Virtual memory is a space on your computer's hard drive which

Windows uses when your Physical memory or RAM gets used

up.

An imaginary memory area supported by some operating

systems (for example, Windows but not DOS) in
conjunction with the hardware.
You can think of virtual memory as an alternate set of
memory addresses.
Programs use these virtual addresses rather than real
addresses to store instructions and data.
When the program is actually executed, the virtual
addresses are converted into real memory addresses.
The purpose of virtual memory is to enlarge the address
space, the set of addresses a program can utilize.
For example, virtual memory might contain twice as many
addresses as main memory.
A program using all of virtual memory, therefore, would
not be able to fit in main memory all at once.
Nevertheless, the computer could execute such a program
by copying into main memory those portions of the
program needed at any given point during execution.

 To facilitate copying virtual memory into real memory, the

operating system divides virtual memory into pages, each
of which contains a fixed number of addresses.
Each page is stored on a disk until it is needed. When the
page is needed, the operating system copies it from disk to
main memory, translating the virtual addresses into real
addresses.
The process of translating virtual addresses into real
addresses is called mapping.
The copying of virtual pages from disk to main memory is
known as paging or swapping.

Example:
Lets say you have Internet Explorer open, iTunes, and then you
start up a Video Game on your computer without closing the
other programs first. - The Video Game requires nearly ALL of
your RAM, so Windows moves iTunes and IE to a special part of
the hard drive. Those programs are now using "virtual memory"
-- If you quickly switch back to iTunes to change songs...
Windows moves a portion of iTunes BACK to Physical memory
and puts part of the Video game into Virtual Memory.
This 'swapping' back and forth slows performance. ALSO, your

hard drive (virtual memory) is like 100 times slower then your
Physical Memory (RAM) -- we're talking the difference between
10nano seconds the 12 mili seconds... but STILL, it adds up.
Cache Memory is a special type of high speed RAM which is
dedicated to the Central Processing Unit (CPU) - the main brain
of the computer.


Small amount of fast memory
Sits between normal main memory and CPU
May be located on CPU chip or module
Programs like iTunes, Video Games, Internet Explorer, etc. can't
touch the cache -- only the CPU is allowed to use it. Usualy the
Cache physically resides on the same chip as the CPU.
Cache is between 256kilobytes (.25MB) and 1MB

The reason for this is to speed up the execution and

communication of the CPU.
The CPU can sometimes calculate things FASTER then it can
transmit them. -- In this situation, the CPU fills up the cache
with instructions and transmits them LATER when it has a
chance. ALSO, the cache can be used as a temporary holding
spot for answers or instructions that need to be re-used later
on.
Think of the cache as the little M key on a calculator. -- you can
calculate something,let's say 2+2=4, temporaryily put it in M
then recall it later by saying 2+M+=6