My system crashes with memory shortage even when there are 4GB is available

Anixx · Feb 19, 2025

My system crashes due to memory shortage even though there is available memory.

I have 16 GB RAM, and the pagefile is disbled. I do not have a discrete video card.

So, when the Task Manager and System Settings report 4 GB memory "availale" (3.5 GB cached and 500 MB free), and I open a new tab in a browser, crashes either the tab, browser or DWM, kicking me to the logon screen. This happens in all other software as well.

I understand that full 16GB should not be available because part of the memory is used for video memory. Still, I wonder, why the Task Manager and Settings report available memory?

Helmut · Feb 19, 2025

Don't disable the pagefile, let Windows manage that.
Performance options > Advanced tab > Programs.
Change... tick top box for Auto manage.

Anixx · Feb 19, 2025

Helmut said:
Don't disable the pagefile, let Windows manage that.
Performance options > Advanced tab > Programs.
Change... tick top box for Auto manage.

My prevuous computer had only 4 GB memory and a small pagefile of 1 GB, and I did not experience memory shortages in daily tasks. It was a few months ago, under the same OS.

zbook · Feb 19, 2025

Please see posting instructions:

BSOD - Posting Instructions

BSOD - Posting Instructions This will show you how to help provide needed information about your system and dump files. It will not contain any personal or sensitive information about you or your data. To get better help with your Windows BSOD issue, please read these instructions and follow...

www.elevenforum.com

FrancoDT · Feb 19, 2025

I've read that with Windows 11 you should always have a pagefile set no matter how much RAM you have which in my case is 32GB. It is best to just let Windows dynamically manage the page file if you don't want to have issues. I'm guessing you'll no longer have an issue if you enable the pagefile.

FrancoDT · Feb 19, 2025

A little more info;
A Page File acts as an overflow for your system memory (RAM) when you have too many applications running at one time. However, it is constantly being used by Windows to store temporary data regardless of how much RAM you have installed. Having no Page File or mismanaging the size of the Page File can lead to performance issues and crashes. Furthermore, a Page File is required by many applications, including our own games.

How to Manage Your Virtual Memory (Page File) In Windows

Introduction A Page File acts as an overflow for your system memory (RAM) when you have too many applications running at one time. However, it is constantly being used by Windows to store temporary data regardless of how much RAM you have instal...

dovetailgames.freshdesk.com

Anixx · Feb 19, 2025

FrancoDT said:
I've read that with Windows 11 you should always have a pagefile set no matter how much RAM you have which in my case is 32GB. It is best to just let Windows dynamically manage the page file if you don't want to have issues. I'm guessing you'll no longer have an issue if you enable the pagefile.

When I used a mechanical hard drive, enabling the pagefile dramatically reduced the performance, so I always had it disabled (even though I had less memory then, only 2-4 GB), and had no issues. Now I have SSD and more memory, and I think even on SSD it should reduce performance, even if not that much as on a hard drive.

FrancoDT · Feb 19, 2025

Anixx said:
When I used a mechanical hard drive, enabling the pagefile dramatically reduced the performance, so I always had it disabled (even though I had less memory then, only 2-4 GB), and had no issues. Now I have SSD and more memory, and I think even on SSD it should reduce performance, even if not that much as on a hard drive.

I think you'll get better performance and more importantly no BSOD with it enabled. Give it a try for a while as I think you'll prefer having it enabled.

Anixx · Feb 19, 2025

FrancoDT said:
I think you'll get better performance and more importantly no BSOD with it enabled. Give it a try for a while as I think you'll prefer having it enabled.

I xefinitely had MUCH worse performance with it enabled on a mechanical hard drive.

Diceman2037 · Jan 15, 2026

Windows 7 and 8 set a 1.5 x phsical minimum, and then grew from there

10 and 11 are 40% of minimum, and you usually crash before the disk has signalled that the pagefile has grown enough to make use of it.

not having a pagefile at all is insane.

TairikuOkami · Jan 15, 2026

Diceman2037 said:
not having a pagefile at all is insane.

I have not used it since XP and while there were some problems back then, it was all sorted out after Vista. Pagefile is security and privacy risk, besides it is an obsolete concept, just like superfetch. It causes needless writes to the disk and can cause performance issues. If something causes a memory leak, pagefile "hides" it by increasing it's size indefinitely, that is just horrible.

andrew129260 · Jan 15, 2026

Just something to keep in mind, If your system suffers a Blue Screen of Death (BSOD), Windows requires a pagefile to write a dump file, which is necessary to analyze the cause of the crash.

