How to increase virtual memory on your computer

If you’re like every one else that uses a computer, you prefer for it to run as quickly and smoothly as possible. No one likes to wait forever for large applications to load and run on their computer. Typically, the answer to making your computer faster is to upgrade its memory capacity. Computers these days possess memory capacity of somewhere between as low as 256 KB and up to 4 GB.

However, replacing and updating your memory isn't the only way that you can tweak your computer’s performance for faster operation. Your computer’s virtual memory can be accessed for the purpose of increasing application load time and reducing the amount of stress that you computer puts on its hard drive to keep up with demand.

Virtual memory is your computer’s answer to the problem of sometimes running out of available RAM. If you have a lot of large applications open and running, you may be taxing your computer’s memory resources to the max. In order to continue operating to your demands, your computer implements its virtual memory to compensate. Virtual memory allows your computer to be able to utilize its hard disk as RAM temporarily to meet the increased demands.

To access and increase the virtual memory on your Windows computer, simply follow these instructions as outlined by Microsoft:

1. Open the Computer Management application.
2. Right-click Computer Management (Local), and then select Properties.
3. Click Settings, located under Performance on the Advanced tab.
4. Look for Virtual Memory and then click Change.
5. Select the drive that holds the paging file that you wish to configure in the Drive list.
6. Under the option of Paging File Size for Selected Drive, select Custom Size; enter new paging file sizes in the Maximum Size (MB) and Initial Size (MB) fields. Click Set and then OK.

After this is done you should notice quite an improvement in the general speed and running of your computer. If it doesn’t make a large difference then consider replacing the hardware memory, otherwise known as RAM.

About the Author
Bill Roberts has written articles on desktop computers. This article on how to increase virtual memory on your computer compliments his website which offers a multitude of options and help for anyone interested in the Best desktop computer buyers guide.

by Bill Roberts - 7-22-09

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Source: http://computer-hardwareadvice.com