Virtual memory problem

[Bobcat]

Periodically I get a pop-up that says "Windows - Virtual Momory
minimum is too low." I'm not computer-savvy enough to know what this
means. Is my PC's memory insufficient? My primary hard drive has about
15 gb of unused space out of 40. One ongoing problem is that my PC
takes forever to perform some tasks, especially if it's trying to
perform more than one. Pls advise
Thanks

 

[Mick Murphy]

Your Hard Drive is called Secondary Memory, for permanent Storage.
RAM is your Primary Memory, that you work with all day.
RAM should be minimum of 512MBs

See how much RAM you have by clicking on Start>Right-click My
Computer>Properties> it will tell you down the bottom of that Window how much
RAM.

Virtual Memory is a page file written on your Hard Drive, to be an extension
of your RAM, and it is 1 and a 1/2 times your RAM size, or should be.

To check that> Click start>Right-click MyComputer>Properties>Advanced Tab at
top>Under Performance>Settings>Then advanced tab across the top

At the bottom, you have virtual memory. Click on Change>Set it to System
Managed size

I use Custom size, but we don't know how much RAM you have.
I have 1G of RAM, so my initial is 1524MBs; Max is 3048MBs

Cheers.

 

[Bobcat]

Your Hard Drive is called Secondary Memory, for permanent Storage.
RAM is your Primary Memory, that you work with all day.
RAM should be minimum of 512MBs

See how much RAM you have by clicking on Start>Right-click My
Computer>Properties> it will tell you down the bottom of that Window how much
RAM.

Virtual Memory is a page file written on your Hard Drive, to be an extension
of your RAM, and it is 1 and a 1/2 times your RAM size, or should be.

To check that> Click start>Right-click MyComputer>Properties>Advanced Tabat
top>Under Performance>Settings>Then advanced tab across the top

At the bottom, you have virtual memory. Click on Change>Set it to System
Managed size

I use Custom size, but we don't know how much RAM you have.
I have 1G of RAM, so my initial is 1524MBs; Max is 3048MBs
Cheers.
Mad Mike

Thanks, Mike, I'll follow your advice.

 

[Gerry]

Bob

How much RAM memory?

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?


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Bobcat]

Bob
How much RAM memory?
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?
Hope  this helps. Gerry

It does. It tells me I have far too little RAM - presumably because
only paid $450 for the computer! It's about one-third of what Mike
says he has - 1 GB
Mine is:
Total: 363,476
Limit: 477,826
Peak: 448,016
So would I have to buy a better computer to increase my RAM?
Thanks; Bob

 

[Gerry]

Bob

You have not made clear what RAM is installed? Right click on the My
Computer icon on your Desktop to get the information. lso what is the
CPU?

What is your computer make and model?

RAM memory can be added to a computer subject to the capacity of the
motherboard to take more. I will be able to say more
when you have provided the answers to my questions.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Bobcat]

Bob
You have not made clear what RAM is installed? Right click on the My
Computer icon on your Desktop to get the information. lso what is the
CPU?
What is your computer make and model?

Hi, Gerry -
Here's as much of the info you need as I could find.

RAM: 192 MB

CPU: 2:40 GHz

The computer is a hybrid no-name. It was assembled by Blue Tech
Enterprises, a local company. I've found the invoice for it and it
includes this info:

"CPU: Start from Intel P4 2.4C, FSB 800, serial number 3341A080
RAM: 256MB DDR400 PC 3200 RAM, serial number 256-3200
MOTHERBOARD: Asrock A4S61, serial number 1X09289"
(Various other details on sound, keyboard etc.)

I don't know if this is enough for you to go on - I hope so.
Thanks for all your concern and trouble.
Bob

 

[Jim]

Bob
You have not made clear what RAM is installed? Right click on the My
Computer icon on your Desktop to get the information. lso what is the
CPU?
What is your computer make and model?

Hi, Gerry -
Here's as much of the info you need as I could find.

RAM: 192 MB

CPU: 2:40 GHz

The computer is a hybrid no-name. It was assembled by Blue Tech
Enterprises, a local company. I've found the invoice for it and it
includes this info:

"CPU: Start from Intel P4 2.4C, FSB 800, serial number 3341A080
RAM: 256MB DDR400 PC 3200 RAM, serial number 256-3200
MOTHERBOARD: Asrock A4S61, serial number 1X09289"
(Various other details on sound, keyboard etc.)

