Paul said:
Does anyone know what "free swap file space is and how do
I create it?
I need it for EA sports total club manager 2004
Paul,
"Swap File space", otherwise known as "virtual memory", is an area of the
hard disk that Windows uses to extend the amount of RAM available to
programs. Basically, it works like this: suppose you have 256MB of memory. A
program (e.g TCM 2004) needs 300MB to load. Without virtual memory, you'd
have to go out and spend $$ to buy more RAM. With virtual memory, however,
Windows creates a file on the hard disk (usually C:\PAGEFILE.SYS) typically
of several hundred MB in size, and treats it just like an extension of the
available RAM. So when the app asks for 300MB memory, Windows allocates it
whatever it can from the available real ("physical") memory, and makes up
the balance from the virtual memory swapfile. This is totally invisible to
most apps; they don't care where their working data is being stored, and
Windows presents virtual memory to an app in exactly the same way as
physical RAM. The obvious downside to virtual memory, of course, is that
accessing the hard disk is much slower than accessing real physical RAM, so
relying too much on virtual memory can slow your whole system down as bits
of programs are "swapped" in and out of virtual memory. That's why adding
more RAM will often speed up a PC - simply because Windows and apps no
longer have to make as much use of virtual memory.
That's the theory - as far as your specific question goes, the amount of
virtual memory on the system is normally set automatically by Windows.
Sometimes, however, you have to over-ride this setting and tell it to use
more.
To do this:
(warning: read the following instructions carefully and ensure you
understand them before proceeding. Incorrect alteration of these settings
can prevent your PC from working correctly. Proceed at your own risk. Before
going any further, I suggest you read this Microsoft page:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308417&Product=winxp
which goes into more detail about this topic)
1) right-click on the "My Computer" icon that is on your start menu and/or
your desktop (depending on your system config) and from the context menu,
select "Properties".
2) When the System Properties dialog box appears, click the "Advanced" tab,
and at the top, under where it says "Visual effects... ...and virtual
memory", click "Settings".
3) You should now see a Performance Options dialog box. Click the "Advanced"
tab, then click the "Change" button that you should see down near the bottom
of the dialog.
4) You'll now see a "Virtual Memory" dialog box.
The change you should now make depends on which of the three options is
selected at present:
-if "Custom Size" is currently selected, then in the "Maximum size" box,
increase the value. Typically, a reasonable value is approx. 3 times the
amount of physical memory you have installed on your system, or 512MB,
whichever is greater. For example, if your PC has 128MB of RAM, set "Maximum
size" to "512MB". For 256MB of RAM, set it to "768MB". Do NOT set this value
to a larger number than the amount of free space on your C:\ drive, and in
any case make sure you leave at least 100MB or so free on the c:\ drive
(i.e, don't set the maximum size so large that C:\ is completely full).
-If "System managed size" is selected, then Windows is already automatically
allocating virtual memory as needed. The error you see when running TCM 2004
is probably because you don't have enough free space on the hard drive. Free
some space (e.g by uninstalling some old games).
-If "No paging file" is selected, then set the "System managed size" option
instead.
When done, click OK on each dialog in turn until you're back at the desktop.
If prompted to reboot then click "yes".
I hope this helps.
