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Ian
Asked: 2010-02-24 02:39:15 +0800 CST

Total Virtual Memory in Windows XP 32bit

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I am running Windows XP 32bit. I have a total of 3GB memory installed and I also increased the Virtual memory to 4GB (Properties --> Advanced --> Performance Settings --> Advanced --> Virtual Memory --> Change)

I've read here that the total available virtual memory is approximately the sum of installed RAM and the size of the pagefile(s).

However, launching "System Information", XP reported that the "Total Virtual Memory" is only 2.00 GB? Why is that?

When I checked on my Windows 7 machine, the "Total Virtual Memory" is the RAM + Pagefiles.

Thanks, Ian

windows windows-xp virtual-memory

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Virtual memory in 32-bit Windows is always 4 GB per process, irrespective of how much physical RAM or swap file you have. Increasing either will just mean that it has longer to go before running out.

    This is by default divided into 2 chunks. 2 GB for the OS (roughly speaking) and 2 GB for process address space. I guess (although I haven't investigated so it remains a guess) that what you're seeing reported is one of those 2 GB chunks.

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