Virtual RAM Question

I may know a lot about software, but not so much about hardware (or virtual hardware). If My PC had 256 MB of RAM, and a program required 512 MB, and then I set aside a 256 MB space on my USB stick for VRAM, will I be able to run the program? I'm pretty confused right now...

No, because your computer still has things registered in the RAM, therefore there wouldn't be enough space. Also, virtual RAM is a lot slower than physical RAM.

How much VRAM would I need then?

I would recommend a couple of gigabytes if you're willing to sacrifice to it, it also depends what OS you're running on EDIT:On Windows, you can add virtual memory somewhere in the control panel

So... x × what = y, where x is VRAM and y is PRAM?

It doesn't work like that, think of it like a sandwich(not the best example, but it's all I've got), the base sandwich is just a BLT let's say. Afterwards, you can add condiments(VRAM in this case) which just adds to more flavour(so just PRAM+VRAM). It's simple, but VRAM is not really meant to be the base for RAM, if you understand, VRAM is just an add-on to the base.

So if I add VRAM to my computer, I won't be able to run any new applications?

VRAM is something on your gpu, you can't add it to your computer by itself. The graphics cards use it for textures and other things like that. If you got a new gpu with a lot more vram it would help you run higher end games, outside of video games it doesn't really matter that much.

So if I add VRAM to my computer, I won't be able to run any new applications?

VRAM is Virtual Memory, which is just using part of your hard drive for RAM. Simple as that! It is registered by the OS, so the system doesn't detect it at boot.

VRAM is something on your gpu, you can't add it to your computer by itself. The graphics cards use it for textures and other things like that. If you got a new gpu with a lot more vram it would help you run higher end games, outside of video games it doesn't really matter that much.

What you're thinking of is Video RAM, he's trying to solve the problem of Virtual RAM here.

Oh. No, yeah those are totally different things.

If you add enough VRAM, you WILL be able to run those programs but everything would run really slowly. On a side-note, I seriously hope you weren't serious when you said your PC has 256 MB of RAM :P

Nope. Checked again and it says I have 768 MB. Plus I just added 256 more. So 1 GB now.

RAM usually transfer data at 2000MB/S while your hard drive will do it at 30MB/S, so I'd recommend just sticking with what you've got

If you add enough VRAM, you WILL be able to run those programs but everything would run really slowly. On a side-note, I seriously hope you weren't serious when you said your PC has 256 MB of RAM :P

Nope. Checked again and it says I have 768 MB. Plus I just added 256 more. So 1 GB now.

That's next to nothing by today's standards... Is it a desktop or a laptop? You should probably replace your memory with much larger memory. Also super important: many people don't know this, but you should only have one model of memory in your computer. That means that if you add more memory, it must be exactly the same as the memory your currently have - same company, same brand, same speed, same exact model number. Otherwise, there is a massive risk of instability and random crashes. You said you just added memory - I'll bet it's not the same as the ones already in there. I completely recommend you get some new RAM.

I don't use my PC for Internet, as it has no WiFi adapter. I just upgraded to Win7 and things are working fine. Also, there's not a whole lot of room to upgrade when you can only use DDR1 RAM.