memory

How Do I Tell Which Program Is Using So Much Memory?

When Windows tells you it’s out of memory, what does it mean and what can you do about it?

What’s the Difference Between Memory and Disk Space?

Let me clear up a common mix-up between RAM, hard drives, SSDs, and flash drives, what each does, how they differ, and why knowing matters when buying or troubleshooting your computer.

What is Virtual Memory?

Virtual memory is conceptually somewhere between RAM and hard disk space. It’s disk space used to maximize the amount of RAM available to programs.

Does My Computer Need a Memory Upgrade?

A memory upgrade can be an easy, inexpensive way to improve system performance, but how do you know if an upgrade is called for?

What’s the Best Upgrade for an Older Machine?

Upgrading a computer can be a lot of work, is going to cost some money, and depends on your needs. I’ll show you where to start.

What Is Pagefile.sys? Can I Delete It?

Pagefile.sys is the “paging file” that contains Windows’ virtual memory. You can easily remove it — if you understand the ramifications.

Computer Slow? You Might Not Have Enough RAM for Windows

Windows loves RAM. Not having enough can, over time, cause your computer to slow down.

Why is Windows 10 Using More and More RAM?

Software programs, like people, tend to get larger over time. I’ll look at how that happens and a few things you can do to compensate.

Why is Windows using more memory over time?

It’s best not to read too much into available memory. Windows memory management is the stuff of nightmares even for the people who understand it. For the rest of us, it’s just magic.

Why Is AVG Telling Me IE Has High Memory Usage?

High memory usage by Internet Explorer can result from several different things. I’ll review the most common.