Virtual Memory

Chepe wrote:

> As the virtual memory on my computer was low,


What does that mean? How do you know?


> I decided to upgrade
> the memory from 512MB to 1.49GB RAM.



Very few people running Windows XP can make effective use of that much RAM.
It's way overkill for almost everyone, unless you are editing large graphic
images or video files. Here's my standard message on how much RAM you should
have:

How much RAM you should have is *not* a one-size-fits-all situation. You get
good performance if the amount of RAM you have keeps you from using the page
file, and that depends on what apps you run. Most people running a typical
range of business applications find that somewhere around 256-384MB works
well, others need 512MB. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less
than 256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more than
512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory will
decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance. If you are
not using the page file significantly, more memory will do nothing for you.
Go to http://billsway.com/notes%5Fpublic/winxp%5Ftweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should give you
a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how much more.



> However, I would like to
> increase the virtual memory initial size (presently 1600MB)


That's already more than necessary, and just wastes disk space. Page file
*substitutes* for RAM when there isn't enough RAM. The more RAM you have,
the *less* page file you need.


> and
> maximum size (presently 1800MB).


Making the maximum large can never hurt you and is good to do.


> The maximum allowed is 2MB;
> recommended 2289MB; currently allocated 1600MB. What numbers should I
> enter in the initial and maximum sizes now that I have increased the
> memory to 1.49GB? I know that it is recommended to 1.5 time the total
> memory


That's the Windows XP default, but it's a poor one. If you want to manage
the page file yourself, I would ignore that poor recommendation.


> but what are the numbers?


Make the initial value very low--200MB or so--and the maximum as high as it
will go.

Read this excellent article by the late MVP Alex Nichol: "Virtual Memory in
Windows XP" at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
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