Is Virtual Memory Low? Here Is How to Increase Virtual Memory! (2024)

FAQs

How do you increase virtual memory? ›

You can increase your virtual memory by using the Task Manager to find and quit all memory-intensive programs. You can also delete unnecessary files using Disk Cleanup. Or you can manually set the paging file size from Control Panel.

Virtual memory frees up RAM by swapping data that has not been used recently over to a storage device, such as a hard drive or solid-state drive (SSD). Virtual memory is important for improving system performance, multitasking and using large programs.

Low virtual memory indicates that not only the RAM available for your system hit its cap, but that reserved hard disk space used to free up RAM has also maxed out. This can occur during multi-tasking (running several programs at once) or if a single program or command requires a large amount of RAM.

Find the “Advanced features” menu in your BIOS. Look for your graphics settings (the option may be called “Graphics Settings,” “VGA Share Memory Size,” “Video Settings,” or something similar). Choose the amount of space you want to allocate to your VRAM.

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.

The addresses in the kernel space are reserved for system processes, and only the user space addresses are accessible for applications. Therefore, each application has a virtual memory limit of 2 GB, regardless of physical RAM. No process can ever address more than 2 GB of virtual address space by default.

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.

Why is virtual memory a problem? ›

Using virtual memory makes a computer run slower, as the processor has to wait while data is swapped between hard disk and RAM. As secondary storage devices have slower access times than RAM, the computer's processing performance can be severely impaired.

And How to Change Virtual Memory Settings. Virtual memory (also known as a page file) is essentially a block of space on your hard drive or solid state drive allocated by the OS to pretend to be RAM when your physical RAM runs short for actively running programs.

If you have 4GB or less RAM and also have a decent SSD, then yes, increasing your page file to 8-16GB will offer a naticable improvment in loading, alt-tabbing, and general multi-tasking, gaming or not.

You can change this to match the maximum size, or you can increase both beyond the maximum size. 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.

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.

Some extra virtual memory can allow bloated portions of the OS to stay on disk largely unused,however virtual memory more than 2x that of main memory is a waste if disk space. So for16 GB, no more than 32 GB.

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).