Maximum Registry Size

[su root]

Windows 2000, System properties, Advanced, Performance Options, Virtual Memory/Change.
Has a box labeled "Maximum registry size"

Does anyone know what happens when the registry out-grows this number?

No reason in particular for asking, just curious. I'm thinking "opens up a vortex and sucks in all matter, ending life on earth" as a possible answer..

[Oni]

It pro'lly just asks you to increase the size of it, like when you run out of Pagefile.

[su root]

whoop-a-dee-doo.. why bother having it then?

[redduc900]

Registry data is stored in the paged pool, a portion of virtual memory that's written to a physical disk when not in use. A value called the "Registry size limit" prevents programs from completely filling the paged pool with Registry data.

By default, the Registry size limit is 33% of the size of the paged pool. A Registry size limit of up to 80% of the size of the paged pool is allowed, and the minimum Registry size is 16MB. If you attempt to set the Registry size to anything smaller, the system resets this value to 16 MB.

You should change the Registry size only if the computer is a domain controller for a large network or if you receive an error message warning you that the Registry is too small. Setting a large value for the Registry size limit doesn't cause the system to use that much space unless it's actually needed by the Registry. In addition, a large value doesn't guarantee that the maximum space is actually available for use by the Registry. ;)

[su root]

neat... you know of any articles on that?

[redduc900]

Here's links to a couple articles that I've found su root...

Understanding and Configuring Registry Size Limit (RSL) (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q124594&)

PagedPoolSize and NonPagedPoolSize Values in Windows NT (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q126402) ;)

[su root]

neat thanks.

it says that XP doesn't have a limit on their registry size. that's interesting. The RSL is kinda useless, unless you have something try to flood the registry, or a large DC.

[redduc900]

Here's a couple more articles for you with regards to the lack of a RSL in XP, and managing memory-mapped files in Win32...

Registry Size Limit Has Been Removed From Windows XP (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q292726)

Managing Memory-Mapped Files in Win32 (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dngenlib/html/msdn_manamemo.asp) ;)

[su root]

thanks again.

the memory-mapping is a bit over my head, as i'm not the programmer I used to be. The memory-mapped files looks like a neat trick though.. saves memory.