Low Virtual Memory

[stupidgirlang]

Would appreciate if someone can assist in my laptop problem.

These days, I always receive a message which states "Low Virtual Memory".

How I solve the above message?

Thanks in advance.

[bl4ckm4lice]

you should check what's running in your desktop. maybe you run too many programs at the same time, or you run heavy programs (like adobe photoshop and illustrator plus mozilla plus anything else). press ctrl+alt+del and check the task manager, the processes tab. the list show the programs runs in your computer at the time. the programs on the side of your taskbar also usually caused low virtual memory. close unnecessary background programs, just keep anti-spyware and anti-virus, and whatever else you need.

if after you checked them and you don't feel like running too many programs, i suggest you upgrade your RAM. what's your current RAM? the higher the ram, the possibility of you running out of virtual memory lessens.

or worse, your computer might get hit by virus(es) or corrupted by numerous spywares. i suggest you do a whole virus scan and spywares by using anti virus and anti spyware.

hope that helps.

[Bricolage]

Like bl4ckm4lice said, Low Virtual Memory is usually the result to doing too many tasks at once, having too many windows open/programs running, or you have a low end RAM component. If your RAM(Random Access Memory) is low, your labtop, once bombarded with tasks, will resort to using Virtual Memory which is secondary memory that is located on the hardrive, which also means, because it being located on the hardrive, your system will run much slower than it would if it were using RAM.

• But there are situations where running too many programs isn't the case, but instead, the cause could be something called, "A Memory Leak." Trust me, it's not as bad as it sounds. A Memory Leak is when there are background tasks that are running and leeching off your memory without your knowledge. All you should do is hit CTRL + ALT + DELETE and bring up the Task Manager, like bl4ckm4lice advised . Go to the Processes Tab and look at the Mem Usage sub bar. Under it will be listed all memory that's being used by currently running programs. If you see that there is a task(will be under Image Name) running, that either shouldn't be, or you want out of, just click on it and end the process. By doing so, it will lessen the memory being used, and lessen the possibilty of having to use Virtual Memory. Before you are able to end the process, a pop up should appear warning you that you may loose data within that running program, which is true, so make sure you know what program you're closing out of before confirming.
  Edit: And also, be cautious as to not close out of any processes running under the user name System. <-Explained further in my later post.
  
• Another action to give your labtop a good boost is Freeing Up Space On Your Hardisk through Performance and Maintenance in your Control Panel. This should be done every so often just so that temporary internet files that are automatically stored in your system while browsing the internet can be deleted, old files can be compressed, and etc. Leaving your system a bit more space on the hardisk to work with. ^^
  
• And lastly, a suggestion. If your RAM component is, infact, low - you can check by going to My Computer and looking at My System Information, you may want to invest in some new RAM, something with a higher megabyte[MB] count. Because the more RAM a system has, the faster, or more optimized it is.

[jasonboi19]

Kudos Bricolage

the only thing I can add is some programs have a recording function like emulators and virtual disk drives and everything you do while using the program gets recorded on a video file. Don't know why it happens but look for individual video files on your HD that are huge and growing and this might be your problem if you are using a program like this. For the most part the virtual memory ammount mannage by windows is sufficient for doing alot of multi-tasking and unless your HD space is very very low your virtual memory should be fine as well otherwise free up disk space by taking Bricolage's advise about maintance, disk cleanup and defragment can make a slow computer feel like a new one.

Also try to limit the amount of start up programs that auto start then go to the back ground when the OS starts to just the ones that you specifically want or disable them all and then you can manage them by starting them and stoping them only when you need them. yuo can do this be going to the programs options and de- selecting the option that causes th eprograms to run when windows or the OS starts up then going to MSconfig and go to the start-up tab and deselect the programs there too the computer will start up faster and you wnot be lagged down by non-essential programs either.

hope it helps

[Whazzup]

Hit your laptop with a rock.....no,I'm kidding......start throwing out useless files...you may not know it,but there is a folder that stores all your files,even the ones you think you have deleted(no not your documents) in a hidden evil place that I have magically found out somehow...I think it's called "Temp"....well,it's time to explore the evil corners of your laptop.....I discovered many Yaoi manga I downloaded the past few years ago(the date was there)...I thanked God that no one saw it.......and good luck,the laptop is evil...same for computers...well sometimes...

[FFSR90]

Do desktop cleanup and Defrag it for extra measure XP

[stupidgirlang]

Thanks for all your help.

Before you are able to end the process, a pop up should appear warning you that you may loose data within that running program, which is true, so make sure you know what program you're closing out of before confirming.

How do I know what the programs is running (I do not recognise the names) ?

My computer is 512 RAM running on Window XP.

[Bricolage]

Thanks for all your help.



How do I know what the programs is running (I do not recognise the names) ?

My computer is 512 RAM running on Window XP.

Ah, sorry that I wasn't more specific when regarding this in my last post.

Okay.

Leave everything that says System as is, don't want to end any of those processes.

Processes running under Owner is what you want to work with. I, myself, am not sure what exactly each and everyone of them are as they vary, but you'll probably be able to decode them by their names. Say for instance I had a process that looked like this:: iexplorer.exe
Once I confirmed to end that process, internet explorer that I was just currently running, will stop, until whenever I sign back on. So, I now know that iexplorer.exe stands for Internet Explorer.
Some though, I will admit, will have you down-right guessing, unless someone knows of some method of figuring out what they are.

But just know that by closing out of the processes that are running under Owner, won't leave any lasting effects, or do any harm.

And just another friendly reminder - Owner, not System.
Processes that are running under the user name System are programs that your system is running. Whereas Owner are, more or less, programs that YOU are running, and therefore, won't effect how your labtop runs as a whole when ending those processes. So as I'm told. ^_^

[Munemasa Katagiri]

Please, do a scan with HijackThis and post the log here. I can take a look to see if there is any harmful process running.
http://linhadefensiva.uol.com.br/dl/hijackthis