Virtual memory-problem

[Flanker]

Whenever I play Civ III, I get a Windows message saying something like: "Your system is running low on virtual memory, Windows is transfering more memory from... During this process, memory might not be allowed for some applications." (Not exact those words, but pretty close.) This message usually pops up a few minutes after game-play, but after that I can play for hours without problem. The same problem happened to me when I played SimCity 3000, but in that game it took more time before the message popped up. However, after that message, it took some more minutes and then the game crashed. That has, luckily enough, never happened to my Civ III-game.

My question is - what is really this "Virtual memory"? Is there some way to increase it or make this annoying message not to pop up? As you might understand, I´m not a real computer-freak so please explain on a basic level!

[Willem]

Virtual memory is using your hard drive to supplement your ordinary RAM, it's one of the features of Windows. If you're getting that message, it means that you should clear up your hard drive a bit so that there's a bit more room for the file the system uses to create the virtual memory. Getting more RAM would go a long way to solving that problem as well.

Another thing you can do is get a Memory manager utility. Windows is notorius for wasting RAM resources, leaving parts of programs in memory even after they've been shut down. The Memory manager will periodically clean it up, leaving more available for active applications. If you're interested, I could give you link to a fairly good one, that's free.

Your best bet though is getting more RAM and cleaning up your hard drive. BTW, when was the last time you defragmented your drive? That can have an effect as well.

[Flanker]

Thank you for a very good answer on the right "level"! I have some further questions though. By the way, I use Windows 2000.
In the control panel -> System properties -> Advanced -> Performance options, there is some options for virtual memory. I don´t really understand what you can change there, but I understand that it is possible to change "something"! Is it anything of interest?

You are right that I should defragment my hard disk, I´ll do that right away, but I´m not sure that will solve just this problem because I´ve had it (the problem) right after I bought the HD only half a year ago. I have 48 GB free space on my HD as well, so I hardly believe that´s any problem. Maybe I´ll buy some more RAM then, that will be a later issue I guess.

And yes, please give me the link to the program, that would be very kind of you!
Thanks for all your help!

[Willem]

Originally posted by Flanker
In the control panel -> System properties -> Advanced -> Performance options, there is some options for virtual memory. I don´t really understand what you can change there, but I understand that it is possible to change "something"! Is it anything of interest?

You have to be careful when messing with those settings, you can create some serious problems otherwise. Basically what it does is allow you to configure a set size for the file that Windows uses for the virtual memory, or moving it to a different drive. Normally, it will use your hard drive space as needed, without any restrictions. If you have a set size, and it's to small for certain applications, it will crash your program, or even the system itself. You're better off just leaving it alone, and investing in more RAM.

You are right that I should defragment my hard disk, I´ll do that right away, but I´m not sure that will solve just this problem because I´ve had it (the problem) right after I bought the HD only half a year ago. I have 48 GB free space on my HD as well, so I hardly believe that´s any problem.

That's curious, there should be plenty of room for the file. Do you have the drive partitioned at all? And defragmenting might help, it will allow the drive to create a more efficient virtual memory file.

It sounds to me at the moment that you might have a problem with that drive though, there should be lots of space available. How much RAM do you have BTW?

And yes, please give me the link to the program, that would be very kind of you!

OK, here it is.

Analog X site

Look for a program called MaxMem. You'll have to create a shortcut to the program and stick it your Startup folder in order to get it to run automatically, which is the best way to use it. I've tried a few of these types of programs so far, and this is the one I've liked the best.

While you're there, you should also grab Pow! and CookieWall. Pow's a popup killer, and CookieWall allows you to control the cookies that end up on your system when you're browsing.