Virtual Memory is a concept of using hard disk space to serve as memory. The main objective of this concept is to increase the size of computer's RAM without having to purchase the physical RAM module. This way, although a computer may only have 512MB of RAM, with another 512MB of hard disk space, the computer will work as though it has 1GB of RAM.
Sounds too good? Yes, sort of. The computer will work as if it has 1GB of RAM. But, it's important to understand that half of the 1GB actually comes from the hard disk, which is much slower than physical RAM. That's why RAM is much more expensive than hard disk, in terms of price per GB. So, as long as the computer uses only the physical RAM, it'll work faster. Once it needs to use more RAM, hence using the hard disk portion, the speed will drop significantly. Therefore, if a job needs to be done in a PC with 1GB RAM, it's still recommended to install 1GB of physical RAM module instead of relying on the cheap way: the virtual memory.
After all, virtual memory does increase the available RAM, no matter how much physical RAM is installed. And it's very easy to adjust the settings, how much virtual memory to add. The only condition is that there's enough hard disk space to convert to virtual memory.
Right click on My Computer and click on Properties. Another way to do this is from Control Panel, Systems. Both will open the same window.
Click on Advanced Tab, under Performance group, click Settings button. Click on Advanced Tab (another Advanced Tab, different to the first one), and you'll see Virtual Memory group at the bottom of the window. Click on Change button, and adjust the desired virtual memory to use.
Click OK repeatedly to close all windows opened during the proceedings. The computer may need restarting to apply the changes, and you'll have more memory available without spending a cent.
By : Artemis.
No comments:
Post a Comment