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Post by sarah89 on Jul 21, 2006 7:49:55 GMT -5
What is Virtual Memory?
My computer has 688mb available physical memory (i think this is ram.) 55GB available Virtual memory is 0% available... it has 1907mb and i use 1929mb
My computer runs good. Just wondering why it says 0%.
Awa[k]enD
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tmo
Administrator
Smokin Joe
Posts: 1,544
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Post by tmo on Jul 21, 2006 16:21:27 GMT -5
Did you mean 55MB available? I think you did...
Virtual Memory is what your computer uses when it uses all of the available ram (or memory) in your case 688MB. There obviously are times your PC uses all of the physical memory and needs what is called virtual memory to take the work load. Virtual memory is hard drive space that is allocated to be used like memory. Its slower than ram but is useful. Otherwise once you maxed out your memory you would get a message that says you no longer have available memory and would prompt you to shut down an application so you can run another.
The best fix for this is to upgrade more physical memory in your PC. Obviously you're a heavy multitasker like me and need more. I have 2G (2048MB). Personally I think that 1G is enough for most anyone which would require another 256MB stick to get you in that range. If you dont have another memory slot available you will have to remove a smaller memory stick and upgrade it with another larger memory size.
If buying and installing more memory isnt an option right now you can manually increase your virtual memory and reboot your PC to see if it helps.
Do the following:
1.. right click on my computer 2.. go to properties 3..select advanced tab 4.. select settings under performance 5.. select advanced tab 6.. record current min and max memory settings (so you can set back if needed) 7.. set min the same as your max so it doesnt slow machine down increasing memory in increments
This should make that message go away. If your pc runs slower after this change of memory size try to decrease max size until its speeds up.
Let me know if you have any problems.
I prefer you get more memory but do what you have to do for now. Ill check back on this tonight.
ttyl, TMO
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Post by sarah89 on Jul 21, 2006 17:13:37 GMT -5
Hey TMO, I followed your steps and found that my min was 1341mb and my max was 1344mb virtual memory. Change did nothing. I made both 1344mb So what should I buy? I have 688/1024mb of ram. The computer had one 512mb chip. Then my dad same day buy one more 512mb chip. I don't think I can buy anymore ram for my labtop.... The 55GB is the amount of memory on my computer that is available. 55/95GB is available My labtop has this toshiba laptop thing. When i click on it. It shows the computers processor live, memory, and battery. SYSTEM MEMORY Total Physical Memory 896mb Available Physcical Memory 61% 688mb Memory Load 38% Total Virtual Memory -1927mb Available Virtual Memory 0% 1909mb Total Strorage 95GB Available Storage 55GB I don't think it matters. I was just wondering why it says 0% avalaible.... hmmm, why do you think it says -1927?
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tmo
Administrator
Smokin Joe
Posts: 1,544
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Post by tmo on Jul 21, 2006 21:16:24 GMT -5
Ok, based on what you told me now I see that you have a total of 1024MB or 1G of physical memory. You need to set the virtual memory to 1.5x the total of phsical memory you have. In other words: 1024 X 1.5 ------ = 1536 Set the initial size to 1536 and the maximum size to 2048. Try that first then if no difference install the program described below. You can simply uninstall if you dont like or see any difference. This is a good program that may be able to free up some of your ram. Its free and all you have to do is run it and it will tell you how much ram it can free up. I have used this on several pcs that have had low memory and it usually seems to help. www.download.com/3001-2086_4-10516960.html?idl=nAlso, the 95G is your 100G hard drive formatted. Theres a different unit of measure that the hard drive manufacturers use than the one compared to the one your computer uses to measure the hard drive size. 55G is the total left that is unused. You are at a safe level for now but you dont want to fall below 20% free or it could start slowing your PC down. Let me know what happens next and I will try to help again. TMO
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Post by lordnikon on Jul 24, 2006 15:06:21 GMT -5
Sarah, Based on what I have read in the earlier posts I think I have a solution to speed things up..that is providing you are running XP. What I read in your first post tells me that you are maxing out your memory...translated it means you are running too many things at once which is using up resources. Solution... Either dont run all those applications at once or you need to stop background programs. how do I stop background programs from running..simple...click Start then run and type in msconfig then press Enter...the Systems configuration Utility will then pop up onscreen..then click on the Startup Tab... everything with a check mark in the box is running in the background everytime you start up your computer and will continue to run until you shut down your system. If you are running anti virus software you will need to know which boxes not to uncheck.. the location line usually identifies the program. If you are unsure..contact your anti virus tech support and they will tell you which entries in StartUp to leave checked. after you have unchecked all unnecessary StartUps..then click Apply..Close.. then restart. After the restart there will be a pop up screen stating that the system configuration has been modified...look for a check box on the lower left corner and check it then click OK.
I also recommend stopping System Restore..that is if you want to..but that takes up resources as well...upside to that..you have more resources available to you..downside..you cannot restore your system in the event of a problem...I always turn off system restore after a reinstall..but then again I am a tech and I have no problem wiping my drive and doing a clean install.
Let me know how things turn out.
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Post by sarah89 on Jul 25, 2006 7:17:56 GMT -5
Hey TMO and NIKON, TMO I did set the min and max like you said and downloaded that program. I uninstalled it because windows has a program like that i think. Anyway that program was trying to save ram while running programs. I have a lot of ram. My computer runs fine. I just wonder why 0% was by virtual memory... Nikon, Good idea about the start up. I have already done this. On a laptop their is a couple extra programs that need to run like touchpad and power manager. very few programs run. Spy,Norton,ati,sound, and thats it.. The speed of the computer is good. Just that 0% Thanks Awa[k]enD
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tmo
Administrator
Smokin Joe
Posts: 1,544
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Post by tmo on Jul 25, 2006 8:26:13 GMT -5
Its more common in a laptop to max out resources. It has been my experience anyway. As long as things are running fine and you have done what we have said then I wouldnt worry about it for now.
Let us know if you have any other problems and we will work on it for you. Its possible that its not displaying the proper useage, otherwise you should be feeling some lag from it I would think.
Have you noticed if all of your physical memory is used up when your virtual memory is 0?
TMO
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Post by sarah89 on Jul 25, 2006 11:03:58 GMT -5
My physical memory is normally above 512mb. I have tried to lower the physical memory by running many programs at the same time. The lowest I have ever got was 300mb something...
Virtual memory is used when your physical memory is at 0.. My physical memory or (ram) never falls below 300mb when trying. The norm is usually above 500mb...
Is their another way to check my Virtual memory status? I use the Toshiba notebook thingy. Something seems wrong but computer runs perfect i think
Awa[k]enD
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Post by renzo on Sept 24, 2006 18:39:13 GMT -5
wow TMO u know heaps about computers dude
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