Posted: 12/27/2006 4:05:36 AM EDT
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Computer keeps slowing down and been getting the Virtual Memory warning. Should i use the "disc cleanup" on my cumputer and are there any risks with using it? Please go easy on me  thanks
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Your hard drive is too full. 'Virtual Memory' isn't really memory at all, it's a function of your operating system that removes 'unused' data from RAM and stores it on the hard drive untill it is being used by the computer again, at which time it is automatically brought back. The effect is more available memory, since the 'unused' data is not kept sitting in memory... It's like putting things in an organizer so you have more space on your desk to work.... If the hard drive fills up, there is less space to save this 'clutter', so it has to stay in RAM, and things slow down... Disc cleanup may help, and everything it offers to delete may be removed (it's all temporary files and 'computer garbage' for lack of a better word)... But you need a bigger hard drive (not more memory, a bigger hard drive) or you need to un-install some old/unused programs... |
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Dave_A thank you for taking the time to help, and for explaining it to me in a way i would un da stan  I keep a fair amount of music and video clips on my comp. i am guessing that it is what is filling up my HD. Would an external HD be the answer for me. I don't use my comp. for anything other than entertainment ( ARFCOM, media, etc.) and email. Thank you kyle |
I have to chime in here, this is almost completely bogus. I take that back. It is completely bogus, not almost. "Virtual Memory" is space in the swap file (aka the paging file) on disk. This space is "mapped" and appears to the OS as memory, and works exactly like memory, except much slower. Swap space only gets used is if you are low on real physical memory, if you have enough memory, the swap file is not touched except to put programs that have been idle a looooooong time. The OP does not need a bigger hard drive, but he does need either more memory, or fewer programs running. Buying a bigger hard drive will do nothing for this problem and is an absolute waste of money in this case. lobsterman: Go ahead and run the cleanup wizard, it won't hurt and will probably help some. From there, what OS are you using? 9x, 2000, and XP all have different ways to manage what programs are running on startup -- which is the most likely cause of your situation if your computer has been "running fine" and just started getting weird recently. Make sure your antivirus software is up to date, and run some trojan sweepers like "Spybot Search & Destroy" and "AdAware". A trojan that turns your computer into a spam zombie can eat system resources like crazy. |
WOW Thank you for the info. I have 2000 on this PC, run Webroot Spy Sweeper. Thaks cruze! I used the link and my computer seems to be running better. No delay when typing anymore. I also ran the cleanup wizard thanks again |
Grab msconfig from here: www.techadvice.com/win2000/m/msconfig_w2k.htm Download it and save it to your "system32" directory; this will most likely be either "C:\winnt\system32\" or "c:\windows\system32\" depending on how you installed 2k. Once that is downloaded, push start, go to "run", enter "msconfig" and hit enter. You can look through that and it will show you everything set to startup when your computer boots, there are more places things can be run from than just the "startup" folder and the registry.. Look through there and if anything looks suspicious, go look it up here: www.theeldergeek.com/services_guide.htm and it will tell you if it's something that came with windows or not, and if you need it running or not. Lastly, go here housecall.trendmicro.com/ to run a free virus scan via your browser, using Trend's engine, and then get yourself some good AV software such as McAfee, Symantec, AVG, or F-Secure; the last two are free. |
Ok, I *COULD* have explained it like that, but I chose to simplify things a bit more... So sue me... And BTW, most of the time I have seen this message, it is because the hard drive is FULL - not because too much real-RAM is in use.... Windows shrinks the page-file/swap-file when the drive starts to fill up, and the end result is that that dialog pops up... Deleting programs/data, or a bigger drive are the fix... With the amount of bloat in Windows, virtual memory is used quite agressively - ergo 1.5GB+ page files being common, and even with 2GB of RAM you will still be using some VM - if your drive fills, you will get the out-of-VM message box... |