Virtual Memory/Page File - Memory for a coward

ok if you disable your page file, i garuntee that your computer will seem faster. the hdd will not access nearly as much as well. think about it. your hdd is slower then ram. a page file will hold your pc back. especially if your notebook has a 5400 rpm or 4200 rpm drive like most of them. but be carfull, if you have a lot of processes in the background, you may need a page file. even if you set it lower you can help. also if you set the initial and the maximum the same, you will reduce fragmenting of your hdd. do not disable the page file if you have less than 512 mb ram. my notebook has 512 and its ok, but some people who do a lot with 512 will need a page file for sure. my desktop has a gig of mem, and with no page file and not many other processes, i only topped it out once when i was playing HL2 at max settings. so what happens when you run out of ram? windows gives a message that says you are low on virtual memory. and it lockes up your current game. even tho you still had a few mb left. sometimes you can even set the page file at 2 to avoide messages. the page file was just to cover your *** back in the day when computer shipped with 16, 32, 64 etc of ram. i see no need for a page file if you have a lot of ram. try it out. but i hope you are like me and keep yoru running process at a low. i like numbers at 30 or less in the task manager

and how do u go about changing your page file

good question. sorry i didn't mention b4. most people don't know. go to system properties, advanced tab, performance settings, advanced tab. and click change. when you make a change you have to click the set button.


for those users that need a page file. put it on a separate hard drive to increase performance. if ur page file is on the same disk as your os, you hdd stresses when it needs to read info from files and put it to the page file at the same time. it all makes sense. lol

If your talking about XP you can never completly Disable it, Sure, windows will say it is off, but it isnt.

Just read the many many other threads already posted about this on the forum which cover in detail this informtion.

Then the problem comes because some programs require a page file be active and people do not have another seperate drive.

i dont think its neccesary to turn it down really. what happens if u turn it to 2mb and suddenly your processes require more memory than on the RAM. reboot? if there is enough memory on the RAM then windows shouldn't be using the page file am i correct?

If you dont have enough allocated, then windows will automaticaly turn it up, which takes evern longer, i find it best to just leave it alone.

I have a 1.2gig partition just for my 512mb pagefile.

Rickster said:

if there is enough memory on the RAM then windows shouldn't be using the page file am i correct?

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you would think that but right now my main system just sitting at the desk top is using 429 mb of page file and i highly doubt i'm out of the 2 gig of memory

and also it only really helps to put the page file on a seperate drive if your second drive is as fast as your os drive. i keep mine on the os drive cause the raptor is much quicker than the ide's

jaymz9350 said:

you would think that but right now my main system just sitting at the desk top is using 429 mb of page file and i highly doubt i'm out of the 2 gig of memory

and also it only really helps to put the page file on a seperate drive if your second drive is as fast as your os drive. i keep mine on the os drive cause the raptor is much quicker than the ide's

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I read somewhere that putting it on your OS drive is not as good as putting it on a separate harddrive no matter whether your other harddrive is slower or faster. This is cause the head of the other harddrive does not have to move much cause it's pretty much idle. Also you gain the benefit of the pagefile not corrupting.
But this is just what I read. My eyes could be plying tricks on me

I would disable or reduce my pagefile if I had 4gbs of RAM

I would disable it. If you had the money for 4Gigs then you can spend the money to get the Gigabyte RAM Drive. If you ever have a memory dump without a swap file you might be stuck in an infinite loop if you didn't turn off restart automatically on error.

Some programs also run slower without a pagefile. Certain programs might not run. Windows knows after a period of idle time to page certain files, leaving more RAM for when you load another program. This is very useful in a server environment. At work we have a file and program server that runs W2K3 and it has 2Gigs of RAM and a RAID 5 storage array. Knowing how to set up the memory subsystem can net faster load times to clients. Lets just say turning off the page file was not one of the key to faster load times.

Tebore said:

If you had the money for 4Gigs then you can spend the money to get the Gigabyte RAM Drive. If you ever have a memory dump without a swap file you might be stuck in an infinite loop if you didn't turn off restart automatically on error.

