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Why Use Virtual Memory In Modern Systems?

Posted by timothy on from the virtually-useless dept.

Cyberhwk writes "I have a system with Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit) installed on it, and it has 4GB of RAM. However when I've been watching system performance, my system seems to divide the work between the physical RAM and the virtual memory, so I have 2GB of data in the virtual memory and another 2GB in the physical memory. Is there a reason why my system should even be using the virtual memory anymore? I would think the computer would run better if it based everything off of RAM instead of virtual memory. Any thoughts on this matter or could you explain why the system is acting this way?"

5 of 983 comments (clear)

  1. Obviously. by castorvx · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    http://java.sun.com/

  2. Re:You mean physical memory right :-) by Gibsnag · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Thanks for the tip. I shall have a fiddle around on my Server 2k8 system, as I've got 8GB of RAM so I really do not need a page file.

  3. Re:You mean physical memory right :-) by Sj0 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Oh, great swami, please enlighten us fools.

    You install windows, then the drivers. Next, you time the boot. After that, you time the boot with swap disabled. Why, oh sawmi, is it slower?

    --
    It's been a long time.
  4. Re:You mean physical memory right :-) by Jonboy+X · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    As computers get more intuitive and easier to use there will be less need for tech support. Until then, all users have is experience to guide them.

    However, dumb and/or timid people *do* tend to shy away from computers in general, which only compounds the problem. Making fun of them sure can be fun though.

    --

    "In a 32-bit world, you're a 2-bit user. You've got your own newsgroup, alt.total.loser." -Weird Al
  5. Re:You mean physical memory right :-) by holophrastic · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    There's a big difference though. Most people are not incredibly knowledgeable about computers, but most people do use them daily.

    I'm not knowledgeable about my tax returns, but I don't need to care for 51 weeks of the year, and I can pay someone else to take care of it, review it myself for as long as it takes, get my father to look it over, and then not care about +/- 10% or a few dollars.

    But if I were doing taxes on a weekly, or even daily basis, you'd bet I'd spend some time learning.

    A lot of computer "users" see themselves as "users" are described as "users" and treat their computers the way they drive their cars. Which would be fine, except that they don't plan to have a mechanic available as needed. Oh yeah, and computers aren't quite as reliable as cars just yet. Well, my kiosks are, but they are hardly consumer devices.