While disabling the page file can work for some people, (and I get the security aspect) depending on what you are doing on the pc I think it's best to leave it enabled. Some apps will not work correctly or have weird issues with it disabled.

I would leave it alone at the default windows sets.

If you play with fire and start getting burned, it's time to put out the fire.

neves · Jan 15, 2026

TairikuOkami said:
I have not used it since XP

If your system's Ram was always way way above - what you'd be normally using (like now - 64 GB Ram is hard to fill - unless you're training A.I. models or into heavy video/GFX editing), then you don't need it. Would even be a waste - to use a Paging File on a system with 64 GB Ram used for gaming or lite to medium tasks (not that gaming can't be heavy on resources - but 99% of titles don't need more than 32 GB).

Rollback_Jockey · Jan 15, 2026

If you have a spare USB stick you can always use ReadyBoost

TairikuOkami · Jan 15, 2026

neves said:
not that gaming can't be heavy on sorceress

I had an issue with Deus Ex, when I had only 16GB, once the game used over 12GB, it crashed.

neves said:
64 GB Ram is hard to fill

The idea was to use some of it for RAMdisk, but 11 had different plans and broke it completely.

neves · Jan 15, 2026

TairikuOkami said:
I had an issue with Deus Ex, when I had only 16GB, once the game used over 12GB, it crashed.

16 GB is one thing - still works for old titles and most indie games, but i said 32 GB - is enough for 99% of games + 8 - 16 GB VRAM (depends which GPU ofc - cause even some mid range cards have 16 GB this days - AMD in particular).

TairikuOkami said:
The idea was to use some of it for RAMdisk, but 11 had different plans and broke it completely.

That used to be a great idea back when SSDs were still rather expensive and games had a reasonable size (instaled Gothic 3 and TES: Oblivion on a 8 GB Ram disk - and made a huge difference in loading times compared to HDD). But that idea is not that feasible anymore - mainly cause of the size of modern Games. Would love to be able to install BG3 on a Ram disk (loading times are kinda long even for SSD) - but i would need around 180 GB of RAM.

neves · Jan 15, 2026

Windows reports "available" memory as the sum of genuinely free RAM plus memory that can be reclaimed quickly (standby/cached). If the system is crashing when that so called "available" pool is low - it means reclaimable memory isn't actually being freed in time (or at all) for new allocations. With the pagefile disabled and no dedicated GPU - Windows has no backing store to trim some types of memory, so when a process requests more commit than physical RAM can satisfy, Windows forcibly terminates processes or the desktop (DWM) to protect the system.

gunrunnerjohn · Jan 15, 2026

Diceman2037 said:
Windows 7 and 8 set a 1.5 x phsical minimum, and then grew from there

10 and 11 are 40% of minimum, and you usually crash before the disk has signalled that the pagefile has grown enough to make use of it.

not having a pagefile at all is insane.

You do realize the previous reply above yours was a year ago, right? I doubt the OP is still working this issue. :lmao:

Diceman2037 · Feb 13, 2026

gunrunnerjohn said:
You do realize the previous reply above yours was a year ago, right? I doubt the OP is still working this issue.

its still a first page result.

neves said:
Would even be a waste - to use a Paging File on a system with 64 GB Ram used for gaming or lite to medium tasks (not that gaming can't be heavy on resources - but 99% of titles don't need

False, you're not accounting for fragmentation - the bane of virtual memory management.

Rollback_Jockey said:
If you have a spare USB stick you can always use ReadyBoost

Not even the same thing.

neves said:
Windows reports "available" memory as the sum of genuinely free RAM plus memory that can be reclaimed quickly (standby/cached). If the system is crashing when that so called "available" pool is low - it means reclaimable memory isn't actually being freed in time (or at all) for new allocations.

False: Standby memory is sparse mapped and can be directly ovewriten without consequence, there is no freeing op involved.

Windows reports available COMMIT as the current size of pagefile (not maximum size of) + memory, not accounting for Fragmentation that can cause you to crash out before ever reaching the maximum. Further, Windows does not always grow the pagefile under allocate pressure, only when active working set encroaches enough to trigger growth.

My system crashes with memory shortage even when there are 4GB is available

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Microsoft 365 Basic

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Microsoft 365 Basic

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computer

Well-known member

My Computers

Well-known member

My Computer