Genealogy Chat

I keep getting the message "virtual memory minimum too low" can anyone please tell me what it means.

Thanks
Barbara

No, but if you google the phrase you will get some answers

Thanks RutlandBelle will do that

Hi Barbara,What memory[RAM] size do you have on your PC?.It should say on the front of the casing on your unit.

Cass

Hi Barbra
I have had that problem in the last few weeks and had to get a bigger
memory put on to my computer .

Anita

Before you do anything, shut down your computer completely. Leave if for five minutes or so then re-start it again.

It is possible to increase your virtual memory, but not always a good idea, especially if the cause of the problem is something else.

You can check your computers specifications as follows:- (I'm assuming you have XP)

Click on Start then Control Panel
Click Performance & Maintenance then select System
Select the General Tab and it will tell you what you have under Computer

Hi
I'm also getting the same thing.
Last time this happened to me I had to have a new hard drive!
Hope it's not that again
Norma xxx

Hello all,

Sorry not replied earlier, was away yesterday. I tried googling and I got the impression it was because I had too many programs open and they were using too much memory, but the message has just appeared again and have only got GR open. Have just googled again and it gets a bit technical for me. Will have to digest it a bit longer.

Have checked the RAM and it says 448MB of RAM so don't know whether this is of any consequence.

Barbara

That amount of ram is fine for general browsing. Your Virtual Memory should be set to around 1 .5 this amount, Have you tried shutting down completely and re-booting, as I suggested?

InspectorGreenPen had tried what you suggest but with no luck it's still doing it. Am thinking am going to have to get a professional to have a look at it as it is also very slow and screen freezing.

Hi Barbara,Buy an additional memory card of 512MB or 1GB...you'll see a marked improvement.

I purchased a new memory card recently and now have 1GB +,...what a difference...no freezing,smooth operation and speed has increased x 3.

Cass

Another cause could be that you are getting short of space on your hard drive.

Increasing your ram could help, but only if you sort out any other problems you have which might be stalling your PC and don't expect miracles though. I upped mine from 500mb to 1gig a few years back and it only really showed an improvment with a few programs which were memory hungry, such as video and picture editing or games. I don't play games so that isn't important to me.

In fact as I write this, my usage is just 333 mb physical and 321mb of virtual ram, and that is with FTM, Live Mail, and a handful of web pages open, so more than half what I have avaialble is sitting there doing nothing.

Have you checked what your virtual memory is set to? Do check your disk usage first, though.

InspectorGreenPen, how do I check what my virtual memory is set to?

my Toshiba laptop has tempro on it that kept saying i had little virtual memory left I took it back to pc world and they turned it off for me now i got no problem
Karen

The settings are slightly hidden away, presumably to stop people tampering too much.

Right Click "My Computer" on your desktop and Select Properties. Click the Advanced Tab, then Performance Settings and then the Advanced tab one more.

This little site explains it

http://www.freepchelp.co.uk/forum/articles-and-tutorials/2115-changing-virtual-memory-settings-windows-xp-tutorial.html