Virtual memory on Vista

I'm suffering from "brainlessness" and just need help with clear, simple answers. My virtual memory shouldn't be 220mb, right?

I'm running Vista Business on a Dell Latitude D530, with a total of 2gb RAM - that's a stick of 1gb RAM and 1gb onboard RAM. (I assume it's onboard because if not I don't know where the other RAM is that Windows is talking about.)

I'm probably sliding into a migraine and getting brainless but unfortunately I can't succumb yet until I deal with a few things and that may mean beating this machine into submission because my browser keeps crashing. So please, help my poor brain make sense of what I currently can't by reading up on the internet - normally this wouldn't be the mental challenge it currently is. (In full-blown migraine-brain, finding a drinking glass in my kitchen is a mental challenge and I wish I was joking but I'm not.)

If I'm thinking straight enough, Virtual Memory can be managed by Windows or me. This is what I've done and this is what I've found:

Right click My Computer.
Choose Properties.
Click Advanced System Settings (then Continue).
Click Settings under Performance.
Click Advanced tab.
Under Virtual Memory, it says 220mb. Shouldn't that be something like one and a half times my RAM or whatever the rule of thumb is?

If so, PLEASE give me step-by-step instructions to change it, in the same way I've given info on how to find the 220mb section. I'm afraid that's as far as my brain can get at the moment.


And for when my brain comes back, is it likely that having VERY little space on my hard drive was the culprit for pushing it down that far? I ran into trouble with needing to move a large amount of data off a flash drive so it could be taken away again and was forced to put it on my hard drive because the external seemed to have failed. (Truth was, the cat had managed to separate the USB extension cable from the HDD USB cable while chasing a mouse... Don't ya luv the helpfulness of cats?!)

Wow! Despite repeated warnings of being low, I've managed to post this without another crash!

 

Virtual memory is 1.5 x the amount of ram you have and enter it in the box and the one under it is 2 x the amount of ram which is your maximum. the computer will ask to be restarted and your new settings will take effect.

Please Note:- if you enter too much virtual memory it will slower your computer performance as virtual memory (using hard drive) than actual memory (Memory Sticks).

 

Under Virtual memory, click Change. Then click the radio button next to System managed size. Click OK, Apply and OK, Apply and OK. Restart your PC and go back to look what the size the Virtual Memory is. If it did not change, there's not enough space on the hard disc.

 

Also, on your Dell D 530, the second RAM module is more than likely under the keyboard like it is on my Dell Precision M70.

 

Ready Boost is also an option for Virtual memory, as I guess a second HDD to put the cache on is out of the question.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ReadyBoost
Also read that the D530 laptop can be upgraded to 4 GB of RAM.

 

I had also read that my Precision M70 could be upgraded to 4 GB — it wasn't the case. My BIOS won't allow above 2 GB.

 

Thanks, all.

My computer co-operated long enough for me to get done what I needed and then I hit the sack.

Partway through the migraine, I felt enough with it to take a look at this thread and followed Eldon's instructions. Sure enough, it said I should restart but that meant thinking clearly enough to make sure everything was saved so I held off and went back to bed.

Once I was properly over the migraine I restarted and checked the Virtual Memory. A healthy 2000+mb (can't remember the figure) and it's been running normally and smoothly since.

As best I can remember (migraines are a pain not just in the head but for stuffing around with your memory, I find) I never touched the Virtual Memory prior to the start of the trouble and it was still Windows managed.

I filled the hard drive up, forgot (another migraine), ran into trouble, cleared some space, kept having trouble, restarted, still trouble. Checked Virtual Memory, another restart... still giving me trouble. The only thing that made a difference was Eldon's instructions.

So now I'm wondering:
1. what caused Windows to lock in 200mb in the first place? (Shouldn't Virtual Memory have been locking hard drive space so I couldn't use it for files?)
2. why didn't it go back to normal after clearing space on the system drive again?
3. why didn't a restart fix it?

 

When Virtual Memory is managed by Windows, and there is not enough hard disc space, Windows will reduce Virtual Memory. Then when you delete files to increase disc space, Windows will not increase Virtual Memory in case you have to recover those files. Deleting files only deletes the reference to those files and they will only disappear once overwritten or when they are securely deleted.

FYI If you don't already use it, download and install CCleaner. It will remove all the unwanted junk files and free up disc space. Leave the settings at standard and run it.

http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/ccleaner_standard.html