As good as the Windows 10 operating system is, Windows computers still have the problem of running much more slowly over time. In this article, you’ll learn seven of the most effective ways to clear out old memory and boost available RAM in a Windows machine that’s suffering from performance issues. An old and commonly reported trick to clear your Windows cache is to use a custom shortcut that “should” clear the cache in Windows 10 and older Windows versions. Unfortunately, this doesn’t actually clear your Windows memory cache, but it does instruct Windows to begin processing pending system “idle” tasks.
Memory is often a problematic term within the computer world. There is random access memory (RAM), and disk drive space is usually described as memory. To make things a touch more confusing, using virtual storage involves both RAM and hard disc (or solid-state drive).
Since your hard disc is a different memory type, space that is used for virtual memory will not be deleted until it is overwritten or cleared. Hence, in this article, you’ll learn how to clear virtual memory Windows 10.
What is Virtual Memory?
It seems today everything has the word virtual stuck in front of it. We have virtual reality, virtual currency, virtual machines, etc. Well before any of those existed, we had virtual memory, and it’s the technology that we use every day.
You will find it in Windows, MAC OS, LINUX, iOS, and even in ANDROID. So what is virtual memory, and how does it work? Well, let me explain. Computers have a fixed RAM, so memory can run out, especially when running multiple programs simultaneously.
Virtual memory makes it possible to compensate for a computer’s physical memory shortages by temporarily transferring data from RAM to disk storage. With virtual memory, a system can load more extensive programs or multiple programs running simultaneously, operating as if it has infinite memory space.
Virtual memory can be handled through either paging or segmenting. Paging divides memory into sections or paging files. When a computer uses up its RAM, pages that aren’t in use are transferred to the part of the hard drive designated for virtual memory using a swap file.
Segmentation divides the virtual memory into segments of different lengths. Sections not in use in memory are often moved to virtual storage space on the disk drive.
Some virtual memory systems combine both segmentation and paging. The primary benefits is that memory is used more efficiently. With virtual memory, computers can run programs larger than physical memory without the added cost or hardware.
And it frees application for managing shared memory, which can sometimes lead to accidental overwrites, or sharing of sensitive information. However, it can slow a computer because data has to be mapped between virtual and physical memory, which requires extra support.
So, it’s generally better to have as much physical memory as possible.
Why You Should Clear Virtual Memory?
Virtual memory was developed to automate the movement of program code and data between main memory and auxiliary storage to offer one large store’s looks.
This system greatly simplified the programmer’s job, notably when program code and data exceeded the most memory’s size. Low virtual storage indicates that not only the RAM available for your system hit its capacity, but that reserved hard disc space wants to release RAM has also maxed out.
This can occur during multitasking (running several programs at once) or if a single application or command requires a large RAM amount. Furthermore, memory overuse (also referred to as a memory leak) can occur. This happens when a program keeps using RAM unnecessarily.
In these circumstances, you’ll increase the quantity of virtual storage put aside on your hard disc, but adding RAM offers more significant performance boosts.
How To Clear Virtual Memory Windows 10?
There are two methods to clear virtual memory:
- Reset virtual memory size.
- clear registry file
How To Clear Virtual Memory Windows 10 Using The Reset Option?
- Go to start or press the Windows key and search for Control Panel.
- Change the view selection to the large icon, go-to the system.
- Note down the RAM size of your computer, and click on advance system settings located at your screen’s left.
- A dialogue box will appear, under Performance click on settings
- Again click on advance and change the Processor scheduling to background services
- Uncheck the box “Automatically manage paging file” and click on “Custom Size.”
- Now use the formula to fill the value that is ” 1.5 x 1024 x your RAM size.”
- For example, if your RAM is 4 gigabytes, 1.5 x 1024 x 4, and you will get 6144 as your final value.
- Put that value in the box ” Maximum Size (MB),” and in initial size, but the “Recommended” amount as shown by the system and click set.
- Click apply and restart your computer. You have successfully reset your virtual memory.
How To Clear Virtual Memory Windows 10 Using Registry File?
- Begin with the registry file tweaking process by typing “Regedt” into the Cortana search box on the Windows 10 desktop.
- Start with the entry in the search results that refer to the Registry Editor program (regedt.exe).
- With the app open, navigate to this specific key “ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory Management.”
- On the right-hand side, double click on the “ClearPage FileAtShutdown” and change the value from “0” to “1”.
- From this point until you change the value back to zero “0”, your paging file will be deleted entirely every time on shutdown and start with a new amount on restart.
Note: If all you have got is an SSD, you will want to entirely disable virtual storage. You can do that within the virtual storage panel by selecting the drive it’s on, clicking No paging file, then clicking Set.
However, doing this might limit the dimensions and number of programs you will run at just one occasion. You might try it and then turn virtual storage back on after discovering the shortage of it too restrictive.
