Your machine has physical RAM that came with it, but Windows can write down
informaiton that would normally go into RAM onto your hard drive, which
makes that "virtual RAM" or "virtual memory". This is also known as a page
or swap file. It's not as quick to access as real physical RAM, but you can
think of it as "overflow" memory. You can set the amount of space on your
hard drive that Windows is allowed to use for this virtual memory by right
clicking the "My Computer" icon on your desktop and then choosing Properties
and then the "Advanced" tab of the dialog that opens. From there, click
the "Settings" button that is in the "Performance" category and then select
the "Advanced" tab of the next dialog. At the bottom of that tab, you have
a button (Change) to change the virtual memory space.
You can increase the amount of space that is being allocated off your hard
drive, but all of this doesn't really solve the problem that, as you ask
your pc to do more and more over time, it needs more and more RAM to be able
to work and you are pushing your PC to the point that it is running out of
space.
An 8 year old PC is well beyond the typical life cycle of a pc, so you
should definitley consider this a a nail in the coffin of your pc.
-Scott
