low virtual memory problem, among others.

[ilovearcueid]

Hi Everyone,

I'm running Windows XP Professional, and have been recently getting this message:

"Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file."

The problem is, after running for about 4 and a half hours (on average), my computer needs to be restarted. When attempting to run any application, I receive other messages:

"Not enough quota is available to process this command."

and one pertaining to a Bad Image error:

"The application or DLL C:\WINDOWS\system32\ctagent.dll is not a valid Windows image. Please check this against your installation diskette."

There are other error messages that I don't exactly remember, which is definitely a bad thing, but I believe the strangest symptom my computer has is that when I decide that I need to restart (because nothing can run, including Task Manager), the option is no longer there. When I go to Start > Turn Off Computer, I only have the options to Switch User, and Logoff. In order for me to shut down my computer, I need to Logoff first, and then turn off/shutdown from the Logon/Logoff screen.

Any suggestions? All help will be most appreciated. Thanks for your time!

Oh, and I'd edit my profile so that everyone would know what my system specs are, but even after having downloaded the Everest program, I'm still unsure as to what I should type where. I'm very computer illiterate, I apologize.

 

[Nodsu]

You either have very little memory and a small pagefile or you are using a program that leaks memory.

Next time you get the paging file message, hit ctrl+alt+del and choose task manager. Go to the process list and sort it by the memory column. See which program has the biggest chunk of your memory and how much. Report back.

As for your computer information, the most relevant facts would be the processor type and speed and the amount of RAM.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Read all about Virtual Memory and how to change it here:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php

 

[ilovearcueid]

Thank you both for the quick responses, as well as that link. I adjusted my system's paging file size and I haven't run into the "low virtual memory" problem again. However, the other problems (as in the need to restart after around 4 hours because no application can run) still persist. I'm going to do some more research first prior to asking for any more help with those specific problems. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Check this out for starters:
http://www.file.net/process/ctagent.dll.html