sthompson said:
I know what virtual memory is but i am not forsure does the initial size
mean. Lets say you have 128mb of physical memory and your virtual memorys
initial size is 192. Is the 192 initial size saying that wait until you
computers physical memory gets to 192 then start using your virtual memory?
Exactly what does it mean?
In Windows XP the term Virtual Memory refers to the total memory
address space available to the operating system. This is the sum of
the physical RAM plus the paging file.
The confusion arises because the paging file is usually referred to as
the 'virtual memory paging file" and this results in many people
associating virtual memory with just the paging file alone, which is
not correct.
The paging file is a disk file on the hard drive that Windows uses to
compensate for the lack of physical RAM. The minimum size that is
specified is the size that the paging file will be when the computer
boots up.
As for using the paging file, Windows will "use" the paging file in
one important aspect as soon as it starts to boot up. This is with
regard to the unused portion of memory allocation requests. Not all
of the memory space requested by a program, a device driver, or a
windows component will be used, at least not immediately. So Windows
allocates RAM only to the portion of the request that is being used
and maps the unused portion to locations in the paging file.
However the most important use of the paging file occurs when all of
the available RAM is being used for something or other, and there is a
requirement for additional items to be placed into RAM. At that point
Windows will evaluate the actual usage history of the items currently
in RAM and will move the least used items from RAM to the paging file
so as to free up the amount of RAM that is now required.
So my answer to your question with regard to 128 mb of RAM and 192 mb
of initial paging file would be:
1. Windows will start using the paging file, that is swapping memory
content back and forth between RAM and the paging file, as soon as the
total memory load on the system exceeds 128 mb. And that will start
to happen before Windows has finished booting up.
2. Windows will increase the size of the paging file beyond the 192
mb value when the total memory load on the system exceeds 320 mb,
which is the combined total of the physical RAM and the initial paging
file size.
Hope this explains the situation.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
In memory of a dear friend Alex Nichol MVP
http://aumha.org/alex.htm