Low Virtual Memory
"Recently I installed a game on a friend's computer and when we tried playing it, we would get a message saying 'Your system is low on virtual memory.' Can you please help us fix this problem?"
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Feelin' Mighty Low (on Memory)
When all of your computer's real physical memory (RAM) is in use, Windows will try to create virtual memory by grabbing a chunk of hard drive space and treating it like real memory. Your software can't tell the difference between real and virtual memory, but you might because virtual memory access is much slower, due to the hard drive activity it requires.
If you encounter the low virtual memory error message, then you have used the maximum amount of real plus virtual memory that is supported on your system. Sometimes programs that crash or ones that are poorly designed will not return their working memory space to the operating system when they're done using it. Other programs that need a large amount of memory to run may fail because Windows cannot "see" the available memory. In most cases, a shutdown and restart will resolve this problem.
Windows Knows Best
If you still see the dreaded "Your system is low on virtual memory" message then the first thing to do is make sure your computer is configured to allow Windows to automatically manage the virtual memory. In Windows XP, follow these steps:
When you allow Windows to manage your virtual memory, it should make the optimum amount of virtual memory available, by automatically shrinking or enlarging the paging file as needed. If that doesn't solve the low virtual memory problem, there are a few more things you can try.
Eliminate Non-Essential Programs
Over time, we tend to accumulate a bit of clutter on a computer. My article "Making Windows XP Run Faster!" will show you how to keep your system updated, eliminate viruses & spyware, scrub the hard disk of unneeded files, slim down your startup selections, and eliminate unnecessary system services. All of these things will free up resources in your computer, making it run faster and more reliably.
Add RAM to Your System
It might just be the case that your computer needs more real, physical memory. By this I mean RAM sticks that can be purchased in most computer, electronics, or office supply stores. If your PC is more than three years old, chances are it's close to being obsolete -- at least in terms of the ability to run today's resource-hogging software packages. And adding RAM to an older computer is the most effective thing you can do to upgrade it.
To see how much memory you have installed, follow these steps under Windows XP:
On the System Properties window, you'll see the type and speed of your processor (CPU) and the amount of RAM. Note that Windows always seems to report that you have slightly less memory than you actually have. For example, if Windows reports 496 MB of RAM, you actually have 512 MB. (Memory will always be installed in 64 MB increments.)
The more RAM you have, the better your computer will perform. I recommend you have a minimum 256 megabytes (MB) of RAM, but with 512 MB or even a gigabyte of RAM, you'll notice much better performance.
Plan B: Recycle Your Computer
If popping the hood on your old PC sounds like too much trauma, consider buying a new one. Computer prices have dropped a lot over the past few years, and the computing power you get for your money is going up. My How to Buy a Computer article will guide you through the Windows vs. Mac issue, what kind of processor you need, and will give you recommendations on monitors and software.
Posted by Bob Rankin on December 28, 2005 02:05 PM
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Most recent comments on "Low Virtual Memory"
(See all 42 comments for this article.)|
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Hello! my laptop is about 4-5 years old and recently has been running out of space because i have so much music on it. It began running really slow so i deleted all my music and placed it on a hardrive. One day, all of a sudden, the icons on my desktop totally stopped appearing. I could still access everything through my "start" options but still found it weird. It said my computer had low virtual memory space, so i used this site to try to fix that. I followed the instructions but my icons still dont appear!!! i suck at computers, can someone please help me??? EDITOR'S NOTE: I would recommend System Restore, to return your system to the point where the icons DID appear. The alternative is to recreate the icons manually. See http://askbobrankin.com/system_restore.html |
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Thanks so much for all of the recomendations of fixes for this error. I went through and tried them all this morning, including loading the Regseeker. Made a huge difference! Never realized how much excess junk was out there hogging up needed space. Your article was very helpful! Thanks so much!!! |
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hello i am getting this message every time: windows virtual memory is low. EDITOR'S NOTE: So you read the article, tried my suggestions, and now it works great. Right? |
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Bob how can i fix this problem of low memory EDITOR'S NOTE: You did read the article, right? So you tried my suggestions, and what happened? |
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Mine...replace mouse then..everthing fine. EDITOR'S NOTE: I suppose it's possible that your mouse driver was causing a memory leak. But I would never have suspected that! |
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I followed the instructions on incsreasing virtual memory. How do you change the number or know how high the number can go? Does selescting change automatically increase the number? EDITOR'S NOTE: This article should help: http://askbobrankin.com/virtual_memory.html |
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How about instructions for a computer running Windows 2000 professional? I mean instructions about finding out how much RAM there is, how to do the cleaning, etc.... |
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Thanx...it worked...thanx again |
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hi,bob EDITOR'S NOTE: See http://askbobrankin.com/make_windows_xp_run_faster.html |
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Had no clue what the message "low on virtual memory" meant until I read your article. Bought Thank you. |
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Low Virtual Memory (Posted: December 28, 2005 02:05 PM)
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Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved