about low virtual memory in win xp

[sebastian-k]

Can anybody explain me why windows keeps showing the message "Low virtual memory" while there is about 20 GB of free disk space?

I already checked support section at microsoft site, but not very helpful.

PageFile is set with initial size as recommended for this particular config 240 MB, and maximum at 4000 MB.

 

[Matt1809]

How much ram do you have? Also when you get that error, press Ctrl + Shift + Escape. That will bring up task manager, on the performance tab, under the CPU useage bar, it should say memory. What value does it have there? If its in the GB that means you are in need of more RAM for your system, or should try closing some programs. If you dont have many programs open when this happens, it could be a sign of a virus/spyware.

 

[miaplacidus]

"virtual memory shortage" messages generally come up if you're running too many apps but can also appear if there are other problems with your pagefile.

It's recommended that you have a fixed size swap file on a separate drive or partition.

You need to check how much disk space is free because all of the following advice is contingent on that.

1. Remove the swap file completely.
Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance settings, Advanced, Virtual memory, Change, No Paging File, Set - Reboot.
2. Do a serious defrag with O&O or Diskeeper (boot time defrags are best).
3. Create a new paging file - use the previous instructions - set the paging file to be a minimum and maximum of the same size. Ignore the recommended setting and go for twice your RAM (any bigger and you risk serious performance degradation). Reboot.

A new page file will be created and if there's enough consolidated free space it will be created in one contiguous block.

You should see a marked improvement.

Defrag your drive regularly (monthly) using 3rd party tools like those mentioned.

Download a great free pagedefrag tool from here:

http://www.sysinternals.com/utilities/pagedefrag.html

The first time you run it can take several hours if the file is badly fragmented - leave it to run overnight.

Thanks for the tool. My page file has ALWAYS been fragmented. I even tried creating a dedicated partition (following the example of Linux) but it fragments even in that case.

 

[miaplacidus]

No prob - glad to be of help.
I love your sig BTW.

The pic or the text?

 

[sebastian-k]

1. Remove the swap file completely.
Right click My Computer, Properties, Advanced, Performance settings, Advanced, Virtual memory, Change, No Paging File, Set - Reboot.
2. Do a serious defrag with O&O or Diskeeper (boot time defrags are best).
3. Create a new paging file - use the previous instructions - set the paging file to be a minimum and maximum of the same size. Ignore the recommended setting and go for twice your RAM (any bigger and you risk serious performance degradation). Reboot.

Noelie i already did this but i used in-factory defrag tool and set the the size of the pagefile as mentioned. now I will try your way.

 

[sebastian-k]

How much ram do you have? Also when you get that error, press Ctrl + Shift + Escape. That will bring up task manager, on the performance tab, under the CPU useage bar, it should say memory. What value does it have there? If its in the GB that means you are in need of more RAM for your system, or should try closing some programs. If you dont have many programs open when this happens, it could be a sign of a virus/spyware.

this pc specs:

sony vaio
intel pentium 4
3 GHz, 248 MB RAM
80 GB hd

Task manager/Performance tab reading while running a 3d application and photoshop:

CPU 53-59%
PAGEFILE 855


I'm thinking about get more RAM, something like 1 or 2 GB, will that help?

 

[miaplacidus]

I agree. For a Pentium 4 running XP you need at least 512 MB of RAM. I've used a laptop with more or less the same specifications (HP nx9110) and believe me, any Pentium III-based computer with 512 MB of RAM outperformed it.

noelie, no, those aren't my eyes nor Zac's. Mine are brown and Zac's are blue. By the way, "Created with The GIMP 2.2, released under the GNU GPL"...

 

[Matt1809]

'm thinking about get more RAM, something like 1 or 2 GB, will that help?

Yeah. Basically your getting that message because your system is trying to use more virtual memory then the max allowed by the current system settings, or you dont have enough disk space to allocate that new memory if you havent hit the max. Increasing your ram will allow more of tha data in ram, instead of having to save it in your virtual memory (page file). 3d apps and Photoshop can take up alot of ram, so if you can, you might want to try only running one at a time until you can get more memory.

Oh, and if you need help figuring out which ram will work with your computer, i recomend http://www.crucial.com , they have a memory advisor that will help you out. I would prolly get at least a 512 stick, get 1GB if you can afford it.