What would happen if I disabled virtual memory? Dell Inspiron 5370 i5 8th Gen

[2.yash2003]

The question is in the title. By the way, I have a SSD.

My Laptop: https://www.amazon.in/Dell-Inspiron-5370-13-3-inch-Windows/dp/B079P2X5R6?tag=googinhydr18418-21&tag=googinkenshoo-21&ascsubtag=_k_CjwKCAiAiarfBRASEiwAw1tYvzLYMb44ub3dxYzpMwpTxerqlib327FQPSyCp5MeF1RHBZUpcH2mQBoC314QAvD_BwE_k_&gclid=CjwKCAiAiarfBRASEiwAw1tYvzLYMb44ub3dxYzpMwpTxerqlib327FQPSyCp5MeF1RHBZUpcH2mQBoC314QAvD_BwE

Thanks!

 

[TerryLaze]

Any time you run out of real ram any program you are trying to run will not be able to start.
Because the OS uses ram to make it run better this will be pretty common.
Depending on what you normally run you might be able to get away with running without virtual mem but if you are doing anything important at least backup your work often.

 

[USAFRet]

Don't disable it completely.
Some things do depend on having at least a minimal size pagefile.

If it is an issue with actual drive space and have sufficient RAM (16GB or more), reduce that down to 1GB min/max.

Having a pagefile won't kill your SSD.

 

[aerocool]

In my personal experience, with a lot of RAM, virtual memory is not necessary.

I have 64GB RAM and usually VM is not needed, but for apps like 3DS Max, I enable the VM. Usually a fixed quantity (for exemple I put a minimum of 32GB and maximum of 32GB).

If you have 8GB RAM (S.O. usually takes 2-3GB) and play games or use apps that require certain quantity of RAM, I should recommend activate the VM, put a fixed quantity of 8GB (I think is ok).

 

[Colif]

page file size depends on your usage, I have 16gb of ram and yet page file is only 1gb. Win 10 more likely to compress things into ram than put it on page file. It will only use the page file if you run out of ram, and with no page file available, that would be a bad time to not have one, as PC will crash and you lose anything that was running at time.

Just leave page file as is, as even on auto, it will only use what it needs and only rarely.

 

[2.yash2003]

Does disabling Virtual Memory improve the laptop's speed?

 

[USAFRet]

Does disabling Virtual Memory improve the laptop's speed?

No.

How much RAM do you have?
If you have 8GB or less, and are not desperately short on drive space, leave the pagefile at System Managed.
If you have 16GB or more, you can afford to reduce the size down if you choose.

But do not disable it completely.

 

[ctornado]

Virtual Memory is a temporary measure used by your computer whenever it runs out of RAM. The unused space on your hard drive (or in this case SSD) is temporarily used by the computer as though it were more RAM whenever more RAM is needed. Virtual Memory generally allows your computer to run better while it's performing intensive processes such as gaming, using photoshop, etc, when there isn't enough memory available for use.

As such, if you disabled virtual memory, then depending on how full your hard drive is and how much RAM you have in your machine, your computer may start to run more slowly. Therefore, it may be a good idea to leave virtual memory enabled, but either way, whatever option you choose, neither will harm your computer. So, feel free to do as you like.