Philthy1

Can someone help me with this? On my computer I have alot of space on my hard drive and good memory but a yellow message keeps popping up saying virtual memory too low. I even deleted some software and programs to free up space and memory and it's still popping up. I don't understand why because I have alot of gig space(34.1gb with only 10 gigs used) and the general system info is CPU 2.60 GHZ, 256MB of RAM. Can anyone help me to do something about my virtual memory so the message can stop popping up? Thank you.
Philthy1

koala

I think you're confusing the terminology. 256mb of RAM is the memory, 34gb is the hard drive space, and virtual memory is when XP runs out of RAM and has to use the hard drive for extra memory.

256mb is very low to run XP, so you might want to increase this by buying a new RAM stick. 512mb would be a reasonable ammount, and 1gb would be preferable.

To increase the virtual memory settings, follow the instructions at http://www.microsoft.com/resources/d....mspx?mfr=true and set the initial and maximum sizes to 1024mb, then reboot.

Changeling

Ok there is a long winded techno babble answer to this.
Here's the short answer.

First
click, start,control panel,system,advanced (tab), performance settings.

click "let windows choose whats best for my computer"
Apply OK.

Secondly 256mg of RAM is barely enough for XP you need 512mg or more, 1 gig prefered.

Finally deleteing applications on your system will not have any effect on how vitual memory works, unless your hard drive really is full!

hwm54112

Your problem could be corruption or fragmantation in your pagefile. I suggest the following in conjunction with Koala's size reccomendation

Disable hibernation in control panel>power options (if you use hibernation)

Set virtual memory initial size to 0, set maximum size to 0-

Start>right click My Computer>properties>advanced tab>in the performance box>settings>advanced tab>virtual memory box

Turn off system restore

Reboot

Defrag drive- if your internet is cable or dsl-disconnect modem, disable antivirus software

Re-enable all of the above- set virtual memory initial and maximum size to 1.5 or 2 times physical memory or 1024/1024

Philthy1

I'll try those settings as well as buy increased RAM. Thanks for your help.

Cellus

hwm54112's recommendation is spot on - for best results, defragment in Safe Mode (press <F8> repeatedly during boot to get the option). Depending on the fragmentation of your drive and the available free space you may need to defragment more than once.