What is Virtual Memory?

 

What is Virtual Memory?

If you have used computers or any other computing devices then you might be familiar with the fact that there are two types of memories. One is storage (HDD or SSD) which is used to store all your data and is also known as storage space. The other is RAM or random access memory which is the temporary memory. These memory storages can be bought separately as well at any computer accessories or wholesale cell phone accessories supplier in UK. RAM is used to store data and information temporarily which is then used by your computer to access the data whenever it needs to. It makes your computing and processing speed much faster.

But if your computer runs out of RAM then to store the data your computer uses virtual memory. If you don’t know what virtual memory is or how it works, then you don’t need to worry or run to a computer accessories or best phone accessories wholesale supplier in UK. We are going to be talking about everything there is to know about virtual memory. So let us not waste any more time and get right to it.

What is Virtual Memory?

When you use up RAM and your system runs out on it then the computer uses storage space for this purpose. A part of storage space is used by the computer as RAM or also known as virtual memory. RAM is faster whereas the virtual memory is a bit slower. The programs or apps which are more memory demanding are loaded on RAM by the Windows OS, whereas the programs which require less memory are loaded or paged to the virtual memory. This is the reason it is also called a Page file. If you are using a modern Windows app then it will use a swapfile.sys along with pagefile.sys.

If we talk about an example to make things clear, then let’s suppose you are working on Photoshop and then also decide to open Microsoft Word. In this situation your system will page out Photoshop to the virtual memory and keep RAM for Microsoft Word, because it will use RAM actively. But even if the RAM memory is available and not full, the system can page out some processes to the virtual memory just to save some RAM memory, in case you decide to launch a memory demanding program later.

In addition to storing temporary data, virtual memory is also used by the system to store system’s crash dump. If the virtual memory is not large enough to store these files, then the system will not be able to create a dump in RAM. There is one more benefit of virtual memory which is that it can prolong the life of your laptop’s battery, because virtual memory uses less power than RAM to store data.

Where is Page File?

A page file can be saved on a single drive or all the drives as well. It is recommended to choose the fastest drive to store Page file as it will perform better. A page file in SSD drive will work much faster than page file stored in HDD, but not as fast as RAM would work. If you are looking for Page file then it can be found in the root directory. Go to This PC and then C drive there you will find Page file. But to see the file you will be needing to enable viewing hidden files.

How to Know the Total Size of Virtual Memory?

It is always good to know the amount of storage or total size of virtual memory. It will help you calculate how much storage space is left on your drive. You can follow the below mentioned steps to see the total size of virtual memory.

• Click on the Windows button then search for System Information and click on it.

• Once you have opened the System Information app you need to scroll down till you see Virtual memory.

• Right besides virtual memory you will see written the size of virtual memory.

If you are unable to figure it out you can go to the nearby computer repair or best phone accessories supplier in UK and ask them what to do.

Dynamic Page File or Custom Size

There are two things which you can do one of which is letting the system use automatically managing the paging file size. This is a recommended method and it has been there in the operating system from Windows 95. If you don’t have any specific requirements, you can use dynamic paging file, which will enhance the virtual memory if needed and shrink the size if it is not in use.

If you don’t want to use the dynamic page size or if your system is being unstable and crashing constantly, then you can go for custom size as well. There are times when your system shows you that you are running low on virtual memory message. If you see this message then you need to make sure your system drive has enough space left.

But there are some kinds of disadvantages of using custom size of page file. The first and main disadvantage of using custom size is that your storage will be continuously in use. A bigger virtual memory size does not mean your system will run faster, but instead it will get slower in speed as virtual memory is slower than RAM. However it can still increase the stability of your system which is a good thing. If you want more memory then it is suggested that you go for a bigger RAM rather than increasing the size of virtual memory.

Should you disable the Page File?

Some people might think after seeing the disadvantages that they should disable the Page file. But it is not good to disable the page file. And the disadvantages are only related to the custom size of virtual memory. If you disable the page file your system will not have a virtual memory to offload less-priority processes and in result it will affect the stability and speed of your system. It will choke the RAM which will degrade the performance of your computer. There is one more thing to it which is that you will have to set a custom size for virtual memory because some apps need a specific size of virtual memory to run properly.

Bottom Line

This was the article and we hope it covered everything you needed to know. If you are looking to have your computer’s RAM or hard drive increased then we have a suggestion for you. Find a place where you can buy computer accessories or buy bulk mobile accessories in UK because you can get these replacement parts and accessories at a very affordable price. Wholesale computer and Wholesale phone accessories distributor in UK are not that difficult to find and can provide you the best deals.