View Full Version : Virtual Memory Minimum too low - what does it mean?
I started another post (before New Year) about increasing the RAM on my machine. I have now doubled the memory, from 128mb to 256mb (wow! - I hear you all say) and its speeded everything up.
However, every day since I get the following message at least once -
'Virtual Memory Minimum too low'
It doesn't seem to affect the subsequent operation of the machine, but what does it mean and how can I stop it re-appearing?
Crashing Software
8th Jan 2006, 10:46
The OS sets up a "paging file" on disk which, when you're running several applications, it uses to store the contents of areas of RAM none of the applications need at a particular moment - hence "virtual memory" - using the disk as RAM.
Windows OS's in general like this to be 11Mb larger than the amount of physical RAM installed in the PC.
So increasing the size of the RAM without increasing the size of the paging file = complaints from the OS.
To stop the messages increase the paging file size to 267Mbytes (on XP that's Control Panel - System - the advanced tab).
Thanks CS, I have done that. I assume that if I add another 256mb of RAM, I should increase the minimum Paging File Size by the same amount?
I also noticed that the maximum Paging File Size on my machine is entered as 384mb. Can I also increase this and improve performance?
kriss1000
8th Jan 2006, 11:12
This is an excellent article on virtual memory and optimization done by a colleague
http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm
Clear Pagefile on System Shutdown
As an added security precaution it is possible to clear all data that has been written to the page file so it cannot be retrieved. The downside to this tweak is that it may substantially increase shutdown time depending on the amount of data in the page file.
Read Microsoft KB Article Q314834 on Clearing Paging File at Shutdown
[Start] [Run] [Regedit]
Registry Key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Modify/Create the Value Data Type(s) and Value Name(s) as detailed below.
Data Type: REG_DWORD [Dword Value] // Value Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Setting for Value Data: [0 = Clear Page File Disabled / 1 = Clear Page File Enabled]
Exit Registry and Reboot
Get a free optimizer here: http://www.sysinternals.com/
MightyGem
19th Jan 2006, 04:23
It could also be that your hard drive is near to full, as the OS also uses any free disk space to use as virtual memory.