
Common virtual memory problems

Virtual Memory Problems

Virtual Memory Writes to the Hard Drive Paging File as Needed

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(Windows® 7, Windows Vista and Windows XP compatibility with 32-bit and 64-bit Operating System)

The Windows virtual memory program stores RAM images on the hard drive in order to free up RAM space for other uses. If there was no virtual memory, the computer would freeze or require you to close one program before opening another if you had more than one or two programs open at the same time. To use virtual memory, the application looks for portions of the RAM that aren’t used frequently and then copies that information to the page file on the hard drive. The operating system will move back and forth between the paging file and the physical RAM to read the files it needs to operate.

The first indication that you have a problem with your virtual memory is a message that reads “Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file”. These problems may be caused by the default setting being too low, a corrupted page file or an issue with third-party installed software.

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Virtual Memory Too Low

If you keep getting the error message that your virtual memory is too low, this means that you need to increase the initial and maximum number settings for the page file or that there is not enough free disk space. To get into the virtual memory:

1. Go to Start and then choose Control Panel.

2. Click on System and then click on Advanced.

3. Choose Performance and then choose Settings.

4. Click on Advanced and then on Virtual Memory.

Corrupt Page File

It’s possible that the page file may become corrupt, possibly during a bad shutdown. To fix this, get into the virtual memory as you did above, set it to “No Page File” and then exit out of virtual memory. Go to each drive and delete PAGEFILE.SYS (you need to do this for each drive if there is one in more than just drive C). Get back into virtual memory and set it back up the way you had it. Reboot and see if that has solved your corrupt page file problem.

Third Party Software

There can be issues with some third-party software, particularly older versions of Norton Antivirus, or the Norton Antivirus Live update. You can find a fix for problems with the Live update on the Internet. If you have Norton Antivirus 2004 and have set the maximum page file to more than 1.5 times the RAM, it will automatically be reset to the default value on reboot. Symantec has published instructions on their website for dealing with this issue.

Problems with virtual memory can also be caused by an early version of the Intel Application Accelerator. The best way to deal with this if you have it is to uninstall this version and get a newer version from the Intel website.

IDE Hard Disk Drivers

You can also have problems arising from the IDE hard disk drivers. Get into Device Manager, remove the IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and reboot, allowing them to automatically reinstall.