Computer Help Please

[GiambiRocks]

My computer about twice a day tells me "Virtual Memory Minimum too Low". What does that mean? And how can I fix it? You also need to know my computer knowledge is limited to turning it on, signing on the internet, downloading music and typing.

[gdn]

Increase your RAM? You also might have too much crap on your computer. Have you done a spyware check?

[Big_E]

What kind of computer do you have?

[GiambiRocks]

It's a Dell and it's less than a year old.

[Big_E]

So you probably already have a GB of RAM, then....what do you have open when you get the message?

[GiambiRocks]

I found this on the computer..........don't know if it means anything???
The message about the virtual memory seems to pop up when the computer has been idle for awhile.


------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/9/2005, 14:01:15
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 2 (2600.xpsp_sp2_gdr.050301-1519)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
System Model: Dimension 3000
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A02
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.00GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 510MB RAM
Page File: 447MB used, 801MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.2180 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: DirectMusic test results: All tests were successful.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)

[mr. baskums]

You can find your virtual memory settings in Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance Settings/Advanced. You can view the size of the disk space that is used for virtual memory.

The first thing I would do is find out how much hard drive space you actually have available. Go to your C drive, right click and check properties. Depending on the size of your hard drive, which if your PC is new like you say, it should be at least 40 gig. Do you download a lot of music or video files?

[Archer1979]

GR,

Try checking out your Task Manager to see if something's lurking in memory. When the Task Manager comes up (you can get that by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Task Manager), everything that's active (for example Excel or Internet Explorer) should be under the "Applications" window. If that looks ok, click on "Processes" window. Left-click on the CPU column twice (the first click sorts it ascending so everything taking no memeory is at the top, the second click sorts it descending so that those processes taking memory show up at the top). System Idle Process should take up about 99% of your CPU unless you are actively running an application. Anything other than the Systems Idle Process should be suspect. I wouldn't go deleting anything that you're unsure of (Dell loves to do auto-upgrades).

If this all looks ok, you most likely have some spyware or a virus.

[Big_E]

I'm a bit surprised you only have 512 MB of RAM, though that should be enough for most things.

[Evil Empire]

GR,

Try checking out your Task Manager to see if something's lurking in memory. When the Task Manager comes up (you can get that by right-clicking the taskbar and selecting Task Manager), everything that's active (for example Excel or Internet Explorer) should be under the "Applications" window. If that looks ok, click on "Processes" window. Left-click on the CPU column twice (the first click sorts it ascending so everything taking no memeory is at the top, the second click sorts it descending so that those processes taking memory show up at the top). System Idle Process should take up about 99% of your CPU unless you are actively running an application. Anything other than the Systems Idle Process should be suspect. I wouldn't go deleting anything that you're unsure of (Dell loves to do auto-upgrades).

If this all looks ok, you most likely have some spyware or a virus.

Doing this should do the trick. Most likely there is a process running behind the scenes that is taking up too much RAM.

End any processes that are taking up a lot of RAM. Just don't end any that are under the "SYSTEM" user name. Also, don't end "explorer.exe."

[GiambiRocks]

Guys....Thank you, thank you, thank you. Apparently my dear sweet daughter had download tons of music (which I just deleted), I increased the size of the disk space that is used for virtual memory, ended some processes and found 88 instances of tracking cookies. I feel so smart now! Thanks again for all the help!

(The only thing I couldn't figure out was how to get to my "c" drive)...I know that just made me stupid again.

[Stealthspy]

C drive is typically your hard disk. Start > My Computer > C:

Processes will start right back up when you reboot your system. I recommend checking what's in your system tray (lower right corner) and if you don't need them, disabling them in the options. If you really want to feel tricky, you can go to Start > Run and type msconfig. Go to the last tab and check off anything you don't need. But that's kind of complex.

Lastly, make sure you've got all the windows updates (find windows update in the start menu). This is huge for security and performance.

[GiambiRocks]

C drive is typically your hard disk. Start > My Computer > C:

Thanks. .....I can't believe I couldn't figure that out.