Virtual Memory

Virtual Memory is a way of using the hard drive to provide a memory for the computer. Elements of virtual memory are called pages. When a needed memory that is not in the real memory has requested a memory from virtual memory moves to the real memory address. Computers have a finite amount of RAM so when many programs run at the same time memory can run out. Using virtual memory it can load larger programs at the same time and operate like it has infinite memory. However, using virtual memory can slow computers down because data must be mapped into real memory (physical ) and virtual memory which requires extra capabilities for address translations.