new virtual memory errors

[Ruthie]

I recently started getting virtual memory errors (too low) - daily - on my
~5-year old computer. I have 512 mb ram and generally have 4 or 5
applications open at once. the virtual memory is set to 768, but right now
has increased (all by itself) to 923.

I re-boot, run disk cleanup and defrag daily. The only difference (that I
can think of) is that i started turning the computer off at night after the
virus scan.

What does this mean? I went for years without this happening. Any help would
be appreciated.

 

[Jim]

I recently started getting virtual memory errors (too low) - daily - on my
~5-year old computer. I have 512 mb ram and generally have 4 or 5
applications open at once. the virtual memory is set to 768, but right now
has increased (all by itself) to 923.

I re-boot, run disk cleanup and defrag daily. The only difference (that I
can think of) is that i started turning the computer off at night after
the
virus scan.

What does this mean? I went for years without this happening. Any help
would
be appreciated.

Neither disk cleanup nor defrag are relevant to your problem.
The message means that the pagefile is too small. It may be too small
because your use of 4 or 5 applications at once could benefit by more
memory.

768 MB is the amount which is usually suggested for XP. An increase to 923
MB is clear indication that your system could benefit from more RAM and
could benefit from an even larger pagefile.

The pagefile will increase, if need be, if Windows has the setting to let
the system manage the size. This setting is not the default, and someone
must have changed it.

Jim

 

[Tim Slattery]

I recently started getting virtual memory errors (too low) - daily - on my
~5-year old computer. I have 512 mb ram and generally have 4 or 5
applications open at once. the virtual memory is set to 768, but right now
has increased (all by itself) to 923.

What does this mean? I went for years without this happening. Any help would
be appreciated.

It could mean that you're running more programs simultaneously than
you used to, or that you using larger input files with the programs
you're running, or just that the OS is having trouble finding enough
disk space for the swap file.

Check your free disk space. Maybe just defragging would help, or maybe
you need to free up some space. Also, I'd set the swap file to "let
Windows manage". And 512MB is minimal for XP, just increasing that
would reduce the need for swap space.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I recently started getting virtual memory errors (too low) - daily - on my
~5-year old computer. I have 512 mb ram and generally have 4 or 5
applications open at once. the virtual memory is set to 768, but right now
has increased (all by itself) to 923.

Depends on what those 4 - 5 applications are, but it sounds to me like
you should have enough memory. Especially since you *recently* started
getting these errors, it doesn't sound like a memory issue.

I re-boot, run disk cleanup and defrag daily.

Those are irrelevant. By the way, defragging daily is *way* overkill.
Even defragging monthly may be more than you need.

The only difference (that I
can think of) is that i started turning the computer off at night after the
virus scan.

Also irrelevant.

What does this mean? I went for years without this happening. Any help would
be appreciated.

It's just a guess, but if you went for years without the problem, and
nothing significant has changed, there's a good chance that you are
infected with malware, and it's the malware that's using so much
memory.

There are several types of malware, and it could be any of them. What
anti-virus program do you run, and what anti-spyware programs do you
run? Are they all kept up to date?

 

[Ruthie]

It could mean that you're running more programs simultaneously than
you used to, or that you using larger input files with the programs
you're running, or just that the OS is having trouble finding enough
disk space for the swap file.

Check your free disk space. Maybe just defragging would help, or maybe
you need to free up some space. Also, I'd set the swap file to "let
Windows manage". And 512MB is minimal for XP, just increasing that
would reduce the need for swap space.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
(e-mail address removed)
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Hi Tim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My habits really haven't changed much - I
usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I find that if i run IE7 without all the pictures and cute stuff,
that helps for a little while.

My 40-gig hard drive has about 19.8 gigs free today. Shouldn't that be
enough? I defrag daily, like i said, but it doesn't seem that the free space
increases after cleaning up and deleting stuff.

I think Windows does manage the memory - maybe I wasn't clear about the
error messages I'm seeing: 'Your virtual memory is too low - windows is
increasing [something]...' I'm not sure about the exact wording, but I think
that is how it got to 923 today.

