Find out what virtual memory is , what is a paging file or pagefile, what virtual memory is for and when it is convenient to increase its size .
Difference between RAM and Hard Drive
Computers have – in the vast majority of cases – an internal hard drive (or SSD) and a physical memory component in the form of RAM .
L ‘ access to the RAM is much faster than accessing the hard disk.
The RAM memory is actually used when working with programs to speed up operations. When you open a file and work on it, your computer uses RAM to temporarily store necessary information.
The memory contained in the RAM, however, is volatile : when you turn off the computer, everything in the RAM disappears.
When you save the file, the computer essentially moves the information from the (volatile) RAM to the hard drive (where the data is permanently saved, even if the computer is turned off).
Sometimes, RAM memory isn’t enough for all the things your computer is doing. What happens in these cases? The computer relies on virtual memory .
What Virtual Memory Is And What It Is Used For
The virtual memory is nothing but a part of the hard drive , Windows automatically set to be used as an extension of RAM physics of your computer.
In practice, virtual memory comes into action when the RAM is no longer sufficient for the operations you are performing.
When this happens, some information and data are moved from RAM to virtual memory to free up RAM space.
What is Paging File or Pagefile.sys
More exactly, information and data are transferred from RAM to a file managed by Windows , called swap file or even (more correctly) paging file .
The official name of this file is pagefile.sys and is located in C: (it is usually hidden by default).
When is it worth changing the size of virtual memory?
My advice, for the most part, is to leave the virtual memory size unchanged .
The only cases in which I recommend increasing the size of virtual memory are:
- if you often receive notifications from Windowsinforming you that your virtual memory is insufficient ;
or
- if you often notice a noticeable slowdown of the computer when you use certain programs, slowdown that you are able to attribute to an insufficiency of RAM and virtual memory compared to the workload .
In case you get the Windows notification, there can be several reasons that lead to the appearance of this error.
Typically, this message appears when you use too many programs at the same time (not to be underestimated those that run in the background, such as notepad on the desktop, widgets, antivirus, file sharing programs, etc.), which take up excessive physical RAM space virtual memory, causing both of them to run out.
There are two actions you can take to resolve low RAM or virtual memory problems.
The first intervention is the most effective, but it requires a certain expense: buying and mounting extra RAM , which is much faster than virtual memory.
In fact, virtual memory is read much slower than RAM by our system (around 50% – 60% less): virtual memory is therefore a valid help, but not an equal substitute for RAM.
A RAM upgrade would guarantee you a very positive impact on your system that you couldn’t get just by increasing virtual memory.
If you don’t want to spend money, you can, however, try the second intervention: increase the size of virtual memory .
Virtual memory is created by Windows in a completely automatic way . Windows allocates a standard default amount of memory on all computers.
The minimum paging file size is the size of your RAM + 300MB. The maximum size is variable but it is never more than 3 times the value of your RAM.
The point is, depending on your computer usage, virtual memory may in some cases benefit from more allocated space.
Do you use your computer intensively, perhaps for heavy graphics or video programs? Then you might benefit from larger virtual memory.
Are you a sporadic internet surfer, with no particular demands on software or games? In your case, you might consider a slight increase in virtual memory, provided you are receiving notifications from Windows or if you have noticed an excessive slowdown of the computer when you browse, not due to other causes.
Drawing your own conclusions, if the virtual memory value suggested by the system seems inadequate, you can then change its size manually.
Should You Disable Virtual Memory?
No. I recommend that you NEVER disable or delete the paging file from your computer .
Even if you have a lot of RAM available, some programs may be set to use the paging file automatically, and turning it off could create problems when you run these programs. So having a lot of RAM is not enough reason to turn off virtual memory.
On the net you can find sites that recommend disabling the paging file if your operating system is installed on an SSD, this is because the continuous reading and rewriting of the data on the paging file could shorten the life of your SSD.
In reality, even this advice is now outdated: SSDs in recent years have evolved and have now reached an expected average life (Mean Time Between Failure) of 1 million or more hours (equal to 114 years or more). So, that’s not a good reason to turn off virtual memory either.
