Error message when you start Windows XP after you upgrade from an earlier version of Windows: "Your system is low on virtual memory"

When you first start Windows XP after you upgrade from an earlier version of Windows, you may receive the following error message: If you click OK, you may receive an error message that resembles the following error message: When you try to run Windows, you may also receive other error messages that resemble the following error message: You do not receive these error messages when you start Windows in safe mode.

This issue may occur if the Aventail Connect virtual private network (VPN) program is installed on your computer.

If the Aventail Connect program is not installed on your computer, this issue may occur if the virtual memory is low. For more information, see the "More Information" section.

To work around this issue, use one of the following methods.

Method 1: Remove Aventail Connect

Restart the computer in safe mode, and then remove Aventail Connect. To start Windows in safe mode, press F8 during startup, and then select the safe mode option from the extended boot menu.

For additional support information, visit the following Aventail Connect Web site: To research the availability of an update for the Aventail Connect program, visit the following Aventail Web site: Microsoft provides third-party contact information to help you find technical support. This contact information may change without notice. Microsoft does not guarantee the accuracy of this third-party contact information.

Method 2: Exclude the Svchost.exe file

Add the Svchost.exe executable file to the Aventail Connect exclusion list. The Svchost.exe file is stored in the %Systemroot%\System32 folder. For example, this file may be in the following location:For information about how to do this, please contact Aventail Connect.

If your computer does not have the random access memory (RAM) that is needed to run a program or an operation, Windows uses virtual memory to compensate.

Virtual memory combines the computer’s RAM with temporary space on your hard disk. When RAM runs low, virtual memory moves data from RAM to a space that is called a "paging file." Moving data to and from the paging file frees RAM to complete its work.

Typically, the more RAM your computer has, the faster your programs will run. If a lack of RAM is slowing your computer, you might want to increase virtual memory to compensate. However, your computer can read data from RAM much more quickly than from a hard disk. Therefore, adding RAM is a better solution.

Virtual memory and error messages

If you receive error messages about low virtual memory, you must add more RAM or increase the size of your paging file to run the programs on your computer. Windows usually manages the virtual memory size automatically. But you can manually change the size of virtual memory if the default size is insufficient. For more information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about Windows XP Home Edition system requirements, visit the following Microsoft Web site: For more information about Windows XP Professional system requirements, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

For more information, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to prevent low memory problems, visit the following Microsoft Web site:If these Microsoft Knowledge Base articles do not help you resolve the problem, or if you experience symptoms that differ from those that this article describes, please search the Microsoft Knowledge Base for more information. To search the Microsoft Knowledge Base, visit the following Microsoft Web site: Then, type the text of the error message that you receive, or type a description of the problem in the Search Support (KB) field.

The third-party products that this article discusses are manufactured by companies that are independent of Microsoft. Microsoft makes no warranty, implied or otherwise, about the performance or reliability of these products.