Hard disk space Low

[Guest]

I recievd a warning that my virtual memory was low, so I defraged my
computer, then this is what it displayed afterwards, Capacity 37.27GB, Free
space 20.02 Gb, and % free space is 53%. I also went to see what my computer
infromation was it showed the Ram is 256MB, and my hard disk usage is 46%
(stating it is low). My total physical memory is 265826304. I have Dell, I
have had it since 2002. What should I do?
Thank you!
Sheila

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I recievd a warning that my virtual memory was low, so I defraged my
computer,

??? Why? One has nothing to do with the other.

Also note that you say above "virtual memory was low," but your subject
line reads "Hard disk space Low." Those also are two different things. Which
message did you get?

then this is what it displayed afterwards, Capacity
37.27GB, Free space 20.02 Gb, and % free space is 53%. I also went
to see what my computer infromation was it showed the Ram is 256MB,
and my hard disk usage is 46% (stating it is low). My total physical
memory is 265826304. I have Dell, I have had it since 2002. What
should I do?

Not necessarily anything. Are you still getting the low virtual memory
messages?

Are you using default settings for virtual memory, or have you customized
them?

Far and away the best piece on virtual memory and the the page file written
is this article by the late MVP Alex Nichol: "Virtual Memory in Windows XP"
at http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php I recommend that you read this to
better understand how all this works.

 

[Guest]

Yes I know these are 2 different things. After I recieved the warning I went
in and customized the virtual memory. I then went on to defrage (as I was
just curious as to see how much space was left), and then checked my system
to see how much memory and Ram I had left, and then that was when I seen that
my hard disk was saying it was 46% (and saying that it is Low), so as I was
trying to find out whether I should look into getting more disk space or am I
safe for a while. And the address you gave me did not open up.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Yes I know these are 2 different things. After I recieved the
warning I went in and customized the virtual memory.

What did you change it to?

I then went on
to defrage (as I was just curious as to see how much space was left),

Defragging doesn't change the amount of free space. It just makes it
contiguous.

and then checked my system to see how much memory and Ram I had left,

Memory and RAM are the same thing. Wanting to minimize the amount of memory
Windows uses is a counterproductive desire. Windows is designed to use all,
or nearly all, of your memory, all the time, and that's good not bad. Free
memory is wasted memory. You paid for it all and shouldn't want to see any
of it wasted.

Windows works hard to find a use for all the memory you have all the time.
For example if your apps don't need some of it, it will use that part for
caching, then give it back when your apps later need it. In this way Windows
keeps all your memory working for you all the time.

and then that was when I seen that my hard disk was saying it was 46%
(and saying that it is Low)

No, again you are mixing up free hard disk space and free virtual memory. As
I said before, they are not the same.

, so as I was trying to find out whether I
should look into getting more disk space or am I safe for a while.

It depends on how you use your system, butr if you have 20GB of free space,
you should be safe for a while.

And the address you gave me did not open up.

I just checked http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php again here. It opens
fine.