Virtual memory helps your PC execute programs and actions quickly when you are running low on random-access memory (RAM). Virtual memory combines your RAM memory with your hard drive space. These two work together to compensate for lack of RAM and attempt to speed up your system.

For many actions RAM is directly correlated to your computer’s speed. The more RAM you have, the faster your PC will run. When doing processor-heavy tasks and running low on RAM, Windows will use hard drive space as a memory substitute. How much Windows uses virtual memory is ultimately your choice and can be set by following these directions.

Too much or too little virtual memory will decrease your system’s performance. Additionally, the speed of your hard drive in some ways will dictate how much benefit you receive from virtual memory.

Often tweaking virtual memory is not the best solution for increasing system speed. If your system is running slowly, upgrading RAM typically will provide much more benefit than virtual memory adjustments.

This tutorial was done on a Windows 7 machine, but the steps are similar on Windows 8.

1.Open up the Control Panel. This can be done by clicking on the Start button and selecting Control Panel. In Windows 8 you will want to access the classic Control Panel.

2.From the Control Panel, select System and Security. 

3.From the System and Security options, select System. 

4.Now, select Advanced system settings from the options on the left-hand side. 

5.Under System Properties, make sure that the Advanced tab is selected. Then choose Settings… under Performance.

6.From the Performance options, select the Advanced tab. Then choose Change… underVirtual memory. 

7.First un-check the box next to Automatically manage paging file size for all devices. Next, select the drive you want to use, and adjust the Custom size option. Hit Save, and then click OK to save your settings. 

How to configure virtual memory is highly debated among Windows experts. Many of us suggest disabling the OS’s automatic management and setting the initial and maximum size to the paging size recommended by Windows. In my example above, I would set these sizes to the suggested 1918 MB.

Users of SSD drives have a more complex problem. Since virtual memory writes to the hard drive very frequently, using SSD drives in this fashion can theoretically decrease the life of the drive. However, SSD drives are so quick that this drive style reduces a lot of the performance limitations associated with virtual memory.

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How to increase the virtual memory size in your computer

If you receive a message in Microsoft Windows Vista, XP or 7 stating that your system is running low on virtual memory, the following steps can be performed to prevent this message from appearing and even enhance the performance of your system. To increase the size of your virtual memory, select your operating system and follow the steps below.

	Windows Vista
	Windows XP
	Windows 7
	Windows 8.1/10

Windows Vista

First, determine how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system. To find out how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system:

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2. Click System and Maintenance, then click System. Under Memory (RAM), the amount of RAM you computer has will be displayed.

Increase the Virtual memory size

1. Click Start, then click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System and Maintenance, then click System.
3. In the left hand menu, click Advanced system settings. If you are prompted for an administrator password, type the password.
4. Click the Advanced tab.
5. Under Performance, click Settings.
6. Click the Advanced tab.
7. Under Virtual memory, click Change.
8. Uncheck the "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" check box.
9. Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.
10. Click Customize size.
11. Change the Initial Size and Maximum size text boxes (these sizes are in megabytes).
12. Click Set, then click OK.

Windows Vista sets the initial minimum size of the paging file to the amount of memory (RAM) installed on your system plus 300 MB, and the maximum size at 3 times the amount of memory (RAM) installed on your computer.

Increasing the size of virtual memory size does not usually require a restart in Windows Vista. If you decrease the size, restart the computer for the changes to take effect. Deleting or disabling the paging file is not recommended.

Windows XP

First, determine how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system. To find out how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system, right-click My Computer, then click properties. The amount of RAM will be displayed at the bottom under the General tab.

Increase the Virtual memory size

1. Open My Computer.
2. Click View system information in the left hand side of the My Computer window.
   
   
   
   The System Properties window will be displayed.
   
3. Click the Advanced tab. Under performance, click Settings. The Performance Options dialog box will be displayed.
4. Under the Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
5. Under the Virtual memory section, click Change. The Virtual Memory dialog box will be displayed.
6. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, change the Initial Size and Maximum size text boxes (these sizes are in megabytes).
   For example: You can change the Initial and Maximum sizes to 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have. If you had 768 MB of RAM installed on your system, you would enter 1152 MB RAM in both the Initial Size (MB) and Maximum Size (MB) text boxes.
   
   
   
7. Click Set, then click OK. A message will appear stating that you will need to restart your computer. Click OK.
8. Click OK.
9. Click OK.
10. You will be asked if you want to restart your computer, click Yes.

Windows 7

First, determine how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system. To find out how much memory (RAM) you have installed on your system, right-click Computer, then click properties. The amount of RAM will be displayed at the bottom under the System.