I could add more memory, if I could find a reputable computer repair in the
area. I'm kind of skeptical of little independent outfits. My computer
knowledge has always been on a 'need-to-know' basis - when I need to know, I
figure it out. I know very little about hardware.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Ruthie

 

[Unknown]

Have you run disk cleanup lately?

It could mean that you're running more programs simultaneously than
you used to, or that you using larger input files with the programs
you're running, or just that the OS is having trouble finding enough
disk space for the swap file.

Check your free disk space. Maybe just defragging would help, or maybe
you need to free up some space. Also, I'd set the swap file to "let
Windows manage". And 512MB is minimal for XP, just increasing that
would reduce the need for swap space.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
(e-mail address removed)
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Hi Tim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My habits really haven't changed much - I
usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I find that if i run IE7 without all the pictures and cute
stuff,
that helps for a little while.

My 40-gig hard drive has about 19.8 gigs free today. Shouldn't that be
enough? I defrag daily, like i said, but it doesn't seem that the free
space
increases after cleaning up and deleting stuff.

I think Windows does manage the memory - maybe I wasn't clear about the
error messages I'm seeing: 'Your virtual memory is too low - windows is
increasing [something]...' I'm not sure about the exact wording, but I
think
that is how it got to 923 today.

I could add more memory, if I could find a reputable computer repair in
the
area. I'm kind of skeptical of little independent outfits. My computer
knowledge has always been on a 'need-to-know' basis - when I need to know,
I
figure it out. I know very little about hardware.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Ruthie

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi Tim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My habits really haven't changed much - I
usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I find that if i run IE7 without all the pictures and cute stuff,
that helps for a little while.

My 40-gig hard drive has about 19.8 gigs free today. Shouldn't that be
enough?

Yes.


I defrag daily, like i said, but it doesn't seem that the free space
increases after cleaning up and deleting stuff.

You're ending up with the space that used to be directly accessible in
the Recycle Bin. So unless you also empty the Recycle Bin, you don't
actually save space.

And just incase, defragging confuses you, that doesn't make more space
available, it just rearranges the used space to make it contiguous.

I think Windows does manage the memory - maybe I wasn't clear about the
error messages I'm seeing: 'Your virtual memory is too low - windows is
increasing [something]...' I'm not sure about the exact wording, but I think
that is how it got to 923 today.

I could add more memory, if I could find a reputable computer repair in the
area. I'm kind of skeptical of little independent outfits. My computer
knowledge has always been on a 'need-to-know' basis - when I need to know, I
figure it out. I know very little about hardware.

As I said in my earlier message in this thread, my guess is that
adding more memory is not what you need and won't help you.

 

[Gerry]

Ruthie

Whare the 5 applications?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements? ( I am not
suggesting you have a malware problem).

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Jose]

It could mean that you're running more programs simultaneously than
you used to, or that you using larger input files with the programs
you're running, or just that the OS is having trouble finding enough
disk space for the swap file.

Check your free disk space. Maybe just defragging would help, or maybe
you need to free up some space. Also, I'd set the swap file to "let
Windows manage". And 512MB is minimal for XP, just increasing that
would reduce the need for swap space.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
(e-mail address removed)
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Hi Tim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My habits really haven't changed much - I
usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I find that if i run IE7 without all the pictures and cute stuff,
that helps for a little while.

My 40-gig hard drive has about 19.8 gigs free today. Shouldn't that be
enough? I defrag daily, like i said, but it doesn't seem that the free space
increases after cleaning up and deleting stuff.

I think Windows does manage the memory - maybe I wasn't clear about the
error messages I'm seeing: 'Your virtual memory is too low - windows is
increasing [something]...' I'm not sure about the exact wording, but I think
that is how it got to 923 today.

I could add more memory, if I could find a reputable computer repair in the
area. I'm kind of skeptical of little independent outfits. My computer
knowledge has always been on a 'need-to-know' basis - when I need to know, I
figure it out. I know very little about hardware.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Ruthie

Just a thought - your habits may not have changed much, but the size
and requirements of the programs you run may have changed in the
positive direction after updates, service packs, add ons, etc.

