Re: What does a 'virtual memory' error message mean?

Gerry;
It is 512mb RAM. I will take your advice and add more. Probably another
512mb. My comp is a Dell Dimension 4600. I'm pretty sure it will have plenty
of expansion slots.

How does one tell which programs are loading upon start up?

The 6 largest figures in the Task Manager are:
Peak Mem: VM Size:
141,220 208,544 iexplore.exe
92,844 23,620 svchost.exe
92,612 77,208 waol.exe
89,420 48,316 ccSVCHST.exe
57,248 49,608 aolsoftware.exe
49,236 28,512 explorer.exe

I turn my computer off about every 2-3 days but I always put it into
stand-by at night.

Sorry for the delay in responding but for several days this site would not
give me the pop-up reply window. I have no idea why, but it would just
refresh the page and that was all.

~Christine


"Gerry" wrote:

Christine

You did not answer my question about how much RAM is installed. If you
right click on My Computer (often this is a Desktop icon) and select
Properties this information is displayed on the General tab.

Looking at your commit charge figures from Task Manager and deducting
the pagefile of 768 mb I conclude that you have 512 mb RAM installed.
Now based on the Commit Charge figures, both Total and Peak, it is clear
that your system is using the pagefile and using the pagefile is much
slower than using RAM. Given that you have seen "low virtual memory"
messages I would hazard a guess that you are using more at other times
than the commit charge figures you have advised.

With the situation disclosed you could improve system performance by
other adding more RAM or by making changes to the programmes or the way
you use programmes. If you advise your computer make and model we could
the capacity of your computer for adding RAM. Adding RAM to most
computer is relatively inexpensive if installed by the user.

The other alternative is to look at the programmes you are using and
ascertain whether they are loading at StartUp, and if so whether they
can be changed to an on demand basis.

What are your anti-virus and anti-spyware arrangements. The more common
Norton (Symantec) and McAfee are resource hungry and you will find many
posting here use freeware alternatives. Most feel they are better served
by their replacement programme.

You should be able to gather more information from Task Manager. With
the Processes tab open select View, Select, Columns and check the boxes
before Peak Memory Usage and Virtual Memory size. What are the figures
for the 6 processes using the largest amounts?

Do you leave the computer on 24/7?


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Christine wrote:
Gerry;
Thank you for your response to my problem. As per the advice of a
previous responder to my question I have already changed the pagefile
to 'system managed'. I don't know if that will affect the results of
the info you have requested from me but, nevertheless, here it is:
Total: 646192
Limit: 1277416
Peak: 728820

Volume (C:)
Volume size = 37.21 GB
Cluster size = 4 KB
Used space = 21.13 GB
Free space = 16.09 GB
Percent free space = 43 %

Volume fragmentation
Total fragmentation = 3 %
File fragmentation = 7 %
Free space fragmentation = 0 %

File fragmentation
Total files = 119,198
Average file size = 359 KB
Total fragmented files = 1,955
Total excess fragments = 7,292
Average fragments per file = 1.06

Pagefile fragmentation
Pagefile size = 768 MB
Total fragments = 2

Folder fragmentation
Total folders = 9,404
Fragmented folders = 19
Excess folder fragments = 184

Master File Table (MFT) fragmentation
Total MFT size = 136 MB
MFT record count = 129,342
Percent MFT in use = 93 %
Total MFT fragments = 3

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fragments File Size Most fragmented files
1,606 100 MB \System Volume
Information\catalog.wci\00010001.ci
761 256 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\AOL\TopSpeed\2.0\cache.db
141 10 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine
Wong\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\BNZ2J5QL\get_video[1] 135 8 MB
\WINDOWS\PCHealth\HelpCtr\DataColl\CollectedData_15313.xml
124 9 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine
Wong\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\W405JRQ1\get_video[1] 98 8 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\WMLA230Q\get_video[1] 79 1 KB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\ntuser.dat.LOG
70 5 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine
Wong\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\V1ROV3FX\get_video[1] 68 5 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\W405JRQ1\get_video[2] 66 4 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\G41UH0J3\BluRib[1].swf 51 47
MB \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\AOL\C_America Online 9.0\organize\christine9363 49
3 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\2LA89E1W\get_video[1]
48 3 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine
Wong\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\XYAB3TAI\get_video[3] 44 1 KB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Application
Data\Microsoft\Windows\UsrClass.dat.LOG 42 2 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Application
Data\SupportSoft\DellSupportCenter\Christine
Wong\state\logs\sprtcmd.log;2 42 2 MB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\SupportSoft\DellSupportCenter\SYSTEM\state\logs\sprtcmd.log;1 42
3 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\WMLA230Q\get_video[7]
41 2 MB \Documents and Settings\All
Users\Application Data\Symantec\LiveUpdate\Settings.LiveUpdate 41
2 MB \Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Symantec\LiveUpdate\Settings.LastGood.LiveUpdate 41
3 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\XYAB3TAI\get_video[1]
39 3 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine
Wong\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files\Content.IE5\VZS8R99U\get_video[1] 38 5 MB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\Symantec\LiveUpdate\Log.LiveUpdate 37 292 KB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\K53Q2DWY 37 3 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\XYAB3TAI\get_video[2] 36 3 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\N0R3IJ5Z\get_video[1] 36 3 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Temporary
Internet Files\Content.IE5\N0R3IJ5Z\get_video[3] 35 2 MB
\Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local Settings\Application
Data\SupportSoft\DellSupportCenter\Christine
Wong\state\logs\sprtcmd.log;1 34 2 MB
\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application
Data\SupportSoft\DellSupportCenter\SYSTEM\state\logs\sprtcmd.log 30
304 KB \Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\4XPT4SAB 26
2 MB \Documents and Settings\Christine Wong\Local
Settings\Temporary Internet Files\Content.IE5\UHYTE7D2\get_video[1]



"Gerry" wrote:

Christine

How much RAM?

Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager and click the Performance
Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total, the Limit and the Peak?

I would be interested in seeing a Disk Defragmenter report. Open
Disk Defragmenter and click on Analyse. Select View Report and
click on Save As and Save. Now find VolumeC.txt in your My Documents
Folder and post a copy. Do this before running Disk Defragmenter as
it is more informative.

--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Christine wrote:
Several times recently I have received an error message that says
"Virtual memory minimum too low." What does this mean and what can I
do to fix it? My computer is only 4 years old and has enough juice
to operate the few basic applications I have been running when this
error message has appeared. In the past I have had plenty of apps
running with no problems. I do regular housekeeping like disk
clean-up, error checking, and defragging. Also, it has happened
relatively soon after restarting the computer. Any help is greatly
appreciated so thank you in advance. ~Christine



.

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