on start up: virtual memory too low message...how can this be fixed...it seems there are a lot of processes running in the task manager just on starting up.can I change these, or stop them from running ? or do I need to change paging file size...? I have plenty of disc memory4 people need an answerI do too

hello Windows XP Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab. In the Performance pane, click Settings. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab. In the Virtual memory pane, click Change. Change the Initial size value and the Maximum size value to a higher value, click Set, and then click OK. Click OK to close the Performance Options dialog box, and then click OK to close the System Properties dialog box. and try this url http://lifehacker.com/356876/reclaim-memory-by-mastering-windows-task-manager If this post helps to resolve your issue, Please click the Mark as Answered check mark on this page it helps others who need quick access to answers THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK

Coorks answer in the first part is correct. But the rest is a little vague. "Windows XP Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab. In the Performance pane, click Settings. In the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab. In the Virtual memory pane, click Change. " I had the same problem, and still do, to a degree, XP won't recocnize (sp?) ALL my 4GBs of memory. It would only show 2048 MB Phys. memory. So after doing most of what Coork explaned I found out I could increase my virtual to 6000MB and then My machine would still show 2048 MB Phys. mem, and 2.25 GB Avail. Physical memory??? (Note: others I've seen would show as much as 3.56GB Phys./Avail?) It also shows, virtual mem.@ 2.0 and Avail. Virt. 1.95, and page file as 6.34GB.??? 2.25GB?? AvaiL., is what my "sys. information" shows on my machine: XP Pro sp3, Pen.4, 3.3 ghz, 320gb HDD with matched Corsair 2x2gb - CMZX2X2048-6400C4DHX - 800mhz memory modules.I sure would like to find out myself how to get XP to at least show, say 3.5MB of phy. memory???I ended up unchecking "maxmemory" and putting in NO numbers in the box, and adding the 6000MB to virtual (that's all it would let me do). Above is what I ended with.

hello not vague the question was a two part question Reread :::: " a lot of processes running in task manager" the url i showed how to turn off some of the processesyour problem is a bit different' win xp 32 will not recognize over 2 gb physical memory virtual memory is all that you can increase If this post helps to resolve your issue, Please click the Mark as Answered check mark on this page it helps others who need quick access to answers THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK

Try thisstart > Run>type [msconfig] >Enter>Click the Boot Tab>Click Advanced Options>Put a check in Maxium Memory> insert amount of memory installed in your system.make sure your motherboard will hold more then 1 gig per slot. Maybe that motherboard only holds 2 gig max.Let us know Serving the Community one Computer at a time

Try thisstart > Run>type [msconfig] >Enter>Click the Boot Tab>Click Advanced Options>Put a check in Maxium Memory> insert amount of memory installed in your system.make sure your motherboard will hold more then 1 gig per slot. Maybe that motherboard only holds 2 gig max.Let us know Serving the Community one Computer at a time Hi Rushville,I'm not sure which one of us you are answering but I'll give my 2cents. My computer will hold a max of 8 GB up to 667mhz and up to 4GB800mhz (MSI p965Platinum M-7238 mobo w/FSB of 1333?) . I tried to check that box you stated and then add as much as I have.. (2x 2048GB--4GBtotal) and it would not accept that. The most it would accept is 2048MB. So I did what I stated above, left the check box blank AND the amount box blank. Then it, at least, showed 2046? as physical. (I) finally got it to show 2560 MB??? So I left it as is.I have heard one can add "PAE ' at the end, e.g. /pae, of the bootini file and that would help?? I don't know because I didn't do it. I also heard one could edit the end of the same line with /maxmem=4096 or?. I tried that then saved it then restarted and when I checked....that line was gone???So I just left everything as is and since it runs okay I decided not to change it.Thanks for your input.Now I'm having to contend with what I believe might be a bad on/off switch so now I'm back to using my old computer for a while.........Just when I thought things were going good and Murphy steps in..:(Thanks again

