Re: Virtual Memory Size?

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
Version 1.5 ? Last Updated February 13, 2005
by Alex Nichol
(MS-MVP - Windows Storage Management/File Systems)
© 2002-2005 by Author, All Rights Reserved
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

What is Virtual Memory?
A program instruction on an Intel 386 or later CPU can address up to 4GB of
memory, using its full 32 bits. This is normally far more than the RAM of
the machine. (The 32nd exponent of 2 is exactly 4,294,967,296, or 4 GB. 32
binary digits allow the representation of 4,294,967,296 numbers ? counting
0.) So the hardware provides for programs to operate in terms of as much as
they wish of this full 4GB space as Virtual Memory, those parts of the
program and data which are currently active being loaded into Physical
Random Access Memory (RAM). The processor itself then translates (?maps?)
the virtual addresses from an instruction into the correct physical
equivalents, doing this on the fly as the instruction is executed. The
processor manages the mapping in terms of pages of 4 Kilobytes each - a size
that has implications for managing virtual memory by the system.


--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm
In Memorium: Alex Nichol
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/nichol.mspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Ken Gardner" <KenGardner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:28B0160A-1147-4512-80F5-1FBB037ED28D@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> "Mike Hall (MS-MVP)" wrote:
>
> > It is a good idea to let Windows manage the pagefile.. it seems happier
> > working out what space is required by itself rather than having a user
> > setting determine what it can do, regardless of the size specified by
the
> > user..
>
> I'm not disagreeing (that's how my page file is set), and I would add that
> people make mistakes when they do try to customize their settings, but can
> you point me to a Microsoft KB article or white paper that explains why it
is
> better to let Windows do it than to customize it? TIA.


.

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