Virtual Memory, where do we get to it?

[Gina Stevenson]

I forgot now! But, anyway, aside from dial-up, since this thing once again told me that it didn't have enough "virtual memory," and it was taking time to "increase it," it's been slower than molasses, even when OFF-line!

So, it's not just the dial-up problem at the moment. So, was thinking re manually lowering it again to see if that would help, and just try to not open a bunch of tabs at once. For instance, tonight it would keep sticking with just 4-5 open instead of two or three!

Thanks much for the memory jogger.

[As stated, "slower than ..." as I typed up that 2nd paragraph, I got only halfway through it, literally, and it was about two whole minutes after I'd finished typing it that I sat here watching it appear letter-by-letter on the screen! (it had been in queue that long!)

[Anne and Dwayne Hood]

Gina, do you ever do anything like disk clean to get rid of things you do not need to be in the memory?
Click on the Start place, and see if you see anything like disk clean, or something
that might sould like that. Get rid of what you do not need, and keep your recycle bin emptied.
I just got back up--still awake.

[Billy Cox]

Here are some things I would do if I was consistently getting virtual memory errors:

-- Shut down any programs that don't need to be running

-- Install and run a free version of a spyware checker (AdAware, SpyBot) in order to shut down programs that might be running that you don't know about.

-- Install and run a free antivirus program

-- Uninstall software that you don't really need - your computer uses what is called a 'page file' on the hard drive; when you start running out of disk space, there is less space available for the page file, and computer performance goes into the toilet.

-- Empty your recycle bin, do a scandisk, and defragment your disk (search Windows help to get specifics)

-- Consider wiping the entire disk and starting over with a fresh install of everything

-- Consider buying a new computer

[Mark Metcalfe]

Gina I use all these Free tools.

Spybot (destroys spyware): http://www.spybot.com/en/download/index.html (do NOT download spywarebot; it is a fake). Once a week.

Ad-Aware (destroys tracking cookies): http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2007-Free/3000-8022_4-10045910.html?part=dl-ad-aware&subj=dl&tag=top5 Once a week.

RegSeeker (cleans your registry) : http://regseeker.en.softonic.com/
Occasionally.

Avast Antivirus (protects your home system for free): http://www.avast.com/eng/download-avast-home.html
Always running.

CCleaner (Deletes cookies, wastebasket, other things; can also delete your saved passwords): http://www.ccleaner.com/download
Occasionally.

Starting with a fresh installation of Windows will restore the speed you had when you first got it, then be careful about what you load back on.

Buying a new computer is pretty cheap these days. Little moeny for a lot more power. But use the tolls listed above and that should help. For your problem, I'd start with CCleaner, then set up Avast, then the other three.

Mark


Here are some things I would do if I was consistently getting virtual memory errors:

-- Shut down any programs that don't need to be running

-- Install and run a free version of a spyware checker (AdAware, SpyBot) in order to shut down programs that might be running that you don't know about.

-- Install and run a free antivirus program

-- Uninstall software that you don't really need - your computer uses what is called a 'page file' on the hard drive; when you start running out of disk space, there is less space available for the page file, and computer performance goes into the toilet.

-- Empty your recycle bin, do a scandisk, and defragment your disk (search Windows help to get specifics)

-- Consider wiping the entire disk and starting over with a fresh install of everything

-- Consider buying a new computer

[Gina Stevenson]

Here are some things I would do if I was consistently getting virtual memory errors:

-- Shut down any programs that don't need to be running

Yes, I do this sometimes, going into the Task Manager & closing them down.

-- Install and run a free version of a spyware checker (AdAware, SpyBot) in order to shut down programs that might be running that you don't know about.

Yes, have SpyBot, Ad Aware.

-- Install and run a free antivirus program

Yes, I've got AVG that faithfully updates itself (set on "auto") daily.

-- Uninstall software that you don't really need - your computer uses what is called a 'page file' on the hard drive; when you start running out of disk space, there is less space available for the page file, and computer performance goes into the toilet.

OK, now this might be something to think about; there are several programs that do the same thing, I planned when DL'ing them to check them out to see which one handled whatever function best, & dump the others. Well, they've not been checked out yet. [but if they're closed, they're taking up too much space, when there's scads of hard drive space left (160G drive)?].

-- Empty your recycle bin, do a scandisk, and defragment your disk (search Windows help to get specifics)

Yes, I've emptied the bin many times, did defrag even when it said it doesn't need it, et cetera. What I finally did do was go to the place where it asks if you want to customize, have Windows do it for you, or go with the basic minimum needed (having to do w/virtual memory). So, I went with the basic minimum. I don't have the colorful place I had before but, hey, it's faster!! ;)

Thanks all for your help!

-- Consider wiping the entire disk and starting over with a fresh install of everything

-- Consider buying a new computer

Oh, please! Don't need another computer; only a couple of years old this last September. Starting over? Already did that a few months ago after a crash. Not again! :eek: ;) :cool:

Again, THANKS!!