I don't know if this is enough for you to go on - I hope so.
Thanks for all your concern and trouble.
Bob




Your system really could use more RAM. Sorry, though, it is not clear how
much more you can install.
Did you perchance get a manual for the motherboard? It should show how many
RAM sockets there are.
Also, it seems likely that some of the memory is shared between the cpu and
the video controller.

Jim

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi, Gerry -
Here's as much of the info you need as I could find.

RAM: 192 MB

How much RAM you need for good performance with XP depends on what
apps you run, but there are very few people who runs apps that need as
little as 192MB for decent performance.

 

[Mick Murphy]

Bobcat, you are short on enought RAM(memory)

You have 256MBs; but it is sharing 64MBs of that with Graphics, which is
what enables you you see things on your monitor
Thus, leaving you 192MBs to run everything else!

Your computer is OK.
All you have to do, is upgrade your RAM to a minimum of 512MBs, and
everything will be fine.

Either get a competent, local computer repair man, or take it back to the
shop where you bought it, and get them to upgrade the RAM from 256MBs to
512MBs, or even up to 1024MBs(which is 1Gig)
The more RAM(up to a limit), the better it performs.

 

[Gerry]

Bob

Unfortunately I cannot identify the precise Asrock motherboard from the
information you have provided.

This freeware programme is excellent for getting information about
your computer:Everest Home Edition (freeware)
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

Tip: To copy select Report, Quick Report, Plain Text, highlight
required text, right click and select copy. However, whilst this is
fine for posting small amounts of information into newsgroup messages
longer reports will irritate other newsgroup subscribers.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Bobcat]

Periodically I get a pop-up that says "Windows - Virtual Momory
minimum is too low." I'm not computer-savvy enough to know what this
means. Is my PC's memory insufficient? My primary hard drive has about
15 gb of unused space out of 40. One ongoing problem is that my PC
takes forever to perform some tasks, especially if it's trying to
perform more than one. Pls advise
Thanks

Thanks all of you for such prompt, thorough advice on my problem. I'm
going to take Ken's advice and take my computer into a repairman to
have additional RAM installed, probably the higher amount.
Bob

 

[Bobcat]

Thanks all of you for such prompt, thorough advice on my problem. I'm
going to take Ken's advice and take my computer into a repairman to
have additional RAM installed, probably the higher amount.
Bob

Sorry, I meant to write "Mike's advice".
Bob

 

[Bobcat]

Thanks all of you for such prompt, thorough advice on my problem. I'm
going to take Mike's advice and take my computer into a repairman to
have additional RAM installed, probably the higher amount.
Bob

FOOTNOTE: I just phoned the company where I bought my computer a
couple of years ago. Roy the guy who sold it to me said they can
upgrade it to 1 GB RAM for only $35 CAD plus $15 CAD installation fee.
He thinks that should speed my computer up suffiently. If not, for $35
an hour they can clean up the hard drive programming to make it even
more efficient. Sounds good to me. How about you?

 

[Gerry]

Bob

It is likely to be the memory that is the bottleneck. Of course it all
depends on what you use the computer for.

What anti-virus software is uninstalled? If it is Norton or McAfee the
replacement might be another way to help boost system performance. There
are freeware programmes readily available.


--



Hope this helps.

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

 

[Swifty]

The computer is a hybrid no-name. It was assembled by Blue Tech
Enterprises, a local company.

See if "Scan my system" at http://www.crucial.com tells you what to do.

 

[Swifty]

FOOTNOTE: I just phoned the company where I bought my computer a
couple of years ago. Roy the guy who sold it to me said they can
upgrade it to 1 GB RAM for only $35 CAD plus $15 CAD installation fee.
He thinks that should speed my computer up suffiently. If not, for $35
an hour they can clean up the hard drive programming to make it even
more efficient. Sounds good to me. How about you?

$50! I checked my PC at http://www.crucial.com and their 1Gb upgrade
cost < $20

If you lived anywhere near me, I'd offer to do the job for $49 (getting
the hardware from Crucial). I'm generous like that.

Their scanner may not recognise your PC, but if it does, the memory
arrives with instructions so simple that even my 82 year old
mother-in-law could follow them (and she has trouble finding the "On"
button on her TV remote control).