Genealogy Chat

can anyone explain to me (WHAT IS VIRTUAL MEMORY as my computer says that im low on this and i do not understand what it is. or just how to fix this problem
thank you

Sue,

i'm certainly no expert and may be wrong, but the way i understand it virtual memory is just the amount of space taken up on the computer drive.

it may be that you have lots of music and or photos on your computer which is taking up a lot of memory space. you could try moving anything like this to a CD disc or a memory stick (usb stick) and that may help.

also sounds silly but empty your recycle bin. i always shove stuff in there and forget it still takes up space!

that's only what i understand it to be so someone else may know better than me. just my general idea of it.
Lee.

DET,

Defrag does now sound very familiar. it kind of compacts everything together and squishes it in. like you said, like packing a suitcase. lol

don't know how you do that now tho, can just picture the little symbol thingy.
Lee.

Yes, defrag is a way of tidying up. When you delete files or move files you leave lots of little gaps. So it's like a bookshelf where you've taken out half a dozen paperbacks. Each paperback doesn't leave a space to put in an encyclopedia but if you shuffle up the books there's plenty of space on the end for it.

Defragmentation (closing up the fragmented bits) certainly helps but is not virtual memory.

If you run a few applications at the same time - say an email, a web browser, and a word document, your pc may not have enough memory to do that so it searches your computer for space it can use temporarily, therefore virtual, not real. You can increase this virtual memory & it's a good idea to do so if you continually get that message.

If your computer uses XP, not Vista, then this is what to do.

Now I'm going to go back to basics so don't be offended if I'm teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs. Just skim over the bits that you already know how to do.

1. Click the Start button on the lower left-hand corner of your screen. A pop-up menu is displayed. Click on Control Panel.
2. This opens up into a new screen that either has little icons or a list. Whichever, you click on System. On some machines you have to click on 'Performance & Maintenance' first to find the System icon.
3. When the little System window is displayed click on the Advanced tab near the top.
4. There should be 3 subsections in this window with the first one Performance. Click the Settings button in this section.
5. Once again click the Advanced tab, and once again there are 3 subsections. Virtual Memory is the 3rd. Click the Change button.
6. In the Drive [Volume Label] box click the C: drive. This will highlight it. It may be the only one in the box and you don't have to do anything.
7. Click the white button in front of 'System managed size' & click the Set button.
8. Lastly, close all the windows you have opened by clicking the OK buttons. This should be 3 buttons. Then close the Control Panel.

You'll then get a message to close down your computer for these changes to take effect. It is wiser to do that straight away rather than leave it until later.

Sorry, I can't help with Vista as I have XP, but it may be a similar process.

Just in case you want to defrag. This is particularly effective if your computer is sluggish. I schedule my pc to defrag once a week.

Go to the following link, it shows you how very clearly.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/tips/defrag.mspx

Virtual Memory is a (relatively) small amount of disk space that is set aside to suplement the physical memory chips that are installed in your computer and in which the programs that you have running on your computer are loaded when you open them. It is nothing to do with the number of files, photographs or other data you have stored on your computer.

De-fragging may only improve the time it takes to access files stored on your hard drive, assuming they have become defragmented, it won't sort out memory problems, or speed up internet access. With modern computers and large disc drives, unless you regularly load and delete large numbers of files, it is only necessary to de-frag occasionally, say every six or twelve months. Weekly is unecessary in most cases.

You can increase the amount of virtual memory alocated, as instructed above, but unless you have some computer experience, it is probably better tnot to start tinkering. (One reason why the options are tucked away deep in Control Panel) Virtual memory is normally set to 1.5 times installed physical memory and this is satisfactory for most purposes. I would only suggest you change it if is not set to 1.5 times.


There are however a number of things you can also try

1. Ensure that you anti-virus and anti-spyware programs are up to date and run regularly. It is possible that you have a rogue program running which is using memory.

2. Close all files and shut down your computer completely. Leave turned off for a couple of minutes then re-start. This will flush evereything out of memory and ensure that you have a clean start.

3. Make sure that you close programs that you are no longer using, as each program you have open will use a small amount of memory. Programs such as large spreadsheets can consume lots of memory resources.

4. Use a program such as CCleaner to regularly clean up.

Finally how old is your computer, and what is its specification? It my be that it is time for an upgrade. You can check its spec, by going to Performance & Maintenance, System, General within Control Panel

Brinsleys is right in practice, but not in theory - you'll only notice the difference if you're running a pretty old (say 15y) PC, as then VM will be a relatively large chunk of your hard drive.

Your probable problem is you've got too many windows open - each one uses some of the VM, and if you've got a lot of browser windows open, and a lot of images and pdf's, then you'll get this problem. The solution of course is to close some.

I did say 'modern'.....! I remember in the 1980's and ealry 90's we had to defrag some pc's at work overnight. 286's If I remember, with 40meg hard discs.

We don't know what the pc spec is, which is why I how old the PC is.

I do have an old computer, & it's just hanging in there. That's why I need to defrag. :(

Ozi.

Hi Ozi, depends what you mean by 'old' Mine is coming up to seven years and still has its original 20G system disk, although I have since added a second 250G drive which I use to store photos, cds and dvds plus all my family tree info, and an external 500G usb drive for backups. I have also doubled the memory to 1g, the max the motherboard can accomodate.

The machine should in theory run Vista, but for now I will stick with XP.

I only defrag the small drive every six months, and even then it is doubtful whether or not it is necessary, the two larger drives have never been defragged, mainly because I am not in the habit of adding and deleting large numbers of files, which is what causes defragmentation in the first place.

Widows defrag will check and tell you wether it is worthwhile running it.

The reason I mentioned it is because defrag won't make much difference to many people - not to say that it isn't important - other housekeeping tasks may have more of an immediate effect.

Sue - can you let us all know how you get on.

Totally agree, Brinsleys.

Mine probably doesn't need it weekly, but definitely about every 3 weeks. I'm just too lazy to change the schedule.

I hope Sue is able to sort out her Virtual Memory.

Ozi.

HELLO
I WISH TO THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH .I WILL DO JUST WHAT YOU SAY TO DO
AND I WILL GET BACK TO YOU ALL AS SOON AS I HAVE GOT IT ALL TOGETHER
IM REALLY HAPPY FOR THE HELP AND GREAT RESPONC
THANK YOU

You can buy extra memory - I had to do this for my rather limited 20GB computer. I did have to get our computer guru to do it for me - he did it all at the same time as installing a new computer for my OH and fitting a router for me so I can't remember the specific cost

hi
its sue only to let you know i have FIXED the virtual memory on my computer thanks to the people who guided me
i thought id fill you in on that
thanks again

n

Glad to hear you are sorted. What did you have to do in the end?

Well done, Sue.