How Can You Fix Virtual Memory?

What is Virtual Memory and What Does it Do?

When people talk about computer memory they are talking about the amount of RAM (Random Access Memory in your computer. Ram is what the processor uses to store data while it is processing it. It is very fast electronic memory and is much more expensive than hard disk space.

When a computer starts up it loads the operating system into RAM. Then when it opens an application, it loads the application’s code and any files the applications needs into RAM as well. It will continue doing this until it runs out of space in the RAM.  After that is starts using a special file on the hard drive called pagefile.sys as virtual memory.

When the processor runs out of room in the RAM, it moves data that is not currently being used into the page file so it can load what the application needs at the moment into RAM. The operating system swaps data into and out of the virtual memory as needed.  Some files such as the operating system files cannot be swapped into virtual memory but
almost everything else can.

The most common virtual memory problem that you might experience is the “your system is low on virtual memory” error message.

Causes of the Problem

There are several reasons why you might get this error message such as:

• The maximum size of the page file is too small.
• You do not have enough free space on the hard drive to continue writing to the page file. The page file will expand each time new data is written to it until it reaches it maximum allowed size.
• The page file has become corrupt.
• Some applications do not release memory properly when they shut down so the system might not “see” the available space.

How to fix the problem

Let’s look at each of the possible causes individually to see what you need to do in each case to resolve the problem.

Some applications do not release memory properly

Rebooting the system will correct this problem.

The maximum size of the page file is too small

1. Click on Start ->Control Panel ->System. Next,  click on the Advanced tab to open the system properties dialogue box shown below:

2. Next, click on Settings button under Performance. When that window opens, click on the Advanced tab. You will get the window below:

3. Click on the Change button under Virtual Memory. The dialogue box below will appear:

4. As you can see, I have chosen the let Windows manage my virtual memory. That is usually the best thing to do because windows will try to optimize its use of virtual memory.

5. If System managed size is not selected, click on the radio button to select it and then click on the Set button.

6. Close the windows and reboot your computer.

7. The error message should not appear again.

8. If the System managed size was already selected, then you probably have one of the other problems.

The page file has become corrupt

1. Go to the “C” drive. If the hidden files are not visible, open My Computer and click on Tools -> Folder Options on the menu and select Show hidden files and folders as shown below:

2. Then Click OK.

3. Go back to my computer and delete the pagefile.sys file.

4. Reboot the computer.

5. The system will recreate the page file and everything should work correctly.

6. If not, you have a different problem.

You do not have enough free space on the hard drive

1. Open Windows Explorer or My Computer and right click on the “C” Drive and select Properties. A window like the one below will appear:

2. You need at least 4GB of free space, preferably more or windows cannot write to the paging file. If there is less than 4GB available, click on the Disk Cleanup button.

3. If there is still less than 4GB of free space, you need to delete unnecessary files from the “C” drive until you have enough free space.

4. Then reboot the computer.

5. The error message should not reappear.

Summary

You should periodically run the disk cleanup to prevent the hard disk from getting filled with unnecessary files.  Installing the maximum amount of RAM that your operating system can address which is 4 GB in a 32-bit operating system and more on 64-bit operating systems.