Increase the Virtual memory size

1. Click Start button, right-click Computer, and then click Properties.
2. In the left pane, click Advanced system settings.
3. On the Advanced tab, under Performance, click Settings.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then, under Virtual memory, click Change.
5. Clear the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives check box.
6. Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file you want to change.
7. Click Custom size, type a new size in megabytes in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size (MB) box, click Set, and then click OK.

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If Windows virtual memory is too low, you can increase it, but there are trade-offs
1124 primary
13COMMENTS
Lincoln Spector
Lincoln Spector | @LincolnSpector
Contributing Editor, PCWorld Nov 24, 2014 7:35 AM
Dspenc40229’s PC occasionally complains that it’s running low on virtual memory. “How do I get more?”

Virtual memory, also known as the swap file, uses part of your hard drive to effectively expand your RAM, allowing you to run more programs than it could otherwise handle. But a hard drive is much slower than RAM, so it can really hurt performance. (I discuss SSDs below.)

[Have a tech question? Ask PCWorld Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector. Send your query to answer@pcworld.com.]

Some basics: Your PC has storage—a hard drive or SSD—and memory in the form of RAM chips. RAM is faster than storage, and you have much less of it. It’s also more volatile: Shut off the power, and everything in RAM disappears. You can think of RAM as the immediate workspace, and storage as the file cabinet. When you save a file, you’re copying it from RAM to storage.

When there’s no room in RAM for that program or file you’re trying to load, virtual memory kicks in. Some of the code and data in RAM goes to the swap file, making room to load something else.

If Windows keeps telling you that your virtual memory is too low, you can either buy more RAM or expand the swap file. One will cost you money, but the other will slow down your PC.

I’ve already told you how to buy more RAM. Here’s how to change the virtual memory settings:

Go to the Start menu’s Search field or Windows 8’s Search charm and type system. Select System under Control Panel.
Click Advanced system settings in the left pane.
1124 change virtual memory 1
In the resulting System Properties dialog box’s Advanced tab, click the first Settings button—the one in the Performance box.
1124 change virtual memory 2
In the resulting Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
In the Virtual memory box, click the Change button.
1124 change virtual memory 3
In the resulting Virtual Memory dialog box, uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Then select a drive and change settings for that drive.
1124 change virtual memory 4
Windows lets you set up swap files in different drives, although by default only C: has one. It doesn’t really make a difference. If you create multiple swap files, they’ll behave like one big one.

Speed isn’t the only problem with virtual memory. Sensitive data that you keep encrypted may reside, unencrypted, in the swap file. Your average run-of-the-mill crook probably wouldn’t bother looking for it there, but the police or the NSA will.

The performance problem is lessened considerably if you put the swap file on an SSD rather than a hard drive. But there’s a problem: SSDs wear out with too much writing, so putting a swap file on one might shorten its life.

If all you have is an SSD, you may want to disable virtual memory entirely. You can do this in the Virtual Memory dialog box by selecting the drive it’s on, clicking No paging file, then clicking Set.

However, doing this could limit the size and number of programs you can run at one time. You might try it, and then turn virtual memory back on after you find the lack of it too restrictive.

If Windows virtual memory is too low, you can increase it, but there are trade-offs

13COMMENTS

Lincoln Spector | @LincolnSpector

Contributing Editor, PCWorld

• Nov 24, 2014 7:35 AM

Dspenc40229’s PC occasionally complains that it’s running low on virtual memory. “How do I get more?”

Virtual memory, also known as the swap file, uses part of your hard drive to effectively expand your RAM, allowing you to run more programs than it could otherwise handle. But a hard drive is much slower than RAM, so it can really hurt performance. (I discuss SSDs below.)

[Have a tech question? Ask PCWorld Contributing Editor Lincoln Spector. Send your query to answer@pcworld.com.]

Some basics: Your PC has storage—a hard drive or SSD—and memory in the form of RAM chips. RAM is faster than storage, and you have much less of it. It’s also more volatile: Shut off the power, and everything in RAM disappears. You can think of RAM as the immediate workspace, and storage as the file cabinet. When you save a file, you’re copying it from RAM to storage.

When there’s no room in RAM for that program or file you’re trying to load, virtual memory kicks in. Some of the code and data in RAM goes to the swap file, making room to load something else.

If Windows keeps telling you that your virtual memory is too low, you can either buy more RAM or expand the swap file. One will cost you money, but the other will slow down your PC.

I’ve already told you how to buy more RAM. Here’s how to change the virtual memory settings:

1. Go to the Start menu’s Search field or Windows 8’s Search charm and typesystem. Select System under Control Panel.
2. Click Advanced system settings in the left pane.
   

