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klaxamazoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
438
0
My activity monitor says I'm suing 122.43 GB of virtual memory. I'm sure that the number is much, much less. But I would still like to reset the virtual memory.

Are there any terminal commands to rest the vm?
 

MrCheeto

macrumors 68040
Nov 2, 2008
3,490
341
I'm suing 122.43 GB of virtual memory.

Please, I really don't think this situation calls for any legal action...






And seriously, I don't know but there is an application that clears your cache (memory included). I know nothing of clearing virtual memory, GL,MHDD
 

klaxamazoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
438
0
Reboot :)

I'm just going to point to an existing thread. Though its an old thread it's still relevant. Here's another thread from Mac Rumors.

I found the first link. The only command is:
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

Do I just type that into terminal.

Thanks.

ohh, and my Virtual Memory had better get a lawyer, I took my bank to court recently and won $500, I think I can take the VM down too.
 

klaxamazoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
438
0
I ran
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly

and my virtual memory is still at 110 GB. I've tried restarting my computer also. I looked at my main folders and I'm missing about 100 GB of hard drive memory.
 

Jisuo

macrumors 6502
Dec 4, 2008
257
1
Sweden
Virtual memory is exactly what is says, VIRTUAL. The program doesn't really take that amount of space... They just say "hey I want 10GB of virtual memory" to OS X and he says "sure!". Then maybe the program uses 50MB of that 10GB.

In short... DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.
 

klaxamazoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
438
0
Virtual memory is exactly what is says, VIRTUAL. The program doesn't really take that amount of space... They just say "hey I want 10GB of virtual memory" to OS X and he says "sure!". Then maybe the program uses 50MB of that 10GB.

In short... DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT.

I am missing about 100 GB of hard disk space and the virtual memory should reflect was is being asked for by the programs that are running. Since I've restarted my computer many times, the VM should be around 25-40 like it used to be. Not 100+ GB.

Maybe there is a memory leak or out of control log file. But there should be some way to reset the VM just to make sure that it isn't the problem.
 

ChrisA

macrumors G5
Jan 5, 2006
12,537
1,645
Redondo Beach, California
I am missing about 100 GB of hard disk space and the virtual memory should reflect was is being asked for by the programs that are running. Since I've restarted my computer many times, the VM should be around 25-40 like it used to be. Not 100+ GB.

What is the problem? I don't see any. How do you know it should be lower. That 100GB is the total of all processes. You have to lok at them one at a time, not in total. What seems to be the largest, I'd start there. But why care? VM is simply a book keeping device. It is "virtual" and does not actually even exist.

What's happend is that now that we have 64-bit apps they can address huge amounts of virtual memory, so they do.
 

klaxamazoo

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 8, 2006
438
0
Maybe the VM number means absolutely nothing in terms of real performance, but I would prefer a tidy house and there is no use arguing about peoples preferences; especially on the internet.

So, if somebody knows how to reset/clear the VM then I would appreciate their help.
 

Catfish_Man

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2001
2,579
2
Portland, OR
You can't. You can quit programs to "free" the VM ranges they're using, and you can reboot the computer to (possibly) free some of the VM ranges the kernel and other OS systems are using.

If you could free VM ranges without quitting the app that requested them then the app would likely crash.
 

Mac's Rule

macrumors newbie
Aug 23, 2013
2
0
Is it ok for my virtual memory to be 80+ % of my hard drive? Right now my virtual memory is 273 GB Running Lion, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HDD
 

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Mac's Rule

macrumors newbie
Aug 23, 2013
2
0
Now it has gone above 330GB. Is there a reason it has gone above 300?
 

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ScoobyMcDoo

macrumors 65816
Nov 26, 2007
1,188
37
Austin, TX
Now it has gone above 330GB. Is there a reason it has gone above 300?

The activity monitor help file (which is seen by clicking the help button in the menu bar) states:
VM size: VM size is the total amount of virtual memory space reserved by the OS X and your apps. The actual amount of virtual memory being used is likely to be much less, because OS X and apps frequently reserve virtual memory space that they don’t use.
 

benwiggy

macrumors 68020
Jun 15, 2012
2,367
178
Is it ok for my virtual memory to be 80+ % of my hard drive? Right now my virtual memory is 273 GB Running Lion, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HDD
My VM is frequently larger than my hard drive.

1. Do you actually have a problem that you have reason to believe is caused by excessive VM?
If not, continue to use your computer normally and don't worry about the numbers.
 
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