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I have a Dell with windows XP Pro service pack three,Pentium 4cpu,1.70GHz 1.69 GHz 256 MGB Ram and a little window keeps coming up that says I'm low on virtual memory-What is it and how do I get rid of it it is a pain in the butt, The computer runs slow,I mean I have to look under the desk to make sure its plugged in and a mouse in a cage isn't powering it.I have thought about dropping it in the pool at times but I know that would hurt things big time-Losing my mind here in Cali
You can't run windows XP on 256 MB of RAM. Try 2 GB (2024 MB), maybe 4 GB if it's not too expensive. You'll need at least 2 chips to get maximum speed, so that'd be 2 x 1 GB or 2 x 2 GB. That's why a lot of times they sell them in 2 packs. When you put the new RAM in take out the old even if you have space b/c it'll probably just slow down the new stuff. A pentium 4 is pretty dang old so there's no reason to get fast RAM unless you're getting another computer very soon and want to re-use it. Just get the cheapest stuff you can find with a reputable brand name. But you gotta have lots of MB of RAM or your computer will try to use your hard drive instead when it runs out, and your hard drive is 100 times slower.
I saw 1 GB of RAM on sale for $7 a while back, and even when it's not on sale it should be $30. Look for deals at Fry's or www.newegg.com. Also talk to somebody to make sure you get the right type of RAM. You'll need to tell them your motherboard model number and stuff. Or Dell can probably help with that just make sure they don't rip you off and charge $50 per GB or something.
If your computer still starts up slow then you need a new hard drive, which means you'd be installing windows all over again. But that's it. Unless you want to do video stuff or use photoshop or play games or other fancy stuff you shouldn't need to upgrade anything else.
Ok 256MB of RAM is nothing. Basically 256 is half of 512, and 512MB is half of 1G...my computer, for example has 4G of RAM...
This means your computer has...like 1/16 of the memory of mine. It's nothing, I'm surprised it even runs to be honest. That's what the "low on virtual memory" is...there's like no memory on that computer, so nothing is going to be able to run well.
If it's a Desktop, there should be more RAM slots inside (RAM = memory). Call Dell and find out how many empty RAM slots there are, and see if you can order RAM upgrades. Get at least 2G...
Agreed with editor. Considering Windows XP needs more than half of your available RAM just to run the desktop, your computer right now is little more than a lamp. You can pick up a gig of RAM for 50-60 bucks now.
A Lamp,Holy Moly I had no Idea It was that bad-I just figured it might be ba bad install of XP or was hoping-But thanks,now I have some idea what to do.