   

3. In the resulting System Properties dialog box’s Advanced tab, click the firstSettings button—the one in the Performance box.
   

   

4. In the resulting Performance Options dialog box, click the Advanced tab.
5. In the Virtual memory box, click the Change button.
   

   

6. In the resulting Virtual Memory dialog box, uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Then select a drive and change settings for that drive.
   

   

Windows lets you set up swap files in different drives, although by default only C: has one. It doesn’t really make a difference. If you create multiple swap files, they’ll behave like one big one.

Speed isn’t the only problem with virtual memory. Sensitive data that you keep encrypted may reside, unencrypted, in the swap file. Your average run-of-the-mill crook probably wouldn’t bother looking for it there, but the police or the NSA will.

The performance problem is lessened considerably if you put the swap file on an SSD rather than a hard drive. But there’s a problem: SSDs wear out with too much writing, so putting a swap file on one might shorten its life.

If all you have is an SSD, you may want to disable virtual memory entirely. You can do this in the Virtual Memory dialog box by selecting the drive it’s on, clicking No paging file,then clicking Set.

However, doing this could limit the size and number of programs you can run at one time. You might try it, and then turn virtual memory back on after you find the lack of it too restrictive.

Read More

Activate The System (slmgr -ato)

KMS clients will automatically attempt to contact the KMS server every two hours to activate.

You can force a client to activate the following slmgr.vbs switch.

slmgr.vbs -ato

Windows 10

Windows 10 has the KMS key built in.

Use step 1 (to set the KMS server to kms.csx.private.cam.ac.uk)

 \windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -skms kms.csx.private.cam.ac.uk

and step 3 (activating the product using -ato)

  slmgr.vbs -ato

Checking The License Status

Viewing the system properties should tell you if the system is activated or not. You can also use slmgr -dlv to view detailed licensing status of a system.

Converting clients from MAK to KMS licensing/Issues with KMS

You need to tell Windows that it is going to activate using KMS rather than MAK. When you buy a copy of Windows from software sales you will get a MAK key as part of the paperwork, this is not the one to use. Every Vista and Server 2008 (non R2) volume license media has a pid.txt file found under \Sources. This contains the KMS key. Alternative KMS keys can be found in the Volume Activation Technical Reference, for links look at the end of the page.

Troubleshooting

For Server 2008 when using the pid key from the \Sources\pid.txt file you may see the following error after adding the key with -ipk

• Run Slui.exe 0x2a 0xC004F015 to display error text
• Error 0xC004F015

This error can be ignored. Run Slmgr -ato and the system should activate.

When using the commands above, you may get errors such as '0x800706BA The RPC server is unavailable' (which may indicate a network error but is often displayed as an unhelpful generic error message) or 'Error 0x800706BA occurred in connecting to server -ipk'. The following three points should be noted:

• Check that you are logged in as an Administrator running an Administrative command prompt
• In the cscript command itself try using a / instead of -
• If the error is with the -skms command it may indicate a network error (failure to communicate on port TCP 1688 - due to this you cannot activate via Lapwing and may get error 0x4004F00C)

For a more detailed list of error codes and possible causes see Microsoft's How to troubleshoot Volume Activation error codes on Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista-based computers at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/938450.

Microsoft Documentation

Full Microsoft documentation can be found at the Microsoft Technet site. Some Selected links can be found below.

Root page for Volume activation

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb871044.aspx

Volume Activation Technical Reference

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee355153.aspx

Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance documentation download

Volume Activation 2.0 Technical Guidance.

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          Operating System Edition                              Product Key            