I would like more memory in my system some day. I get that message
sometimes and know what it is trying to tell me. I am afraid that if
I go to computer alley over here and buy some, bring it home and it
doesn't work out, I will be out $35 or so. Do you think they are
going to take it back willingly?

The one shop I go to to buy my bits and pieces said if I bring my
floor top model in, they will install and test the memory for me at no
charge if I buy it from them. All those 5 or 6 cables and wires to
disconnect... nah.

Floor top = a 10+ year old Gateway case with only the original floppy
drive left inside. But it looks good!

Jose

 

[Ruthie]

Neither disk cleanup nor defrag are relevant to your problem.
The message means that the pagefile is too small. It may be too small
because your use of 4 or 5 applications at once could benefit by more
memory.

768 MB is the amount which is usually suggested for XP. An increase to 923
MB is clear indication that your system could benefit from more RAM and
could benefit from an even larger pagefile.

The pagefile will increase, if need be, if Windows has the setting to let
the system manage the size. This setting is not the default, and someone
must have changed it.

Jim

Hi Jim,

Thank you for your thoughts.
Unfortunately, when I bought this computer, they did not recommend that much
memory.
I think Windows is managing the memory - maybe I wasn't clear, but the error
messages say 'virtual memory too low - memory is being increased (not sure of
the exact wording) and requests for [something] may be denied... It was after
one of these messages that the memory ended up as 923.

Ruthie

 

[Ruthie]

Have you run disk cleanup lately?

<snip>

Hi,

Yes, I run it - and defrag after re-booting - daily.

Thanks for your thougts.

R

 

[Ruthie]

Depends on what those 4 - 5 applications are, but it sounds to me like
you should have enough memory. Especially since you *recently* started
getting these errors, it doesn't sound like a memory issue.





Those are irrelevant. By the way, defragging daily is *way* overkill.
Even defragging monthly may be more than you need.




Also irrelevant.




It's just a guess, but if you went for years without the problem, and
nothing significant has changed, there's a good chance that you are
infected with malware, and it's the malware that's using so much
memory.

There are several types of malware, and it could be any of them. What
anti-virus program do you run, and what anti-spyware programs do you
run? Are they all kept up to date?

Hi Ken,

Thank you for your thoughts. I usually have IE7, outlook express,
quickbooks, excel and sometimes word open.

I guess I run disc cleanup and defrag daily because i don't know what else
to do for this machine.

I have Norton Internet Security, which updates itself as it sees fit, and
SpyBot, which is updated every Wednesday. Shouldn't those two be enough? They
rarely find anything but cookies...

Again, I appreciate your thoughts.

Ruthie

 

[Ruthie]

Ruthie <[email protected]> wrote:

I recently started getting virtual memory errors (too low) - daily - on my
~5-year old computer. I have 512 mb ram and generally have 4 or 5
applications open at once. the virtual memory is set to 768, but right now
has increased (all by itself) to 923.

What does this mean? I went for years without this happening. Any help would
be appreciated.

It could mean that you're running more programs simultaneously than
you used to, or that you using larger input files with the programs
you're running, or just that the OS is having trouble finding enough
disk space for the swap file.

Check your free disk space. Maybe just defragging would help, or maybe
you need to free up some space. Also, I'd set the swap file to "let
Windows manage". And 512MB is minimal for XP, just increasing that
would reduce the need for swap space.

--
Tim Slattery
MS MVP(Shell/User)
(e-mail address removed)
http://members.cox.net/slatteryt

Hi Tim,
Thank you for your thoughts. My habits really haven't changed much - I
usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I find that if i run IE7 without all the pictures and cute stuff,
that helps for a little while.

My 40-gig hard drive has about 19.8 gigs free today. Shouldn't that be
enough? I defrag daily, like i said, but it doesn't seem that the free space
increases after cleaning up and deleting stuff.

I think Windows does manage the memory - maybe I wasn't clear about the
error messages I'm seeing: 'Your virtual memory is too low - windows is
increasing [something]...' I'm not sure about the exact wording, but I think
that is how it got to 923 today.

