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Insufficient Virtual Memory
Question
Answer
Virtual memory refers to the use of a portion of the hard disk that
acts as additional RAM. It is most often used when the memory
demands of processes running on the system exceed the amount of
available physical RAM in the machine.
Virtual memory accesses the hard disk, and thus is very slow
compared to RAM access speeds. Also, when using virtual memory
during a game, the game may become extremely slow and become the
primary cause of disconnection or lag. If Windows® is managing the
virtual memory size, it will automatically adjust the size of the
paging file based on demand. This process alone may cause additional
system lag. If the "Insufficient Virtual Memory" message appears,
this may be solved by increasing the virtual memory or upgrading the
PC by adding more RAM. Below are instructions on how to increase
your virtual memory:
Windows XP/2000:
Click on Start.
Click on Control Panel.
Click on Performance and Maintenance then System (for Windows 2000,
just click System).
Click on the Advanced tab
Click on the Settings button under the Performance heading.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Click on the Change button under the Virtual Memory heading.
Select Custom size.
Set both the Initial size and the Maximum size to 0 (zero).
Click on Set.
Click on OK until you are prompted to restart. Restart when
prompted.
After the restart finishes, click on Start.
Click on All Programs (just Programs in Windows 2000).
Click on Accessories.
Click on System Tools.
Click on Disk Defragmenter.
Click on Defragment. If you receive a message that the drive does
not need to be defragmented, choose to defragment anyway.
Let this finish. Do not perform any other tasks on the system while
the defragment is running. It will take a while.
When it is done, it will show you a report. Look for the Total
Fragmentation percentage. If it is greater than 5%, click the
Defragment button again and let it complete a second time.
Continue to defragment the drive until either the Total
Fragmentation drops below 5% or the percentage does not lower beyond
the current value.
Close the Disk Defragmenter window.
Click on Start.
Click on Control Panel.
Click on Performance and Maintenance then System (for Windows 2000,
just click System).
Click on the Advanced tab
Click on the Settings button under the Performance heading.
Click on the Advanced tab.
Click on the Change button under the Virtual Memory heading.
Select Custom size.
Set the Initial size to 1024 and the Maximum size to 2048.
Click on Set.
Click on OK until you are prompted to restart. Restart when
prompted.
Windows 98/ME:
Right-click on My Computer.
Click on Properties.
Click on the Performance tab.
Click on the Virtual Memory button.
Enable Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.
Set the Minimum and the Maximum to 0 (zero).
Click on OK twice and restart.
After the restart finishes, click on Start.
Click on Run.
Type "defrag" without the quotes and click on OK.
Click on OK twice and let the defragment run.
After it completes, close the disk defragmenter.
Right-click on My Computer.
Click on Properties.
Click on the Performance tab.
Click on the Virtual Memory button.
Enable Let me specify my own virtual memory settings.
Set the Minimum to 1024 and the Maximum to 2048.
Click on OK twice and restart.
This will give Windows a pagefile large enough that it will not
likely have to dynamically increase it, but still let it do so if
necessary. If virtual memory errors still occur when the amount of
RAM in the machine is sufficient and virtual memory settings have
been properly adjusted, there may be a problem with Windows or
faulty RAM.. |
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