Need help re: Virtual Memory popup

[Thor_Odinson]

Was never adventurous in pagefile/virtual memory matters (usually leave it be) so please bear with me.

Earlier today, I've been on my work pc doing a research paper. Due to the extensive subject ground I needed to cover, I've had multiple tabs open (around 11) and additional windows as well (8 due to the "open in new window" command). I've also had MS Paint and Word and Photo Editor (Office 2003 and Office XP, respectively) running for those minor graphic inclusions. I also had one folder instance open and would access Media Player Classic every now and then to get interview snippets. The webpages were mostly information sites, forums and wikis, with the exception of 2 Youtube videos and my Deviantart page. As I opened windows 7 and 8, this popped up:

Event ID: 26
Application popup: Windows - Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low : Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied.

Now, I've worked with slow pcs before and have experienced the unnecessary delay, but this was the first time I've gotten a pop up like this. For one, I wasn't experencing an inconvenience or a gradual slowdown and secondly, this PC had 4gb DDR3 RAM, so I am under the impression that it should handle multiple webpages fine (as opposed to a demanding game/rendering application).

Will also put my thoughts out in the open to give you guys a better picture (and for you guys to correct me or set me on the right direction):
"Pros"
1. Windows XP SP3 (not so much a pro nowadays, but apart from the company's tight budget and once in a blue moon upgrading, it seems to be fine for the work I do)
2. 4gb RAM (more than enough imo)
3. GTS 450 (not a gaming comp)

"Cons"
1. 32-bit (can't add more RAM)
2. Internet Explorer 8 (can't install Chrome or Firefox.. restricted by the IT dept)
3. Archaic photo editing software (see #2)


Anyway, my main questions are:
1. Is this the normal reaction for what I've subjected my PC to?
2. Will this popup happen again even if I don't open as much applications?
3. What's the usual number of open IE windows that a pc with these specs can handle without issues
4. Will rebooting suffice or do I need a fix/remedy for this thing?

FYI: total paging file size for all drives on this pc is at 2046mb

Thanks again!

 

[Nothinman]

I believe that popup misuses the term virtual memory to mean pagefile space, so the implication is that you have enough memory usage that Windows has begun hitting the pagefile and has run out of room to store pages without any other backing on disk. Did you look at the memory usage and commit charge when the popup occurred?

I think 4G should have been more than enough for that, however without looking at the system state when it occurred it's hard to say what's at fault.

A reboot will clear the error, however without tracking down the root cause it'll probably just happen again eventually.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

Nope and I should have. Instead, I was more concerned about saving all of my open projects / links.

Oh, forgot to mention. utorrent was running in the background. Not sure if it was downloading anything though. Would that be a major player in the memory usage arena?

Is there any other way to track down the root cause?

 

[zebrax2]

Look if MPC is closing correctly. I've had encounters with it wherein even after closing the program the process stayed in the background resulting to multiple instances after playing a few videos

 

[bononos]

Nope and I should have. Instead, I was more concerned about saving all of my open projects / links.

Oh, forgot to mention. utorrent was running in the background. Not sure if it was downloading anything though. Would that be a major player in the memory usage arena?

Is there any other way to track down the root cause?

I don't utorrent is taking so much memory and causing the problem. Why not use resource monitor in task manager? You can check how much memory the programs are using. Maybe there is a memory leak in one of your apps.

Edit- strange that you mentioned opening up windows 7 and 8 then listed XP SP3 as your OS.

 

[Nothinman]

Nope and I should have. Instead, I was more concerned about saving all of my open projects / links.

Oh, forgot to mention. utorrent was running in the background. Not sure if it was downloading anything though. Would that be a major player in the memory usage arena?

Is there any other way to track down the root cause?

Not retroactively, Windows doesn't keep any kind of performance history by default.

 

[Thor_Odinson]

I don't utorrent is taking so much memory and causing the problem. Why not use resource monitor in task manager? You can check how much memory the programs are using. Maybe there is a memory leak in one of your apps.

Edit- strange that you mentioned opening up windows 7 and 8 then listed XP SP3 as your OS.

Sorry, will clarify.. IE window #7 and window #8 (as opposed to the already opened tabs within window #1) and not the OS