Virtual Memory Problems.....Maybe a suggestion or two??? Please.

from WinCustomize Forums
Hi, I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea about what I need to do about my "Virtual Memory"
First I should say that I am forever mulit-tasking...big time....
This is the error I get....
"Windows Virtual Memory Too Low
Your system is low in virtual memory.
Windows is increasing the size of your
virtual memory paging file. During this
process, memory requests for some application
may be denied."
I get that at least once a day and I don't know what to do....

Here are the specs for my system...
HP Pavilion
Intel (R)
Celeron (R) CPU 2.70 GHZ
2.69 GHZ
248 MB RAM

And I'm running...
Windows XP
Home Edition
Version 2002
Service Pack 1

It never locks up or anything when it says that....I've looked at the "Virtual Memory Paging File" but I don't know what I should do with it....

As for the multi-tasking that I do....I ALWAYS have PSP8 running...ALWAYS! But I don't think that the combination of other programs that I may be running wouldn't be any different from anyone elses around here....but that's why I'm asking here because I'm usually also running like Logon Studio or Skin Studio and of course I use WB, Cursor XP, Tablaunchpad...but I usually shut down the Beatnik and Rainlendar and Object Dock when I'm working....and have prety much stopped using Desktop X altogether...

Thanks!!
[Message Edited]
wincustomize
7,880 views 16 replies
Reply #1 from WinCustomize Forums Top
... there are many different opinions about how you should set your virtual memory settings, but here is what i do:

if you have two harddrives, or two partitions, first disable the virtual paging file on your primary harddrive (the one containing ur os)

then, create a new paging file on the harddrive/partition that DOES NOT contain your windows installation.

for the size settings, i usually set the minimum to be around 1.5 times the amount of ram I have, so in your case set it to maybe 384 mb. for the maximum, I set it to more than a gig... since you do not have as much physical ram, I would set it to maybe 1536mb, which is 1.5 gigs

then, you can adjust these to taste... if you still get virtual memory low, you can up the maximum even more, to 2 gigs, and so on, until u run out of harddrive space

hope this helps



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Reply #2 from WinCustomize Forums Top
of course, if you only have one harddrive or partition, just keep the original paging file and extend its size



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Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #3 from WinCustomize Forums Top
first off.. buy more ram if you can. Bump it up to at least 512MB, preferably 1024MB.
Then do as Halluci said.
If you have just 1 drive, set the pagefile size at a higher level.
Right Click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance (settings button), Advanced, Virtual Memory (change button). Highlight the drive letter, and check the custom size button. Set the initial size and maximum size to the same number, then hit the Set button. You will probably have to reboot then.
The MS recommended size is 1.5 times your total physical ram. In your current case that would be 372MB which isn't a very large amount. You will have to experiment with it, but the goal here is to stop the low virtual mem messages. Make it higher if you wish.
Also, if you have a second hard drive, do not completely lose the paging file from drive C. If you do, you will lose the ability to perform the system restore. If you are not worried about that, then lose drive c page file and put it all on a separate Hard Disk.

Hope this helps
Reply #4 from WinCustomize Forums Top
do not completely lose the paging file from drive C. If you do, you will lose the ability to perform the system restore.

I didn't know that, and it explains a problem I had in the past with System Restore.

I've read conflicting views on where the page should be, and I have no idea which view is actually correct. But I was told by someone quite knowledgeable that setting the page file on another drive doesn't really help.

But I do know one thing..... Phoon is correct about your physical RAM..... you need more.





