1. A virtual storage system comprising: a virtual storage space including a plurality of virtual storage locations; a physical storage space including a plurality of physical storage locations configured to store data; a memory configured to store a plurality of activated pointers which associate a plurality of virtual storage locations with a plurality of the physical storage locations; and a controller configured to deactivate at least some of the activated pointers including extracting the deactivated pointers from the memory, to access a request pertaining to selected data associated with at least one of the deactivated pointers, to activate the deactivated pointers including providing the deactivated pointers in the memory providing reactivated pointers, and to modify at least one of the reactivated pointers responsive to the request.