Virtual memory tips

If you’re in the virtual memory works camp, then these tips may come in handy, and to add to the argument we’ve included a few links to various resources, which may help you out a little and hopefully add a small of performance enhancement to your PC.
If you want to use virtual memory, then start by making sure it’s going to actually improve the performance of your PC. One of the best tips we can give is to edit the custom size of your virtual memory so that it’s the same value in both the Initial and Maximum Size boxes. For example, if Windows recommends that you allocate 12,243MBs to the virtual memory, then in the Custom Size boxes enter an Initial value of 12243 and a Maximum Size of 12243, then click the ‘Set’ button.
What this does is prevent Windows from continually changing the size of the virtual memory pagefile, thus cutting out unnecessary writes to the hard drive. The impact on performance this has can be quite significant in some cases.
Next, gauge your usage of virtual memory through the Performance Monitor and adding Paging File to the graph. If, for example, you’re using Photoshop and your Paging File graph peaks continuously, then up your virtual memory and see if it gains you any advantage. Likewise, if the graph isn’t even touched during a day’s ‘normal’ usage of your PC, then the chances are you’ve allocated too much and your RAM is doing all the work, which is fair enough. Just drop it slightly and again some space.
It’s all about testing the limits of the PC and seeing which works best for your situation and day-to-day use.
Finally, have a look at the links in the boxout; they may help shed some light on what exactly virtual memory is, how it works and what can be done to help test your PC and get it running like a well-oiled machine.