Virtual Memory is low.

For 8 GB RAM,

Virtual memory.

To calculate the "general rule" recommended size of virtual memory in Windows 10 per the 8 GB your system has, here's the equation 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12288 MB. So it sounds as if the 12 GB configured in your system currently is correct so when or if Windows needs to utilize the virtual memory, the 12 GB should suffice.

Hi and thanks for reaching out.,

My name is Katrina Green, I am an Independent Advisor and Microsoft user like you.

I have read your query and I'll be happy to help you out today.

Virtual memory is a very common technique used in the operating systems (OS) of computers. Virtual memory uses hardware and software to allow a computer to compensate for physical memory shortages, by temporarily transferring data from random access memory (RAM) to disk storage.

Microsoft recommends that you set virtual memory to be no less than 1.5 times and no more than 3 times the amount of RAM on your computer. For power PC owners (like most UE/UC users), you likely have at least 2GB of RAM so your virtual memory can be set up to 6,144 MB (6 GB).

System managed is fine. This option is dynamic and will increase the size of the Virtual Memory\Page File if required.

While the PF is still important and should not be disabled, it is not as important as it was back when

machines had small amounts of system RAM.

The page file was originally meant as a way to speed up loading data from an HDD to RAM. In doing so it helped reduce HDD

'thrashing' as well as offering a small performance boost.

• The Page File is not a substitute for inadequate system RAM

The old 1.5x custom size rule is just that... old, and outdated. I used this method for years, but switched to System Managed a couple of years ago after using a min & max of 1GB using the 'old' method for a year or so after upgrading to Win10 .

Currently my  System Managed  Page File is also using only 1GB. Even though is shows 2928MB as 'recommended' on my

machine with 16GB

(EDIT: so it's obvious that Windows does not allocate the same amount of Virtual RAM as the amount of system RAM your machine uses

by default)

but I haven't looked to see how much PF is allocated on the machine with 8GB, because... it does not matter. Windows will take care of it.

If your 8GB RAM is coming up short you would do better to upgrade to 16GB than try and make up for the shortfall via the Page File.

If at least 7GB of your 8GB is not being used, adding more RAM to try and increase performance is not likely to help.

[EDIT:  The amount of RAM in use in the image you posted below is because Win10 manages RAM differently than previous versions of

Windows by preloading more data for frequently used tasks in the RAM than it would have on Win7.

Win10 64bit at idle commonly populates around 3.5GB RAM.

• However, if you run a program than needs more RAM Windows will make more RAM available for that 'foreground' program

by freeing up some of the RAM that has been populated by a task that does not need it at that time.

Basically. Win10 makes better use of what would be wasted 'extra' RAM sitting there doing nothing as was common with Win7. ]

.

Steps to Increase Virtual Memory in Windows 10.

Step 1: Go to Start Menu and click on Settings.

Step 2: Now type performance on search bar and select Adjust the appearance and performance of Windows.

Step 3: A new Window will open before you. Go to Advanced tab in it.

Step 4: You’ll see a Virtual memory section in it. Click on Change.

Step 5: If the current setting is considerably less than the recommended, unselect the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives box on this window and click on Custom size.

Step 6: Now enter the recommended value in the Initial Size box, and a larger figure in the Maximum size

Step 7: Click on OK to save the changes.

If you have any other questions please feel free to ask, Thank you.

1.Earlier you said that the recommended virtual memory for 8gb ram from Microsoft is 12288 MB. So what happens if i assign 12288Mb in the initial size for virtual memory?

Virtual memory is a very common technique used in the operating systems (OS) of computers. Virtual memory uses hardware and software to allow a computer to compensate for physical memory shortages, by temporarily transferring data from random access memory (RAM) to disk storage.

Ideally, the data needed to run applications is stored in RAM, where they can be accessed quickly by the CPU.

This means all the applications , Games and software's will run smoothly without any lag and errors.

2. Now in the future if upgrade my ram to 16gb or perform a windows 10 clean installation will the paging file size change?

1. You don't "need" it. By default Windows will allocate virtual memory (pagefile) the same size as your RAM. It will "reserve" this disk space to ensure it's there if required. That's why you see a 16GB page file.
2. You can absolutely reduce the pagefile size. You can also move it to a second disk if you have one.

As i have mentioned earlier, Microsoft recommends that you set virtual memory to be no less than 1.5 times and no more than 3 times the amount of RAM on your computer. For power PC owners (like most UE/UC users), you likely have at least 2GB of RAM so your virtual memory can be set up to 6,144 MB (6 GB).

3.Sometimes while running heavy tasks, for total available virtual memory of 9.8gb usage increases in the range 66%-75%.

I am using memreduct for monitoring ram consumption. It shows me a red mark whenever the virtual memory usage is high. Is this ok?

As long as this is not causing you any issues this is good.

To Fix Windows 10 High Memory Usage

Close unnecessary programs.

Disable startup programs.

Disable Superfetch service.

Increase virtual memory.

Set Registry Hack.

Defragment hard drives.

Methods suitable for software problems.

Virus or antivirus.

Adjust for best performance.

Reinstall Windows 10.

Increase physical memory.

I hope this will help.