Virtual memory acts as an additional memory resource on your system if it runs out of RAM. For that, it uses some reserved disk space, which you’ll find as a hiddenpagefile.sysfile.
Since virtual memory uses upadditional disk spaceautomatically, it’s not necessary to manually limit its size unless you experience any system instabilities.
If however, you do run into some issues, check thetotal memory resources you needfor your work. Then,specify the virtual memory (pagefile) sizesaccordingly.
Let’s discuss everything in detail.
Recommended Virtual Memory Size
Having yoursystem manage the virtual memory sizefor all drives is undoubtedly the best option.
You will experience very few issues. Just ensure to leave behindenough free space on your C drive.
If thedrive doesn’t have much free space, your system will automatically use another drive for the paging file. you may alsospecify the next drivemanually.
The only time where you may have tomanually set the sizeis when you run intopagefile-related system issues. Even then, the amount of virtual memory you need depends on your system usage.
With larger RAMs (16+ GB), your system doesn’t need a lot of additional memory resources. But for systems with smaller ones, you’ll probably run out of memory soon.
It’s best to have a proportionally larger virtual memory in such cases.
For 64GB+ RAMs, the RAM itself should be enough for all purposes. So you may simply set 1-2 GB for pagefile to account for some rare circumstances.
Determine the Ideal Virtual Memory Size Yourself
The above sizes are my recommendations. They have worked for me and a lot of others, but may not be ideal for you.
It’s best to estimate the ideal virtual memory size for your system by usingProcess Explorer, a Microsoft SysInternals tool.
For that,
Extra Tips
Isn’t Higher Virtual Memory Better?
Higher virtual memory isn’t always better as it’s slower than RAM and is used mainly as a backup for active processes.
It stores less critical data from RAM, allowing more space for important tasks. Over-reliance on virtual memory can reduce performance due to its slower speed.
Additionally, a larger virtual memory may also bring about the following problems:
What Happens if I Specify Less Virtual Memory Instead?
Your computer uses the pagefile both as additional memory resources and to store memory dumps.
A smaller virtual memory affects both of these features and causes the following issues:
