How do you disable or enable your virtual memory and paging file when needed?

1 Check your current settings

Before you disable or enable your virtual memory and paging file, you should check your current settings and see how much space they are using. To do this, right-click on the Start menu and select System. Then, click on About on the left sidebar and System info on the right. Proceed to Advanced system settings on the left sidebar and then the Advanced tab on the top. Next, click on Settings under Performance and then the Advanced tab on the top. Finally, under Virtual memory, you can view your total paging file size and click Change to see more details.

2 Disable your virtual memory and paging file

If you have enough RAM to run your applications and processes, you may choose to disable your virtual memory and paging file. Doing so can prevent crashes, freezes, or errors. To disable your virtual memory and paging file, open the Virtual memory window, uncheck the box that says Automatically manage paging file size for all drives, select each drive and choose No paging file, click on Set, click on OK, and restart your computer.

3 Enable your virtual memory and paging file

If you want to enable your virtual memory and paging file, you can either let Windows manage it automatically or set a custom size. The recommended size is 1.5 times your RAM, but you can adjust it according to your needs and available disk space. To do this, open the Virtual memory window, check the box that says Automatically manage paging file size for all drives or select each drive and choose Custom size and enter the initial and maximum size in megabytes and click on Set. Finally, click on OK and restart your computer to complete the process.

4 Monitor your system performance

After you disable or enable your virtual memory and paging file, it is important to monitor your system performance. The Task Manager can be used to check RAM and disk usage, as well as CPU and GPU load. To open the Task Manager, press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and select Task Manager, or right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager. If you see a simplified view, click on More details and then on the Performance tab. You can then view various graphs and statistics for your system components and click on each one to view more details.

5 Troubleshoot common problems

Sometimes, disabling or enabling your virtual memory and paging file can cause low disk space, slow performance, or the blue screen of death. To troubleshoot these problems, you may need to free up disk space by deleting unnecessary files, updating drivers, scanning for malware, checking for hardware errors, restoring your system to a previous point, or reinstalling Windows. Additionally, you can uninstall unused programs and close background programs to improve performance.

6 Learn more about virtual memory and paging file

If you're curious about virtual memory and paging file, you can find plenty of online resources that explain how they work, why they are important, and how to optimize them. For instance, Microsoft Support has information on virtual memory, How-To Geek has a guide on the Windows page file, and Tech Advisor provides instructions on how to increase virtual memory in Windows 10.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?