How To: Increase Virtual Memory beyond the Recommended Maximum (2024)

FAQs

How To: Increase Virtual Memory beyond the Recommended Maximum? ›

In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab and click Performance Options. In the Performance Options dialog, under Virtual memory, click Change. In the Virtual memory dialog box, select a drive. Under Paging file size for selected drive, type new values for initial and maximum sizes for the disk.

In the System Properties dialog box, click the Advanced tab and click Performance Options. In the Performance Options dialog, under Virtual memory, click Change. In the Virtual memory dialog box, select a drive. Under Paging file size for selected drive, type new values for initial and maximum sizes for the disk.

However, with advancements in technology and more efficient operating systems, this rule is not as rigid as it once was. For a system with 16GB RAM, setting the virtual memory between 24GB to 32GB is a good starting point, but adjustments might be needed based on specific use cases.

Virtual memory upper limits are set by the OS: for example, on 32-bit Windows the limit is 16TB, and on 64-bit Windows the limit is 256TB. Virtual memory is also physically limited by the available disc space.

Virtual memory is a system memory management technique that allows a program to use more memory than is physically available on the computer by temporarily transferring data to disk storage. This allows the program to continue running even if all physical memory is in use."

Allocating too little HDD space for virtual memory can result in a computer running out of RAM. If a system continually needs more virtual memory space, it may be wise to consider adding RAM. Common OSes may generally recommend users not increase virtual memory beyond 1 ½ times the amount of RAM.

So if I have 64GB RAM, I want 64-128GB swap (Linux equivalent of virtual memory). The reason this is the recommendation is that there are some processes that for a very brief period of time use a lot of memory. As these are not long-running processes, it's safe to run these in virtual memory with minimal time penalty.

Note: Microsoft recommends that virtual memory be set at no less than 1.5 times and no more than 3 times the amount of RAM on the computer.

As a rule of thumb, the paging file should be a minimum of 1.5 times the size of your installed RAM, and a maximum of 3 times your RAM size. For example, if you have 8 GB RAM, your minumum would be 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12,288 MB, and your maximum would be 1024 x 8 x 3 = 24,576 MB.

30% to 50% memory usage is normal when idle for computers with 8GB to 16GB of RAM. If your PC has 32GB normal memory usage when idle will be around 5%. In general, you want your RAM usage to be as high as possible.

Is it safe to increase virtual memory? ›

Microsoft recommends that you set virtual memory to be no less than 1.5 times and no more than 3 times the amount of RAM on your computer. For power PC owners (like most UE/UC users), you likely have at least 2GB of RAM so your virtual memory can be set up to 6,144 MB (6 GB).

Running Low on Virtual Memory

If your virtual memory runs low, you will encounter the following message: Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied.

Disadvantages of Virtual Memory

Thrashing is a phenomenon where a computer with little RAM always alternates between virtual and physical memory. Performance lags may result from the computer becoming slower as a result. A computer's available memory is usually decreased if it has little secondary storage.

Virtual memory upper limits are set by the OS: eg. 32-bit Windows the limit is 16TB, and on 64-bit Windows the limit is 256TB. Max limitation is physical disk space.

The basic idea behind demand paging is that when a process is swapped in, its pages are not swapped in all at once. Rather they are swapped in only when the process needs them. ( on demand. ) This is termed a lazy swapper, although a pager is a more accurate term.

If your computer is running slowly due to a lack of RAM, you might be tempted to increase virtual memory because it is less expensive. However, adding RAM is a better solution because your processor can read data from RAM faster than from a hard drive.

As a rule of thumb, the paging file should be a minimum of 1.5 times the size of your installed RAM, and a maximum of 3 times your RAM size. For example, if you have 8 GB RAM, your minumum would be 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12,288 MB, and your maximum would be 1024 x 8 x 3 = 24,576 MB.

Microsoft advice when setting virtual memory is to enable it on all drives, maybe set to Auto, and Windows will take care of rest. Windows knows speed of each drive and will use them as needed. Eg if C drive is busy it will switch to D drive, etc. For most users setting swap file to Auto is more than enough.

The Page File should be approximately 1.5 - 2 times the size of your total system memory (RAM). A computer with 4GB of RAM will need a Page File a minimum of 6GB (6144 MB) and a maximum of 8GB (8192MB).