How to Check Swap Space on a PC

Swap space, also known as a swap file and Virtual Memory, is an area on your computer hard drive used as random access memory(RAM). This swap space allows multiple programs, including Internet browsers and other applications, to run at the same time without running out of memory. The swap space is usually set by the Windows operating system, but you can specify how much hard drive space to devote to the swap space file. The swap space setting is viewable by accessing Windows' Virtual Memory configuration.

Things You'll Need

• Computer running Windows operating system

Instructions

Checking the Swap File – Windows XP

1. Click “Start.” Right click on “My Computer.” Select “Properties.” The “System Properties” dialog box will open.

2. Click on the “Advanced” tab. Click on “Settings” under the heading “Performance.”

3. Click on the “Advanced” tab. The “MB” value next to the wording “Total paging file size for all drives:” is the swap space for your Windows-based system.

4. Click on “Change.” Look at the value(s) under the heading “Paging File Size (MB) for a break down of the swap space for each drive on your computer. You may only have one computer listed - “C:\\.”

5. Click “Cancel,” “Cancel,” “Cancel” to exit from the “System Properties” dialog box.

Checking the Swap File – Windows Vista

1. Right click on the “Computer” icon on your computer “Desktop.”

2. Click on the “Advanced” tab.

3. Click on the “Settings” button under the heading “Performance.”

4. Click on the “Advanced” tab. The “MB” value next to the wording “Total paging file size for all drives:” is the swap space for your Windows-based system.

5. Click on “Change.” Look at the value(s) under the heading “Paging File Size (MB) for a break down of the swap space for each drive on your computer. You may only have one computer listed - “C:\\.”

6. Click on the “X” in the upper right-hand corner to close the “Virtual Memory” dialog box. Click on the “X” on the other open dialog boxes to close them.

Tips & Warnings

• Swap space settings increase and decrease automatically if Windows is managing the swap file. This increase and decrease is in relation to the amount of free hard drive space you have on your system and whenever you delete a file or files from your computer hard drive.

References

• PC Nine One One.com: How-To - Windows - Managing the Windows Swap File 1
• Computer Memory Upgrade My Super PC.com: How To Change The Virtual Memory Swap File Size
• How to Geek.com: Understanding Windows Vista Paging File Size

Resources

• Acronis.com: Making The Most of Virtual Memory