                                           Windows 8.1

Windows 8.1 Professional            GCRJD-8NW9H-F2CDX-CCM8D-9D6T9

Windows 8.1 Professional N         HMCNV-VVBFX-7HMBH-CTY9B-B4FXY

Windows 8.1 Enterprise                MHF9N-XY6XB-WVXMC-BTDCT-MKKG7

Windows 8.1 Enterprise N            TT4HM-HN7YT-62K67-RGRQJ-JFFXW

Windows 8

Windows 8 Professional                NG4HW-VH26C-733KW-K6F98-J8CK4

Windows 8 Professional N            XCVCF-2NXM9-723PB-MHCB7-2RYQQ

Windows 8 Enterprise                    32JNW-9KQ84-P47T8-D8GGY-CWCK7

Windows 8 Enterprise N               JMNMF-RHW7P-DMY6X-RF3DR-X2BQT

Windows 7

Windows 7 Professional                FJ82H-XT6CR-J8D7P-XQJJ2-GPDD4

Windows 7 Professional N            MRPKT-YTG23-K7D7T-X2JMM-QY7MG

Windows 7 Enterprise                   33PXH-7Y6KF-2VJC9-XBBR8-HVTHH

Windows 7 Enterprise N               YDRBP-3D83W-TY26F-D46B2-XCKRJ

Windows 7 Enterprise E                C29WB-22CC8-VJ326-GHFJW-H9DH4

Windows Server 2012 R2

Windows Server 2012 R2 Server Standard       D2N9P-3P6X9-2R39C-7RTCD-MDVJX

Windows Server 2012 R2 Datacenter               W3GGN-FT8W3-Y4M27-J84CP-Q3VJ9

Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials                 KNC87-3J2TX-XB4WP-VCPJV-M4FWM

Windows Server 2012

Windows Server 2012 Core                                   BN3D2-R7TKB-3YPBD-8DRP2-27GG4

Windows Server 2012 Core N                               8N2M2-HWPGY-7PGT9-HGDD8-GVGGY

Windows Server 2012 Core Single Language        2WN2H-YGCQR-KFX6K-CD6TF-84YXQ

Windows Server 2012 Core Country Specific        4K36P-JN4VD-GDC6V-KDT89-DYFKP

Windows Server 2012 Server Standard                   XC9B7-NBPP2-83J2H-RHMBY-92BT4

Windows Server 2012 Standard Core                      XC9B7-NBPP2-83J2H-RHMBY-92BT4

Windows Server 2012 Multipoint Standard             HM7DN-YVMH3-46JC3-XYTG7-CYQJJ

Windows Server 2012 Multipoint Premium             XNH6W-2V9GX-RGJ4K-Y8X6F-QGJ2G

Windows Server 2012 Datacenter                            48HP8-DN98B-MYWDG-T2DCC-8W83P

Windows Server 2012 Datacenter Core                   48HP8-DN98B-MYWDG-T2DCC-8W83P

Windows Server 2008 R2

Windows Server 2008 R2 HPC Edition                   FKJQ8-TMCVP-FRMR7-4WR42-3JCD7

Windows Server 2008 R2 Datacenter                     74YFP-3QFB3-KQT8W-PMXWJ-7M648

Windows Server 2008 R2 Enterprise                     489J6-VHDMP-X63PK-3K798-CPX3Y

Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-Based Systems     GT63C-RJFQ3-4GMB6-BRFB9-CB83V

Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard                       YC6KT-GKW9T-YTKYR-T4X34-R7VHC

Windows Web Server 2008 R2                              6TPJF-RBVHG-WBW2R-86QPH-6RTM4

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Client Configuration

Client in this case refers to any Microsoft operating system using volume activation and a KMS key, servers as well as desktop versions.

All configuration is done via a VB script (slmgr.vbs) which is installed by default on all Windows systems capable of using KMS. It is located in the Windows\system32 directory. You must use a command shell run with administrator privilages.

General Prerequisites

You need to ensure that you can communicate via TCP port 1688 to our KMS servers.
Right click on a command shell and select Run as Administrator before entering the commands.

Change the SID

Before imaging a system for use with KMS you must generate a unique SID. If you are doing a clean install from media you will get a unique SID. If you're planning on imaging systems you can use sysprep with the generalise option, the Windows Automated Installation Kit or join the system to a domain.

Once you have done this you can configure the system to use KMS for activation.

Configuration Steps

• Set the KMS server (slmgr -skms servername)
• Install the KMS Product Key (slmgr -ipk product key)
• Activate the system (slmgr -ato)

Set the KMS Server (slmgr -skms servername)

You need to configure your client to point to the KMS server. By default it will try and autodetect an activation server using DNS and SRV records, based on the DNS domain suffix of the client. Since these records would not match in the majority of cases this is not a viable method so direct registration of the KMS server is the supported method.

The server name is kms.csx.private.cam.ac.uk.

You should use the FQDN to identify the KMS system rather than the IP address or NetBIOS name.

To configure the client for direct registration launch a command window with elevated privileges and enter:

 \windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -skms kms.csx.private.cam.ac.uk

This will override any attempt by the client to use autodiscovery and point the system to the central KMS server.

Install the KMS Product Key (slmgr -ipk product key)

On Windows Vista, server 2003, 2003 R2 and 2008 the product key can be found in a pid.txt file in the \Sources folder on the install media. Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 and Server 2008 R2, 2012 and 2012 R2 product keys can be found below. This may cause an error message, see Troubleshooting below.

To install a product key use slmgr.vbs

\windows\system32\slmgr.vbs -ipk Product Key

If a pre-existing key is present you may need to use the -upk option to remove this before you can install the pid key.

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