Member Avatar for billy61788

my computer restricts how many boxes i can have open at a time. when im on the inernet and open sites after about 7 boxes are open the next one i open is a blank page. after that opens it wont let me open anyhting on my computer. a few times a message has popped up saying i hvae low virtual memory. how do i fix this?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

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This symptom (blank windows after a handful of browser windows + occasional "low virtual memory") is often not just a small pagefile setting — on Windows 2000 it commonly points at desktop‑heap exhaustion (the NT GUI heap used for windows/menus) or the system commit/pagefile limit. Microsoft documents the desktop heap and the SharedSection registry value that controls per‑desktop heap sizes. ()

Practical triage (fast checks that give useful data): open Task Manager and add the GDI Objects (and Commit/VM) columns to spot a leaking process; confirm free space on C: and the "Total paging file size for all drives" in the Virtual Memory settings; scan the System log in Event Viewer for resource‑exhaustion or low‑virtual‑memory entries. If desktop‑heap is suspected, run Microsoft’s Desktop Heap Monitor (dheapmon) to measure heap usage before/after reproducing the problem. ()

Short fixes to try in order: close unneeded browser windows/extensions and other background apps; free disk space; run a full anti‑malware scan; then increase the paging file (Microsoft guidance for older NT/2000 systems recommends sizing based on installed RAM — see the KB guidance). If dheapmon shows the desktop heap approaching full, back up the registry and increment the SharedSection values in HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Windows (change the second/third numbers slowly and reboot to test). Microsoft KB gives the SharedSection format and cautions about registry edits. (ftp.zx.net.nz)

Longer‑term: add more physical RAM and/or use fewer simultaneous memory‑heavy tabs/apps; consider moving to a supported OS if possible (modern browsers and plug‑ins are very memory hungry). Useful diagnostics to post if help is still needed: installed RAM (MB), free space on C: (MB), current paging‑file min/max, browser + version, and the top 3 processes by VM/Commit size from Task Manager. was correct that virtual memory matters; and were right to ask for specs — those exact numbers will let responders give precise paging/registry values and safer steps.

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Member Avatar for unb0und

by boxes i supposed you mean windows. post up your computer specs as well as what OS you're running. we need more info.

Member Avatar for billy61788

Yes the windows. I have windows 2000 and what do you mean by specs?

Member Avatar for Tatootie

Assuming XP, You can allocate more virtual memory by going to Start->Settings->ControlPanel->System->Advanced->Performance->Advanced

There you can change the size of your virtual memory. Be careful though - without knowing how much ram you are running, etc. this is a touch call...

peace

Member Avatar for caperjack

Yes the windows. I have windows 2000 and what do you mean by specs?

Computer info like CPU size ,HDD size ,how much ram ,video card ,ect ect ect

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