What the heck is Virtual Memory?

Your PC has two kinds of memory: Random Access Memory (RAM), which is physical, long-term memory that is stored on your hard drive, and virtual or short-term memory. Virtual memory is what is used when your RAM is “full.”

When you are using multiple programs at the same time like a web browser, a word processing program, and an e-mail program, that can use up all of your available RAM. So your PC automatically creates more space and allots it to virtual memory, allowing you to continue utilizing your memory-hogging programs without bogging down the operating speed.

Why do I need to increase it?

If your virtual memory is too low, you will start to see an overall slowness and you may even start to get errors. Microsoft Office may open with “Your system is low on virtual memory” errors. And if that is the case, the program may not operate properly.

How do I increase my PC’s Virtual Memory?

First things first, you’ll need to find out how much RAM your PC has. In order to do this:

1) On your desktop, right click on My Computer.

2) Open Properties.

3) Under the General tab you can find out what hard drive size you have, what operating system you are using, and the amount of RAM you have.

Your Virtual Memory should be approximately one and a half times the size of your RAM.

1) Go to your desktop and then right-click on your Control Panel.

2) Open the System Properties (and then Performance for Windows XP users) and click on the Advanced tab.

3) From the Advanced tab, click on Settings under Performance Options and find the Virtual Memory box.

4) Click change and enter the new paging value. In XP you can enter a new initial size and maximum size then click Set and OK.

5) Follow your PC’s instructions to save the changes, sometimes you may be required to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.