I could add more memory, if I could find a reputable computer repair in the
area. I'm kind of skeptical of little independent outfits. My computer
knowledge has always been on a 'need-to-know' basis - when I need to know, I
figure it out. I know very little about hardware.

Thanks for your thoughts.
Ruthie

Just a thought - your habits may not have changed much, but the size
and requirements of the programs you run may have changed in the
positive direction after updates, service packs, add ons, etc.

I would like more memory in my system some day. I get that message
sometimes and know what it is trying to tell me. I am afraid that if
I go to computer alley over here and buy some, bring it home and it
doesn't work out, I will be out $35 or so. Do you think they are
going to take it back willingly?

The one shop I go to to buy my bits and pieces said if I bring my
floor top model in, they will install and test the memory for me at no
charge if I buy it from them. All those 5 or 6 cables and wires to
disconnect... nah.

Floor top = a 10+ year old Gateway case with only the original floppy
drive left inside. But it looks good!

Jose

Hi Jose,

Thanks for your thoughts. I need to find a shop like that!

Ruthie

 

[Ruthie]

Ruthie

Whare the 5 applications?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements? ( I am not
suggesting you have a malware problem).

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Gerry,

Thank you for taking the time to think along with me.

I usually have IE7, outlook express, quickbooks and excel open. Also word,
sometimes. I try to avoid opening other stuff without closing something
because this machine will get really slow...

Commit Charge (K) (freshly re-booted)
Total 635,160
Limit 1,277,428
Peak 668,356

The first six Processes, sorted by Peak Memory Usage:
Iexplore.exe 228,328 (peak), 217,848 (VM)
TeaTimer.exe (something to do with SpyBot) 181,040, 81,688
CCSVSCST.Exe 78,180, 24,860
msimn.exe 33,040, 18,248
svchost.exe 31,384, 15,424
hpqgalry.exe 24,828, 20,560

I have Norton Internet Security and SpyBot.

Again, thank you!
Ruthie

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi Ken,

Thank you for your thoughts. I usually have IE7, outlook express,
quickbooks, excel and sometimes word open.

In my view, despite the views of those who tell you that you don't
have enough RAM, I disagree. You have enough--maybe even more than you
need, considering the apps that you run.

I guess I run disc cleanup and defrag daily because i don't know what else
to do for this machine.

They don't hurt, but they aren't necessary.

I have Norton Internet Security, which updates itself as it sees fit, and
SpyBot, which is updated every Wednesday. Shouldn't those two be enough?

No! Norton is the *worst* anti-virus program available (I recommend
NOD32 if you want to buy one, or Avast if you want a freeware one),
and if Spybot Search and Destroy isn't the worst, it's close to it.
Moreover a single anti-spyware program isn't enough. You have
reinforced my guess that your problem is malware infection. Start by
downloading and running the Malwarebytes anti-malware program.

 

[Ruthie]

In my view, despite the views of those who tell you that you don't
have enough RAM, I disagree. You have enough--maybe even more than you
need, considering the apps that you run.





They don't hurt, but they aren't necessary.



No! Norton is the *worst* anti-virus program available (I recommend
NOD32 if you want to buy one, or Avast if you want a freeware one),
and if Spybot Search and Destroy isn't the worst, it's close to it.
Moreover a single anti-spyware program isn't enough. You have
reinforced my guess that your problem is malware infection. Start by
downloading and running the Malwarebytes anti-malware program.

Hi Ken,

Thanks again for your thoughts. I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes
anti-malware (an hour and 43 mintues for a full scan - patience is a
virtue...) and it found nothing.

Also, reading a recent, similar thread, I got _really_ brave and opened and
cleaned my computer. Very gently, because I'm not good at these things... It
was not as dirty as I expected, and by George, it still works!!!

So, I appreciate your thoughts and your time, and am still all ears, if
anyone has other ideas.

