Hello, I am new to forums, and somewhat of a newbie when it comes to technical matters. I have about a question about the concepts of memory terms that I find under "System Summary" within the 'System Information' program.
System Information: Memory
Above is a screenshot of what the System Information program says about my Memory.
[new edit] Apparently, the screenshot is picky about when it wants to show itself to anybody else!
Here's the info:
Total Physical Memory: 512 MB
Available Physical Memory: 212.90 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 1.72 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 1.18 GB
Page File Space: 1.22 GB
My question is, why is my available physical memory lower than my total available memory, and is there any way to make more of my available physical memory available? What is Virtual Memory, and why is it higher than my physical memory, and how does its size relative to the size of my other type of memory affect my computer's performance? What is a page file and how does its size, relative to the two types of memory, affect my computer's performance?
I ask these questions because I want to know how I can improve my system's performance, but doing search's on these topics on the net returns forum threads I don't understand. I found a thread on these forums about page file size and adjusting it, but I didn't understand what was being talked about, so I thought posing my own questions asking for simpler answers would be more helpful, not only for myself, but for other newbies too.
Thank you very much to everyone who replies to my post, it is very good of you to share your knowledge (in layman's terms, please? = P) with us.
System Information: Memory
Above is a screenshot of what the System Information program says about my Memory.
[new edit] Apparently, the screenshot is picky about when it wants to show itself to anybody else!
Here's the info:
Total Physical Memory: 512 MB
Available Physical Memory: 212.90 MB
Total Virtual Memory: 1.72 GB
Available Virtual Memory: 1.18 GB
Page File Space: 1.22 GB
My question is, why is my available physical memory lower than my total available memory, and is there any way to make more of my available physical memory available? What is Virtual Memory, and why is it higher than my physical memory, and how does its size relative to the size of my other type of memory affect my computer's performance? What is a page file and how does its size, relative to the two types of memory, affect my computer's performance?
I ask these questions because I want to know how I can improve my system's performance, but doing search's on these topics on the net returns forum threads I don't understand. I found a thread on these forums about page file size and adjusting it, but I didn't understand what was being talked about, so I thought posing my own questions asking for simpler answers would be more helpful, not only for myself, but for other newbies too.
Thank you very much to everyone who replies to my post, it is very good of you to share your knowledge (in layman's terms, please? = P) with us.