I don't want to get off of the subject, but the power switch can be tested by powering on the computer then pulling the Power switch plug off of the motherboard. If it is a switch problem it should run fine until you shut it down. then you will have to plug the switch back into the Motherboard until it starts then pull it back off again. Its a temporary work around. Serving the Community one Computer at a time www.therushvillecomputerguy.com Please post a response to let us know whether our answer helped or not. Hi C Guy!I don't either sooo.. should we start a new thread?? LOL But since we're on the subject, Here's what happens:And this has happend to a lessor degree earlier. I hit (or press) the power button, earlier sometimes the fans would briefly come on then turn off, a few seconds would go by and they/all would startup just fine. now the fans just barely start to go and then shut down?? If I turn off the switch to the power supply for say 20 or 30 seconds (no LESS) then the fans would/will do the same... go on then turn off. If I press the switch again, nothing? only if I unplug or turn off the power supply for an extended period will the fans try to start. I thought I might take a switch out of one of the many older non-working computers I have and try one of those. After that and if that doesn't work, then i figure it could either be the power supply or the motherboard or???I sure hope it isn't in the motherboard!! A bad power supply would give me a good reason to jump up to a 750W or whatever. ____, it's like buying a new gun, I need a reason....NOT, hahaIf you have any thoughts on it I sure would appreciate hearing themYou're a good person and I think it is commendable that even though you are in the business to earn a living, you still manage to come here and help out us pO' folk.Thanks, a lot!P.S. I have checked all th e connections from the switches and LEDs via the manual and they are correct.

Try thisstart > Run>type [msconfig] >Enter>Click the Boot Tab>Click Advanced Options>Put a check in Maxium Memory> insert amount of memory installed in your system.make sure your motherboard will hold more then 1 gig per slot. Maybe that motherboard only holds 2 gig max.Let us know Serving the Community one Computer at a time Hi Rushville,I'm not sure which one of us you are answering but I'll give my 2cents. My computer will hold a max of 8 GB up to 667mhz and up to 4GB800mhz (MSI p965Platinum M-7238 mobo w/FSB of 1333?) . I tried to check that box you stated and then add as much as I have.. (2x 2048GB--4GBtotal) and it would not accept that. The most it would accept is 2048MB. So I did what I stated above, left the check box blank AND the amount box blank. Then it, at least, showed 2046? as physical. (I) finally got it to show 2560 MB??? So I left it as is.I have heard one can add "PAE ' at the end, e.g. /pae, of the bootini file and that would help?? I don't know because I didn't do it. I also heard one could edit the end of the same line with /maxmem=4096 or?. I tried that then saved it then restarted and when I checked....that line was gone???So I just left everything as is and since it runs okay I decided not to change it.Thanks for your input.Now I'm having to contend with what I believe might be a bad on/off switch so now I'm back to using my old computer for a while.........Just when I thought things were going good and Murphy steps in..:(Thanks again One thing we need to look at for your memory is how many modules do you have installed?what size are the modules, how may gigs?do you physically see chips on both sides of the modules?Are all the chips the same?Serving the Community one Computer at a time www.therushvillecomputerguy.com Please post a response to let us know whether our answer helped or not.

hello this url may be of some interestrest http://en.kioskea.net/faq/1571-why-windows-is-not-detecting-the-4-gb-of-ram-installedyour pae question http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx Please click the Check Mark As Answered Check Mark On This Page If this post helps to resolve your issue, as it helps others who need quick access to Answers THANK YOU AND GOOD LUCK

Have you check to see if there any app is leaking memory cause the system showing the error? Here's how:http://itjungles.com/windows/fixed-windows-virtual-memory-is-too-lowAll connectionstring on earth <Removed Link>

Quang Vo, Please note that posting SPAM in any Microsoft forum violates theCode of Conduct. Kindly read the document and adhere to its policies. We have modified your signature, but please know that you risk being banned from posting in all Microsoft forums if violation continues. Thank you for your cooperation. Cody C Microsoft Answers Support Engineer Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

So far this has improved my problem with virtual memory. Thank you

Here is how to figure it out without trying things or guessing about what things like a "higher value" might be: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 amount of 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.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.Who's on top using all the 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!