Thanks!
Ruthie

 

[Gerry]

Ruthie

Your commit charge figures show that your system is reliant on using
the pagefile to supplement your RAM memory. Accessing the pagefile is
noticeably slower than RAM. Your system would benefit from adding RAM
What is your computer make and model?

Norton products are noted for their heavy usage of memory. Norton claim
improvements in their latest versions, obviously trying to respond to
this criticism. Many users have uninstalled Norton and gone for freeware
anti-virus replacements. I use AVG 8.5 (free) but there are a number of
alternatives to choose from. Removing Norton would be likely to produce
a significant improvement in system performance.

TeaTimer is part of Spybot and provides real time protection. I have it
and like it but it is heavy on memory because it constantly monitors
your system. Although another of your responses deprecates Spybot I
would
keep it. If you replaced it you would need something else which offers
real time protection.

Multi tasking can be wasteful of resources when overdone. When I use
Excel or Word I would not normally be running Internet Explorer and /
or Outlook Express. I have icons (shortcuts) for Internet Explorer and
Outlook Express in my Quick Launch Tray giving instant access as and
when it is needed. A test on my computer reduced memory usage by 50 mb
if I close an inactive Internet Explorer. The figure for Outlook Express
is 10 mb. I did not test Excel and Word because I have Office 2000 and
you probably have a more recent version which use more RAM than my older
version.


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[John John - MVP]

You seem to have done the necessary work to rule out virus and malware,
you seem to be thorough with your AV and Spyware scans so I doubt that
malware is your problem. In one of your other posts you gave the
following memory usage information to Gerry:

Commit Charge (K) (freshly re-booted)
Total 635,160
Limit 1,277,428
Peak 668,356

Your problem is simple, you have too little RAM or you have too many
applications or processes running when the computer boots.

You simply do not have enough RAM to support the programs that are set
to run automatically when the computer boots. Your applications need
635MB (Total Commit Charge) and you have 512MB... and that, according to
your information, is when you boot the computer, you haven't yet started
other applications! You should probably start by talking a close look
at which applications automatically start when the computer boots and
decide which ones are unneeded.

John

 

[Jose]

Hi Ken,

Thanks again for your thoughts. I downloaded and ran Malwarebytes
anti-malware (an hour and 43 mintues for a full scan - patience is a
virtue...) and it found nothing.

Also, reading a recent, similar thread, I got _really_ brave and opened and
cleaned my computer. Very gently, because I'm not good at these things...It
was not as dirty as I expected, and by George, it still works!!!

So, I appreciate your thoughts and your time, and am still all ears, if
anyone has other ideas.

Thanks!
Ruthie

Lots of people complain about errors, messages, warnings, problems
about having too little memory and wonder what to do about it.

Once you rule out the obvious things (which are probably not causing
the problem in the first place) you can spend the rest of the day
futzing around trying this and that, adjust, readjust, that didn't
work, what do I do, how do I fix it, and ohhhh, my poor page file...

Option 1: Solve the problem by getting more RAM - and set your system
properly to use it effectively, which XP will happily do for you if
you let it.

Option 2: Live with the problem.

I have never heard anyone complain about having too much RAM.

Jose

 

[BillW50]

In
Jose typed on Tue, 19 May 2009 06:07:41 -0700 (PDT):

Lots of people complain about errors, messages, warnings, problems
about having too little memory and wonder what to do about it.

Once you rule out the obvious things (which are probably not causing
the problem in the first place) you can spend the rest of the day
futzing around trying this and that, adjust, readjust, that didn't
work, what do I do, how do I fix it, and ohhhh, my poor page file...

Option 1: Solve the problem by getting more RAM - and set your system
properly to use it effectively, which XP will happily do for you if
you let it.

Option 2: Live with the problem.

I have never heard anyone complain about having too much RAM.

Hi Jose! My Gateway MX6124 laptop (both of them) will only allow
Hibernation mode to work only 50% of the time if anymore than 1GB is
installed. Sure is annoying. The performance of the laptop is about the
same between 1GB to 2GB anyway. And 99% of the time the system is using
less than 800MB of the RAM anyway. So I am one who complains about
having too much RAM.