Virtual Memory Too Low Balloon Error

Asked By 440 points N/A Posted on -
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I am receiving error at the bottom left of my screen. It's randomly appearing without warnings. The error I am receiving is:

I deleted some useless files to be able to have free spaces. When I look in My Computer then right click the C drive and go to Properties I still have a lot of remaining free spaces. I'm running Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 before but now I downloaded an update to make it Service Pack 3.

Since then, this error keeps popping on my screen. I also tried defragging my system. And also cleared all my browsers history and cache. This pesky error is really pissing me off. I adjusted the setting for this error by right clicking My Computer then Properties then advanced tab and the settings in the panel. The error stops popping for a while. But after a week, the error is there again. If anyone here who had the same problem and luckily fixed it, please help me. 

windows virtual memory minimum too low

Windows – Virtual memory Minimum Too Low

Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see help.

My laptop is Toshiba satellite a200 with pre installed Windows XP Pro SP2.

RAM is only 1 GB

Hard disk size is 160 GB

Please state on your replies a step by step procedure on how can I prevent this error.

Thank you in advance.

LhenP

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Best Answer by Kane72
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Answered By 0 points N/A #107181

Virtual Memory Too Low Balloon Error

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Virtual memory errors are frustrating to work with. Depending on the number of applications you are running, this error may become more frequent. It appears that you have started the process to resolve it by removing old unwanted programs and enhancing the free space available on the hard drive. The applications that you are using do not know the difference between physical memory and virtual memory.

Even if you have run out of RAM you can assign as much free space available to virtual memory. Just remember that your hard drive is much slower than the physical memory. It is not as reliable when running your applications but will eliminate the cost of upgrading the RAM for now.

If the virtual memory is not configured properly it can create the error, "Virtual Memory Too Low". Eventually this error may lead to a blue screen or applications closing unexpectedly, losing data regularly. The typical allocation of virtual memory should be 1.5 times the amount of RAM.

This will give you the space that you applications need to run, but will cause the speed of the computer to become slower. The operating system will jump back and forth between the physical and virtual memory to run the application.

To change the settings use the following steps.

  1. Right click on My Computer.
  2. Click on properties, select the advanced tab.
  3. Click on settings under performance, click on the advanced tab again.
  4. Click to change.
  5. Change the values under initial size and maximum size.
  6. Click on set to apply the change.
  7. Click ok.
  8. Restart the computer.

You can also achieve the same results following these steps as well.

These steps allow Windows to manage the virtual memory most efficiently.

  1. Click start and open the control panel.
  2. Click Performance and Maintenance, and click system.
  3. Click the advanced tab.
  4. Under virtual memory, click change.
  5. Under drive, click the drive that contains the virtual memory. This is usually the c: drive.
  6. Click the system managed size option, click set.
  7. Click ok and restart the computer.

This is a temporary solution and will work fairly well depending on the type of applications that you are running. Even in making this change you may find it necessary to close some of the applications that are running in the background. These steps will let you work around the error until you upgrade the memory on the computer.

Based on the specs you have listed for your computer the maximum amount of RAM your computer can use is 2 GB. If both slots are already in use, you will need to remove them and install just one card.

The memory you should be looking for when you are ready to purchase is PC25300 200PIN SODIMM. One site that I located this part on was very reasonably priced at $34.98.

This is an easy part to locate through other sites such as, and third parties like Amazon and EBay.

There are a number of resources available through the manufacturer's website as well as just general internet searches that will assist you in installing the RAM. Many of them include pictures that will walk you through the steps.

Total installation time is less than ten minutes.

Answered By 0 points N/A #107182

Virtual Memory Too Low Balloon Error

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The virtual memory is your RAM memory and the error come's when it is fully loaded, and in full operation it is in operation when most of the program are running at the same time.

You can see its performance by pressing CTRL + ALT + DEL key on Keyboard here under performance you will see PF memory this is your PC virtual memory, and when it is fully functional then the message comes to you that virtual memory is full.

It is because of the reason that many programs are running at the time and memory requirement is high while memory is low. So to solve this problem you can run one process at a time or you can buy a new memory stick. It will solve your problem.

And this message will not come again.

Answered By 440 points N/A #107183

Virtual Memory Too Low Balloon Error

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Thank you both for your help. 

Kane72, that's a pretty good deal with Toshiba.

Maybe I will try to upgrade my RAM if fixing the virtual memory settings won't work. 

Thanks again guys!

Answered By 590495 points N/A #306922

Virtual Memory Too Low Balloon Error

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That problem has nothing to do with the free space in your hard drive. Virtual memory and free space are different. A computer has two kinds of memories: the virtual memory and the physical memory. The physical memory is your computer’s RAM or the memory modules connected to your motherboard. This is the memory on the hardware side.

The virtual memory is the type of memory created by the operating system to balance the load. This is the memory on the software side. Since that is the kind of message thrown by the system, it clearly indicates that your page file or the virtual memory is system managed. To fix the problem, you simply need to create a much bigger virtual memory.

Right-click “My Computer” and select “Properties.” On the next screen, select “Advanced” tab and click “Settings” under “Performance” section. On the next screen, select “Advanced” tab and click “Change” at the bottom under “Virtual memory” section. On the virtual memory screen, select drive “C” on the list of drives. Next, select “Custom size” then enter the values for the initial and maximum size.

According to an old rule of thumb, the ideal page file size or virtual memory size should be double your RAM or 1.5x your RAM but you don’t really need to follow this. Try entering 1000 in both initial and maximum size then click “Set” and then “OK.” Restart your computer if you are prompted.

Set custom virtual memory size

See if this fixes the problem. In case you still receive this “low virtual memory” message in the future, just repeat the same steps and increase the values by 500 like from 1000 to 1500 for the initial and maximum size.

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