Increase your system's virtual memory for large file compares (2024)

FAQs

What happens if you increase virtual memory? ›

When virtual memory is increased, the empty space reserved for RAM overflow increases. Having enough available space is absolutely necessary for virtual memory and RAM to function properly. Virtual memory performance can be improved automatically by freeing up resources in the registry.

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).

Increasing virtual memory can be a temporary fix for managing multitasking when physical RAM is low, but it's not as effective as upgrading actual RAM. Physical RAM operates at much higher speeds, offering faster data access and improved multitasking without the performance drawbacks of virtual memory.

However, with advancements in technology and more efficient operating systems, this rule is not as rigid as it once was. For a system with 16GB RAM, setting the virtual memory between 24GB to 32GB is a good starting point, but adjustments might be needed based on specific use cases.

RAM expansion does more harm than good. Phones with 8+ GB of actual RAM will still have more than half the RAM used by Android/Oxygen OS to make switching between apps smoother and cache apps so they don't restart. This in itself works better with actual RAM instead of RAM expansion.

Disadvantages of Virtual Memory

Thrashing is a phenomenon where a computer with little RAM always alternates between virtual and physical memory. Performance lags may result from the computer becoming slower as a result. A computer's available memory is usually decreased if it has little secondary storage.

Increasing virtual memory will not necessarily make your PC faster. Instead of relying on virtual memory to increase performance, it may be more effective to upgrade your physical RAM or SSD if you have an HDD. These upgrades can improve the speed and responsiveness of your PC.

As a rule of thumb, the paging file should be a minimum of 1.5 times the size of your installed RAM, and a maximum of 3 times your RAM size. For example, if you have 8 GB RAM, your minumum would be 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12,288 MB, and your maximum would be 1024 x 8 x 3 = 24,576 MB.

It is best not to manually set the amount of Virtual memory in Windows 11, let Windows manage that, and it will be a variable amount dynamically set depending on what you are doing on your PC, rather than setting a set amount manually.

It has been observed that virtual memory operates at much slower speeds than computer RAM. If the OS juggles data between virtual memory and RAM continuously, it can slow down the computer considerably. This can lead to a phenomenon called 'thrashing.

Why is virtual memory necessary? ›

Virtual memory enables data that is in RAM and not currently being used to be transferred to the hard disk. This frees up room in RAM for other programs and data. When the data on the hard disk is needed again, any other unused data is transferred to the hard disk before the original data is transferred back to RAM.

Virtual memory provides virtual address mapping between applications and hardware memory. Virtual memory provides many functions, including multitasking (multiple tasks executing at once on one CPU), swapping, and allowing multiple processes to access the same shared library in memory, among others.

If you allocate more virtual memory, then if you run jobs that are too big, they'll take an unpredictable, very long time. And depending on the allocations, may still fail.

Whatever the case, Windows 11 includes at least two different methods to increase the virtual memory capacity using the Settings app and Command Prompt to overcome system memory limitations. In this how-to guide, I'll explain how to increase the virtual memory size on your device to make it faster.

Computers that are running Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Windows Server usually must have a page file to support a system crash dump. System administrators can now create a dedicated dump file instead. A dedicated dump file is a page file that isn't used for paging.

If you allocate more virtual memory, then if you run jobs that are too big, they'll take an unpredictable, very long time. And depending on the allocations, may still fail.

if there is a shortage of physical RAM memory, increasing Virtual Memory beyond 12GB would not help gaming performance. Even when the Virtual Memory\Page File is on an SSD, and your games will not use the remaining 6.5GB in any case.

As a rule of thumb, the paging file should be a minimum of 1.5 times the size of your installed RAM, and a maximum of 3 times your RAM size. For example, if you have 8 GB RAM, your minumum would be 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12,288 MB, and your maximum would be 1024 x 8 x 3 = 24,576 MB.

Running out of virtual memory can lead to a system crash or freeze. When your computer exhausts both physical random-access memory (RAM) and virtual memory, it has nowhere to store essential data, resulting in instability. Operating systems often display error messages or automatically restart to prevent data loss.