CONCLUSION
If this method fails somehow for you and you are still facing running a slow pc, you must consider upgrading your RAM. Upgrading the RAM will increase the performance and improve the virtual memory, and you could see a boost to your performance.
If you add RAM to your computer, you are adding virtual memory as well. The maximum virtual storage set is going to be about triple the quantity of RAM your computer has. Brave mac download.
I hope, you have learned how to clear Virtual memory Windows 10 on your system. If you have any further queries, leave a comment below. I’m glad to help you!
Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Windows Computer Solutions • Proven solutions
Memory dumps are made by Windows whenever your computer crashes and you see a blue-screen appearing in front of you. These dumps contain copies of the memory of the computer system when it crashed. The memory dumps are stored in the form of a paging file on the computer system and can help in the identification of the reasons and the issues that were responsible for the system crash. There are various types of memory dumps that Windows can create. Depending on their type, memory dumps can be quite large and take up a great deal of space on your hard drive. If you want to clear out this space, then all you have to do is to delete memory dumps.
Part 1. How to Delete Memory Dumps
If you have had a blue-screen a while back, you should have a memory dump file sitting on your hard drive. Since memory dumps contain copies of a good portion of your computer’s memory, this .dmp file might have a file size of up to 800 MBs. If you are experiencing a shortage of memory on your hard drive and want to free up some of the space, then deleting these memory dumps would be a good choice. However, the memory dumps are buried deep into the Windows folder and you would have to dig deep to find them.
The best way to delete memory dumps is to utilize the Disk Cleanup Utility offered by Windows. It will offer you the chance to delete these files automatically. You just need to check their boxes when choosing the files to delete in the Disk Cleanup menu. Another way of deleting memory dumps is to make use of system optimization software and data erasure tools.
More ways to free up space:
6 Ways to Delete Folder on Windows/Mac
The Quick and Easy Way to Delete Windows Update Files
How to Automatically Free up Storage Space with macOS Sierra
Part 2. How to Completely Delete Memory Dump Files
You can delete memory dumps quite easily by using the Disk Cleanup utility offered by Windows. However, there is a chance that the space occupied by these memory dumps isn’t completely vacated even after they have been deleted using the Disk Cleanup utility. The only way to be perfectly sure that the memory dumps have been permanently erased from the hard drive is by making use of a data erasure tool. Such tools are capable of erasing all types of data from the hard disk. However, not all tools which claim to erase data are reliable.
There are only a few that do the job as per requirements. Stellar BitRaser for File is a data erasure tool which can delete memory dumps from the hard disk forever and ensure that it isn’t recoverable.
- Simple and user-friendly interface
- Capable of erasing data, leaving no chance of data recovery
- Compatible with various versions of Windows
- Clears internet search history from the hard drive to keep it private
- Utilizes around 17 different erasure algorithms for deleting files
Step 1. Download and launch Stellar BitRaser for File on your Windows computer.
Step 2. Click the 'Memory Dumps' option to process.
Step 3. Click the 'Erase Now' button to completely erase memory dumps in Windows.
Stellar BitRaser for File needs just a single pass to completely delete memory dumps from the hard drive. However, if you are concerned that the memory dumps aren’t completely removed from the system, then taking a couple of extra passes would undoubtedly ensure that the memory dumps are erased forever. By the way, you can also learn to clear Windows error report to free up disk.
Part 3. What is Memory Dump Files for Windows?
1.Complete memory dump
Complete memory dumps save a copy of all of the system memory at the time of the system crash. Such memory dumps contain data from all of the running processes when the computer stopped all of a sudden. A complete memory dump requires having a paging file on the boot volume which has a file size of at least the entire physical RAM and an extra MB.
2.Kernel memory dump
32 lives mac free download. Kernel memory dumps collect the kernel memory alone and are thus far smaller in size than complete memory dumps. Memory allocated to the HAL or Hardware Abstraction Layer and kernel-mode program and drivers is recorded in a Kernel memory dump. This type of memory dump also requires a page file on boot volume for its creation. It is considered to be the most useful dump file.
Windows 10 Clear Memory Dump
3.Small memory dump (64 KB)
Small memory dumps occupy the smallest space on the hard drive. This type of dump file can hold as low as 64 KB of data in it. The amount of system memory recorded in a small memory dump is only useful for identifying the reason for the system crash but isn’t enough to debug it. A paging file having a size of at least 2 MB on the boot volume is necessary for creating a small memory dump.
Memory dumps are paging files that contain copies of computer memory at the time of its crashing. It can provide developers the chance to diagnose the issues that caused the computer to crash. There are various types of memory dumps available and each one carries a different amount of system memory in it. Because of their large size, memory dump files can take up a lot of hard drive space. You can delete memory dumps to free up space on your hard disk. This task can be accomplished by using the Data Cleanup Utility. However, if you want to delete it permanently from the system, then using a data erasure tool like Stellar BitRaser for File is your best available option.
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