Crosswords1 min ago
Virtual memory
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Because I kept getting 'virtual memory low' messages on my computer I was advised to check on Taskmaster to see what was running and the largest file running was 'scanning process'. Have been told that this could be a bug from when I had zonealarm installed. Does anyone know if this could be true? My computer does run exceeding slowly and I have very little stored on it as the only work I do on it is storing and printing photos and the odd letter. The rest of my usage is e:mails and web exploring for interest and pleasure. My grandson does play games on it when he stays with me for a month each year.
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low virtual memory errors are almost always caused by having a low amount of real memory installed in the machine
Click start, then right click on my computer and select properties, at the bottom of the properties window it will tell you how much RAM you have, if this is less than 1GB you need more RAM to solve the virtual memory problem
(the scanning process sounds more like it's a background scan for your anti-virus software)
Click start, then right click on my computer and select properties, at the bottom of the properties window it will tell you how much RAM you have, if this is less than 1GB you need more RAM to solve the virtual memory problem
(the scanning process sounds more like it's a background scan for your anti-virus software)
it's worse than pretty poor!
assuming it's windows XP then it struggles with 512MB and isn't really happy with anything less that 1GB (1024MB)
Put another 1GB of memory in the computer and it will make a huge difference to the speed of the computer and the virtual memory errors will go away.
download and run the memory scanner from here
http://www.crucial.co...index.aspx?click=true
It will tell you what spare slots you have for RAM and what type your computer needs, you don't have to buy it from crucial but wherever you get it from make sure you get RAM that matches the specs it recommends (if your not sure post the results here)
assuming it's windows XP then it struggles with 512MB and isn't really happy with anything less that 1GB (1024MB)
Put another 1GB of memory in the computer and it will make a huge difference to the speed of the computer and the virtual memory errors will go away.
download and run the memory scanner from here
http://www.crucial.co...index.aspx?click=true
It will tell you what spare slots you have for RAM and what type your computer needs, you don't have to buy it from crucial but wherever you get it from make sure you get RAM that matches the specs it recommends (if your not sure post the results here)
Report says unable to identify specific model name but identified upgrades needed from the motherboard. there is one memory slot free. recommended adding either another 256 or an extra GB or 2 GB. I have had this pc a few years do you think it is time to bite the bullet and purchase a new one? Machines are much cheaper and faster now.
mine says 1.79 GHz 384 MB of RAM, and i Occasionally get low virtual memory messages, so how and where do i get more RAM, is it somthing i install or somthing i actually put in to the computer (like some kind of chip), i have an external hard drive that i put anything i download or photos on to keep memory to a minimum on the computer but is this a different sort of memory than RAM ?
I know chuck will have the answer.
Dave.
I know chuck will have the answer.
Dave.
Brief explaination of the difference between hard drives and ram.
Your hard drive is the permanent storage for all of the information on your computer, a bit like a cupboard, it's where the computer keeps everything it's ever likely to need. it takes the computer a long time to get anything from the hard drive if it needs it
the RAM is where the computer temporally stores anything it is in the process of using for any reason, so if the hard drive is a cupboard the ram is like the work bench. the size of the ram is always much smaller than the hard drive because it's only used by things as needed, nothing stays in ram permanently as it is cleared when the power is switched off, but the ram is much much faster than the hard drive, so once the computer has got what it needs from the hard drive and put it in ram it can get to it again much faster.
Then you have virtual RAM. Virtual RAM a section on the hard drive that the computer uses as overspill for your real RAM. meaning that if you have a very small amount of real RAM in the computer then it will get full very quickly so information is moved from the real RAM to the virtual RAM, because the virtual RAM is on the hard drive it is a lot slower than real RAM and this is why a computer with a low amount of real RAM will run very slowly, this also means that the Virtual RAM will run out of space more often because you have not got sufficient space in your real RAM to store everything needed.
The only real way to solve this problem is to install more real RAM (you can increase the virtual RAM size, but doing so is not a good long term fix)
cont...
Your hard drive is the permanent storage for all of the information on your computer, a bit like a cupboard, it's where the computer keeps everything it's ever likely to need. it takes the computer a long time to get anything from the hard drive if it needs it
the RAM is where the computer temporally stores anything it is in the process of using for any reason, so if the hard drive is a cupboard the ram is like the work bench. the size of the ram is always much smaller than the hard drive because it's only used by things as needed, nothing stays in ram permanently as it is cleared when the power is switched off, but the ram is much much faster than the hard drive, so once the computer has got what it needs from the hard drive and put it in ram it can get to it again much faster.
Then you have virtual RAM. Virtual RAM a section on the hard drive that the computer uses as overspill for your real RAM. meaning that if you have a very small amount of real RAM in the computer then it will get full very quickly so information is moved from the real RAM to the virtual RAM, because the virtual RAM is on the hard drive it is a lot slower than real RAM and this is why a computer with a low amount of real RAM will run very slowly, this also means that the Virtual RAM will run out of space more often because you have not got sufficient space in your real RAM to store everything needed.
The only real way to solve this problem is to install more real RAM (you can increase the virtual RAM size, but doing so is not a good long term fix)
cont...
...cont
The RAM in a computer is made up of "sticks of RAM" each computer will have a certain amount of slots to fit this ram into (from as low as one slot on some laptops upto 16+ on some servers) to upgrade the RAM you either fit another stick into a spare slot if one is available, or if all slots are full you need to remove some of your current ram and replace it with a larger stick.
There are several different sorts of RAM and each computer needs the correct RAM suitable for it's motherboard, fitting the incorrect RAM can either damage the RAM stick or even the motherboard in the computer (expensive!) I won't go in depth about all the different sorts, I recommend using the crucial scanner and simply ensure you get the exact type it suggests, or take your computer to a decent local computer person to source and fit the ram. it's a five minute job on most computers so should only cost a few quid.
The RAM in a computer is made up of "sticks of RAM" each computer will have a certain amount of slots to fit this ram into (from as low as one slot on some laptops upto 16+ on some servers) to upgrade the RAM you either fit another stick into a spare slot if one is available, or if all slots are full you need to remove some of your current ram and replace it with a larger stick.
There are several different sorts of RAM and each computer needs the correct RAM suitable for it's motherboard, fitting the incorrect RAM can either damage the RAM stick or even the motherboard in the computer (expensive!) I won't go in depth about all the different sorts, I recommend using the crucial scanner and simply ensure you get the exact type it suggests, or take your computer to a decent local computer person to source and fit the ram. it's a five minute job on most computers so should only cost a few quid.
and both of you do have very low amount of RAM
512MB really is the minimum for XP to run and it's much happier with at least 1GB (1GB is 1024MB)
Both the specs of your computers are easily upto doing what most people do, i.e. web browsing, email, type a few letters etc. so I would advice both of your to consider fitting another 1GB. I think you will be surprised at the difference in speed it will make,
512MB really is the minimum for XP to run and it's much happier with at least 1GB (1GB is 1024MB)
Both the specs of your computers are easily upto doing what most people do, i.e. web browsing, email, type a few letters etc. so I would advice both of your to consider fitting another 1GB. I think you will be surprised at the difference in speed it will make,
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