Whenever a computer is running with insufficient RAM and urgently needs more random access memory, the operating system uses a portion of the computer's secondary memory (hard disk space) to act as a primary memory (RAM). This memory is called the virtual memory. The operating system uses a special file to store a portion of the primary memory on the hard disk. This file is called the paging file (swap file). The paging file is hidden on the hard disk and is used by the operating system to store parts of programs and data files that cannot be placed into the RAM due to unavailability of space. The operating system continuously moves data between the paging file and the primary memory in order to create free space for new data.
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