"JoselbarraClick 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."Good information!I haven't had any problems since my last revisions (above). Thought I'd add this bit of info and question.Here is my sys. info: (msinfo32)OS Name Microsoft Windows XP ProfessionalVersion 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600OS Manufacturer Microsoft CorporationSystem NameSystem Manufacturer MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO.,LTDSystem Model MS-7238System Type X86-based PCProcessor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 1 GenuineIntel ~2999 MhzBIOS Version/Date American Megatrends Inc. V1.8, 12/1/2007SMBIOS Version 2.5Windows Directory C:\WINDOWSSystem Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1Locale United StatesHardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"User NameTime Zone Mountain Daylight TimeTotal Physical Memory 2,048.00 MBAvailable Physical Memory 2.56 GBTotal Virtual Memory 2.00 GBAvailable Virtual Memory 1.96 GBPage File Space 6.34 GBPage File C:\pagefile.sysHere is my question concerning memory. I know it should be obvious, but I was wondering why, if it shows that "Total Physical Memory" is 2048.00 MB. Why would it show "Available Physical Memory" as 2.56GB? "Available Physical Memory" seems like it should be LESS then "Total Physical Memory".....deducting whatever (Physical) memory the system uses. Is this a quirk in the 'msinfo32" reporting? It just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe I'm just too old and dumb to see it. :-PCan you shed a little light on this? Or give a link?Thanks P.S. By the way Coork gave some good leads also that is why I voted for both of you,,:-)

Those numbers are peculiar.To avoid controversy (later), let's accept that your motherboard can hold 4GB of RAM and XP will only recognize 3.5MB of RAM - that can vary but let's say 3.5MB is the limit and work with that. If you have 4GB installed and ~3.5GB it is not showing up, you may have some hardware issue to resolve or you may have just adjusted yourself out of 1.5GB.Here is one article that help 'splain things: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/291988/en-usI cannot see what recommendations you have implemented or the things you have tried, but I can see that you have not implemented what I think is the best - let XP handle your memory and don't just start trying things. For the average Joe (or Jose), that configuration is fine.I would say that whatever you have done to your system by trying things, in actually, is not helping things at all - you are making things worse (things = performance).It would be a good goal to have your system configured so that you never see the annoying virtual memory resize message.It would be a good goal to have your system configured (and enough RAM installed) to that XP never uses the paging file on the HDD. This may not be practical in all environments. Every time you see the message, XP thinks it is running out of memory on the motherboard and has to use the HDD to perform operations. This is inefficient since reading/writing to the HDD is the slowest possible method. You would hope that you have enough physical memory installed and not too many programs loaded so that XP never has to use the paging file at all - that would be ideal. XP would only use it when it needed to (that is why it is there - for when things run low). Ideally, things should be adjusted so you never see the annoying pop up message - or very, very rarely. If you see it frequently, you should analyze where your VM is going, what applications are consuming so much and try to do something about it. Some things are VM hogs - they don't care. Doing something about does not mean you just start increasing the size of your paging file until the mesage goes away. That may indeed keep the message from coming up, but your system runs less efficiently by not exploiting the resources you have (and you have plenty).It looks like you have adjusted and contorted your system to keep the message from popping up, and instead of using the paging file only when it NEEDS to (which you hope is rarely), your system is now RELYING on the paging file. In reality, you have not fixed your problem - you fixed the symptom of the problem. There is a difference.Since you did not report back your Task Manager situation yet, we can't tell what is using all your virtual memory or make good recommendations. I generally do not suggest things to "try". I am not a tryer. I suspect you have some antiwhatever applications or too many Windows programs running that are using up all your VM, but can't tell without seeing it.Describe your current antivirus and anti malware situation: McAfee, Norton, Spybot, AVG, Avira!, MSE, Defender, ZoneAlarm, PC Tools, Comodo, etc.I usually see things like too many antivirus applications and most every system has w-a-y- too many things loaded by default in XP. Here is what my Task Manager looks like. http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6530/taskmanagerv.jpgIf you want to share your Task Manager, do this: 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 width of the Task Manager by dragging the corners 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.Take a screenshot of what you see in Task Manager (see below for instructions). To create and email/post/print a screenshot:Press the Print Scrn button to copy your entire screen to the Windows clipboard.Press Alt Print Scrn to copy just the active window to the Windows clipboard.Open MS Paint:Start, Programs, Accessories, PaintWhen Paint opens, press CTRL-V to paste the clipboard, save the new Paint file to your desktop or someplace you can remember. JPG files take up less hard disk space than BMP files and are just as readable. Make as many screenshots as you need. Practice makes perfect. Be careful your screenshot does not contain any personal information. Practice viewing your images before you upload them to be sure they are okay.Some sites will let you attach a file directly to your post. If the site has some kind of attachment/upload function it is usually easiest just to use it. If there is no such function in your message board to upload files, then use a free third party image hosting WWW site.Create a free account on some free picture hosting web site. You can always remove your account later if you want. Here are some free image hosting sites:http://www.imageshack.us/http://photobucket.com/Using your free account, upload your screenshot(s) (the JPG or BMP files) to the site and it will return to you a URL web address (a Direct Link) for your new image(s) which you can paste the Direct Link in a message post, email, etc.Post that Direct Link web address back here in your response and we can click on the link address and see your screenshot. Post as many as you need - the sites are free.When you are done, what you post for others to use should look something like this:http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/6530/taskmanagerv.jpg Please vote my posts as helpful so I can get lots of points. I am saving up for a pony!

