony!
August 23rd, 2010 4:38pm

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