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Working memory
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in General Chat
I got a warning the other day that my laptop was low on working memory (I think that's what it was called). Just wondering what steps I can take to free up some memory because I have noticed it being slow and struggling to do things it normally does very quickly.
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That would be virtual memory mate.
You can up it... what version of windows are you using?
virtual memory, that's it, lol.
running xp.
On windows XP...
How to Resize the Paging File
1. Log on to the computer as Administrator.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
5. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Virtual memory, click Change.
6. In the Drive [Volume Label] list, click a drive other than the one on which Windows is installed (Windows is usually installed on the drive C). Under Total paging file size for all drives, note the value that is displayed next to Recommended.
7. Click Custom size, and then type the recommended value in the Initial size (MB) box.
8. Type the maximum size that you want to allow for paging in the Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
9. The following message appears:
The changes you have made require you to restart your computer before they can take effect.
Click OK, click OK, click OK, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart the computer.
How much you set depends on how much RAM you have. Althought you can set it quite large, depending on the size of your hard disk. I have 2GB of RAM, and my virtual memory is set to 3GB.
Initial size (MB): 720
Maximum size (MB: 1440
Minimum allowed: 2 MB
Recommended: 715 MB
Currently allocated: 720 MB
My initial size is already in excess of my recommended size so what should I do?
Local disc ( C: )
Free space: 38.7 GB
Total space: 55.8 GB
Is that what you need to know?
Initial size (MB): 2,048
Maximum size (MB: 2,048
Setting them both the same can reduce fragmentation of the paging file on the hard disk (it doesn't get split up) and give slightly faster access speeds.
So if that makes any difference! You can always change it again afterwards.
I'm off to get myself a KFC.
This is a cool little tweak that I always perfrom after an install, not to mention turn off system restore.
If you're running out of pagefile(virtual memory), then you either need to look at how you're using the system(too many applications going at once), or increase the hardware available(go to 768mb or even 1gb of physical memory).
Even using 700mb of virtual RAM is too much - RAM is cheap these days
If the message only came up once or twice, then I'd not worry too much. But if it's coming up on a regular basis, then it could do with investigating.
in fact, it's running a bit weird at times. defo.
should i clear up destop and toolbars etc??
Go through the Startup tab, unchecking stuff that you don't really need (But be careful not to remove startup stuff relating to printers/dsl modems , things that might need to be pre-loaded to ensure the hardware works..
Should speed the computer up a little, If not a great deal