Joselbarra,I think we may have gone a little off track? That's OK. Maybe you weren't answering MY question. At the moment my computer is running pretty good. Once in a while I have to restart it and then it's OK.I have 67 processes running according to "task mgr". But my computer vertually SNAPS from page to page and internet loads @ 1.9MB/sec DSL. Not a bad rate since3 I'm paying for 1.5.OK, read my inquiry again (may need to check out other info I provided earlier). If that is the one you're were answering. If it wasn't my question you were answering then I apologize and no more needs to be said on the matter.All I was wondering is, qoute:"Here is my question concerning memory. I know it should be obvious, but I was wondering why, if it shows that "Total Physical Memory" is 2048.00 MB. Why would it show "Available Physical Memory" as 2.56GB? *(since XP only recognizes 2GBs to begin with. Note: this added at this point) "Available Physical Memory" seems like it should be LESS then "Total Physical Memory".....deducting whatever (Physical) memory the system uses. Is this a quirk in the 'msinfo32" reporting? It just doesn't seem right to me. Maybe I'm just too old and dumb to see it. :-P"This was just a matter of attempting clarification about how "'msinfo32" reports items about memory etc., that's all.Now that we've cleared that one (I hope :-)... In going through all this and getting my 'task mgr' box resized (as suggested earlier), somehow I have lost all my tool bars above and info below, about 'task mgr'. i.e "Field", "Edit", "View" and so on. And any information that used to show below before. I used to just hit "Maximize" in the upper right corner to expand "Task Mgr". After resizing with the corner trick all the boxes above and below disappeared???How do I get all that back??Thanks for all you have described and anything you can do on this one. How can I restore 'Task Mgr" to come up with all the original settings and headings etc. etc.???

It is not unusual for joseibarra to get wordy in his efforts to try to explain things.Of course the system I am straightening out/fixing up today displays the msinfo32 information as expected. It is working perfectly. (malfunctioning computers tremble in my presence)OS Name Microsoft Windows XP ProfessionalVersion 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600OS Manufacturer Microsoft CorporationSystem Manufacturer Hewlett-PackardSystem Model Presario V4000 System Type X86-based PCProcessor x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8 GenuineIntel ~1696 MhzBIOS Version/Date Phoenix F.14, 4/27/2006SMBIOS Version 2.31Windows Directory C:\WINDOWSSystem Directory C:\WINDOWS\system32Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1Locale United StatesHardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"Time Zone Eastern Standard TimeTotal Physical Memory 512.00 MBAvailable Physical Memory 220.24 MB Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GBAvailable Virtual Memory 1.96 GBPage File Space 1.20 GBPage File C:\pagefile.sys It sounds like you are running Task Manager in tiny/small footprint mode - too much clicking around!If you double click the empty space around the border of the TM display it will switch back to regular mode and then you should see the tabs you are used to seeing.You can read about it here:http://www.broadbandreports.com/faq/6905 I need YOUR votes and points for helpful replies and Answers. I am saving up for a pony!