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Virtual Memory Usage
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Dedicated MacNNer
Join Date: Dec 2004
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I have a MacBook Pro with 1GB RAM. I use it for stuff like browsing the web, Entourage for email, Photoshop (CS3 Beta) for image stuff, iTunes for music and Garage Band for Podcasting. I also have Parallels on it that is used regularly.
I was looking at the activity monitor today and under the System Memory tab, the VM size is about 11GB. Isn't that WAY too much for a page file? Can I delete this to recover some disk space? Also, would adding another GB significantly drop this file's size?
-a
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Los Angeles
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1. You cannot delete the page file. If you could, your system would crash.
2. More memory would reduce the page file, but depending on your usage and uptime, it could still be large.
3. This topic has been covered in previous threads.
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"The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground." TJ
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Mac Elite
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Originally Posted by Abbas 
I have a MacBook Pro with 1GB RAM. I use it for stuff like browsing the web, Entourage for email, Photoshop (CS3 Beta) for image stuff, iTunes for music and Garage Band for Podcasting. I also have Parallels on it that is used regularly.
I was looking at the activity monitor today and under the System Memory tab, the VM size is about 11GB. Isn't that WAY too much for a page file? Can I delete this to recover some disk space? Also, would adding another GB significantly drop this file's size?
-a
The page file is not 11GB. Check the contents of /var/vm to see the actual size. The VM number you see is not what you think it is.
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Professional Poster
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: "Working"
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Just because it has a certain amount allocated does not mean all of that is being used. The stuff you're doing is actually quite memory intensive (Parallels should take at least half of your phycisal memory) so a lot of page outs could probably be expected.
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Clinically Insane
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: planning a comeback !
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Bottom line: Don't worry about VM in OS X. It's good, it does its job as good as possible, don't mess with it.
The only way to clear the VM on the HD is to restart your Mac.
-t
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Senior User
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: Chicago, Earth
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Originally Posted by Catfish_Man
The page file is not 11GB. Check the contents of /var/vm to see the actual size. The VM number you see is not what you think it is.
I have been meaning to ask this question for ages, how does Apple figure "VM Size" and what does it actually mean? I am currently at 17GB VM Size according to Activity Monitor, but I only have one 64MB swap file. As you posted to the OP's question, there is obviously a difference between the two, but how is the VM number arrived at?
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Forum Regular
Join Date: Aug 2005
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The VM Size number refers to "total amount of allocated virtual memory" according to Apple.
"Allocated" does not mean "used" or "paged to disk."
My VM size says 10.06 Gigabytes, I have one swapfile which is 64 MB in size. Computer is working fine. If you guys have enough time on your hands to worry about this stuff, feel free to do so! Clearly the "allocated virtual memory" can be a big number but it probably doesn't have much significance.
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