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Reply #5 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I've read conflicting views on where the page should be, and I have no idea which view is actually correct. But I was told by someone quite knowledgeable that setting the page file on another drive doesn't really help.


thats probably right, it most likely doesn't help, but the thing is, if you set it on ur secondary partition, especially with more than one harddrive, you spread out the usage among harddrives and thus in theory it should take less time to access both the page file and the windows files on the main harddrive



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Reply #6 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Ok, Uh I do have 2 drives but the second drive is the HP_RECOVERY. I've not made the suggested recovery CDs yet but I need to....anyway, when I right click on D this is what the properties are.
Type Local
File System FAT32
Capacity 7.00GB
Used 4.58 GB
Free 2.42 GB
I've not found where I can do any changing of it.
I do know I need to buy more RAM, I'll look into it.
I DO NOT want to loose the ability to perform the System Restore, because I've used it several times......especially when I'm trying to get the Stardock BootSkin utility working....it crashes my system everytime I try to install it.
Reply #7 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't think you have two physically separate drives....the HP_RECOVERY is just another partition on your single drive. If you system is still original factory components, odds are that there is only one drive. I agree with everyone else...you definitely want at least 512K of memory. Also my page file is on my first HD and it is set at 1.5x for maximum
Reply #8 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I don't know if it's seperate or not....it shows up in My Computer as seperate....one id "C" and the other is "D"
How can I figure out if it's seperate?
And does anyone have a suggestion about what and where to get the RAM?
I tend to do a LOT of shopping on eBay..Good idea or bad?
And BTW...I really appreceite all the help...
Reply #9 from WinCustomize Forums Top
go to System Properties....Hardware Tab....Device Manager to see all your installed hardware, or just open the case . Buy memory from a regular outlet that allows returns, in case you get a bad stick.
Reply #10 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks for the help! Can I ask one more question....
I've been looking into buying, but now I need to figure out about the whole...DDR, SDR, DIMM...
What's the deal there....I looked in the books that came with my pc, but it looks like I need to open the computer and look at the amount of pins to see which I need to buy...
I do hate to be such a pain....when it comes to doing a most computer things I know my way around, but that's with software type issues....hardware is a whole new ball game to me!
Reply #12 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I would call tech support on your HP and ask them what type of Ram you need. They will know. There are a lot of variables to Ram. Parity,non-parity, edo, non edo, pin counts...etc
Reply #13 from WinCustomize Forums Top
be sure to check the overhead knuter-valve before you open the case though..
Reply #14 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Your Virtual Memory is located in Control Panel- System- Advanced- Performance Settings- Advanced -Virtual Memory change- then press set after you change the settings or they won't stick.
Reply #15 from WinCustomize Forums Top
I get that Windows Virtual Memory Too Low message lots to. It means that u have too many programs running, u have too many hardware devices connected to the computer, or, u have to unstall some software/hardware devices.
Reply #16 from WinCustomize Forums Top

I found this info today. The entire article can be found here  http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php
Very informative reading.

 

Problems with Virtual Memory

It may sometimes happen that the system give ‘out of memory’ messages on trying to load a program, or give a message about Virtual memory space being low. Possible causes of this are:
The setting for Maximum Size of the page file is too low, or there is not enough disk space free to expand it to that size.


The page file has become corrupt, possibly at a bad shutdown. In the Virtual Memory settings, set to “No page file,” then exit System Properties, shut down the machine, and reboot. Delete PAGEFILE.SYS (on each drive, if more than just C:), set the page file up again and reboot to bring it into use.


The page file has been put on a different drive without leaving a minimal amount on C:.


There is trouble with third party software. In particular, if the message happens at shutdown, suspect a problem with Symantec’s Norton Live update, for which there is a fix posted here. It is also reported that spurious messages can arise if NAV 2004 is installed. If the problem happens at boot and the machine has an Intel chipset, the message may be caused by an early version (before version 2.1) of Intel’s “Application Accelerator.” Uninstall this and then get an up-to-date version from Intel’s site.


Possibly there is trouble with the drivers for IDE hard disks in Device Manager, remove the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers (main controller) and reboot for Plug and Play to start over.


With an NTFS file system, the permissions for the page file’s drive’s root directory must give “Full Control” to SYSTEM. If not, there is likely to be a message at boot that the system is “unable to create a page file.”