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    Why does Microsoft say "virtual memory" when they really mean "swap file"?

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Peon, Oct 11, 2014.

  1. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    This conflation of terms makes is almost impossible to explain the actual computer science concept of virtual memory to anyone who isn't a programmer :mad:

    As a result, discussing any topic where the abstraction of physical memory addresses is a key point always leads to all sorts of confusion.
     
    Peon, Oct 11, 2014
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  2. Dufus

    Dufus .

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    Perhaps because it supplements the amount of virtual addresses that can be committed i.e. extends the amount of pages.
     
    Dufus, Oct 11, 2014
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  3. S.SubZero

    S.SubZero Notebook Deity

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    S.SubZero, Oct 11, 2014
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  4. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    It's also called a "page file"... nomenclature is all. Not sure why what something is called means you can educate someone on it. That exists in all categories of education.
     
    HTWingNut, Oct 12, 2014
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    octiceps likes this.
  5. S.SubZero

    S.SubZero Notebook Deity

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    To further confuse your comp sci majors (?), Windows 8+ has pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys.
     
    S.SubZero, Oct 12, 2014
    #5