Some programs also run slower without a pagefile. Certain programs might not run. Windows knows after a period of idle time to page certain files, leaving more RAM for when you load another program. This is very useful in a server environment. At work we have a file and program server

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i definatly do not recomend disabling the page file on a server. just saying. and that giga-byte ram drive looks bad@$$ i want it if i had the $$$. lol if you have a problem starting the os with no PF, try safe mode. but you shouldn't have that many startup programs to beginwith. im just saying that i have a notebook with 512 and a desktop with 1024 that run great with no page file. i keep my background process to a min, and my startup programs include the following: AVG. end of list lol i use trillian for my messenger instead of multipul apps. (portable gaim when im away from my desk) and HL2, CS:S and WOW run fine. if you have less then a gig of ram, dont disable your pagefile unless you slim down yoru processes and startups. if you have less then 512 dont' disable it at all unless you know what your doing, instead make it smaller. to reduce hdd access.
personally i have not had any problems lately i heard from the guy that told me this a few months ago. he had a program say it can't start cuz it required a pagefile. but the error went away after he set the PF to 2mb. im sure some programs may require different things, but you have to find that out on yoru own. im just saying what works for me.

pagefile free for 3 months and counting =)

if ya have any ?'s please ask

tech2487 said:

i definatly do not recomend disabling the page file on a server. just saying. and that giga-byte ram drive looks bad@$$ i want it if i had the $$$. lol if you have a problem starting the os with no PF, try safe mode. but you shouldn't have that many startup programs to beginwith. im just saying that i have a notebook with 512 and a desktop with 1024 that run great with no page file. i keep my background process to a min, and my ...

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I'm sorry you didn't understand what I said. What I stated was do NOT disable the PF in a server environment and I stated that it helps to have a PF and configured properly. More like if you have anymore questions you can ask me.

Tebore said:

I'm sorry you didn't understand what I said. What I stated was do NOT disable the PF in a server environment and I stated that it helps to have a PF and configured properly. More like if you have anymore questions you can ask me.

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its ok, i was just stating that for the sake of the thread.

tech2487 said:

its ok, i was just stating that for the sake of the thread.

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I still stand by not disabling PF unless you're 110% sure about how you use your system. When you said at least 1 gig or 512. That's not going to cut it with someone running Photoshop, maybe in a pure gaming environment.

For sake of discussion have you tried to configure your PF precisely? I bet you will notice better load times than disabled, this is more noticeable on a 24/7 on-time system.

I've run into that windows message before. I have 2GB of ram, and I have a 768MB PF. I generally have bittorrent running, antivirus, ati tray tools, my UPS utility, creative driver apps, and often an instant messenger, a web browser, ventrilo (and server occasionally). Playing games like Age of Empires 3, Battlefield 2, or C&C Generals with all of this necessary stuff open in the background runs me out of both ram and PF. Sometimes, I have a file transfer going as well, or I'm downloading a file, burning a CD, or encoding a movie. I can't live without a pagefile.

tebore and yuriman: i see what you mean. but in my experience, i don't have those problems. i do not have any other major proceses when i play game. when i do multitask is when i am on the internet, on messenger, limewire, and listening to music at the same time. i use fireworks and dreamweaver at times too. adobe photoshop hase never given me a problem either. thats just me. i completly understand if you agree or disagree with my decision to disable the PF

Meh this has been around for about 10 years now nothing new same old arguments

LOL

Yuriman said:

I've run into that windows message before. I have 2GB of ram, and I have a 768MB PF. I generally have bittorrent running, antivirus, ati tray tools, my UPS utility, creative driver apps, and often an instant messenger, a web browser, ventrilo (and server occasionally). Playing games like Age of Empires 3, Battlefield 2, or C&C Generals with all of this necessary stuff open in the background runs me out of both ram and PF. Sometimes, I have a file transfer going as well, or I'm downloading a file, burning a CD, or encoding a movie. I can't live without a pagefile.

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if you are running out of memory and PF then you should definitely increase your pagefile size. I have been told you should have 1.5x as much PF as you have RAM, so I have 3gigs PF. Granted 3gigs is total overkill since I almost never use more than 100-150mb of the PF. Usually it is well under 100megs in use, but the PF serves as a safety net so I leave it up there. I have the extra HDD space and it doesnt seem to hurt having alot since it barely gets used.