- Joined
- Jan 8, 2002
- Location
- Boulder CO
on my new laptop, i have a gig of ram, 1.8ghz pentium m and win xp professional.... is it a good idea to disable the paging file (virtual memory) with such a high amount of ram?
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disable page file?
- Thread starter Emericana
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2003
- Location
- Denver, CO
Yep, dissable it. I was running on 512 w/o a paging file just fine, 1 gig now.
MS recommends that a paging file be 1.5 times the amount of memory installed into the system. With 1GB of RAM this would be 1.5GB of page file. You REALLY, don't need a pagefile THAT dang big with that much memory, but I wouldn't disable it all together. Instead, I would probably just create a fixed pagefile of 400-500MB. If you have a decent sized HDD you'll never miss it.
Cheers!!
Cheers!!
Just to add a little extra. A FIXED pagefile will occupy the same space on your HDD at all times, thereby avoiding fragmentation of the file. If you allow Windows to set your pagefile size it will be a dynamic sized file and expand and shrink as windows see's fit, thereby causing fragmentation of the file and a decrease in HDD access times.
- Joined
- Nov 21, 2003
- Location
- Denver, CO
JezterVA said:
If you have a paging file Windows will use it and it will slow down your system, regardless of the size. Trust me, dissable it altogether.
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2002
- Location
- Frankfurt/London
worth a note here. even when you disable it is still there, the little bugger hehehe
this is because you need to switch of "enable small memory dump" in recovery option in your system settings!!!!
you can see if you still have a pagefile by showing hidden files+ OS protected files in your files and folder setting. you will see a file called page.sys in your root of your hd. best is to check all partitions though!!
this is because you need to switch of "enable small memory dump" in recovery option in your system settings!!!!
you can see if you still have a pagefile by showing hidden files+ OS protected files in your files and folder setting. you will see a file called page.sys in your root of your hd. best is to check all partitions though!!
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2002
- Location
- Rootstown, OH
If you disable it altogether, paging still occurs electromagnetic. I'm curious though, what does your task manager report under the performance tab and PF usage? (check and see please, even though you may think it says 0)
Disabling often causes issues for some users.
What is the use of the laptop and what kind of applications does it run? Depending on the use of the laptop you may need the pagefile.
Disabling often causes issues for some users.
What is the use of the laptop and what kind of applications does it run? Depending on the use of the laptop you may need the pagefile.
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2003
- Location
- Phoenix. YOUR HAIR IS GOOD TO EAT
I have a gig of RAM, in 2000 it just went CRAZY when I turned of page file. On XP I set it to 450 and after about a week it wanted to bump it up, so I let it. It's been at 500 with no issues. I just changed it to static(Before it was 500, 700 limit, and now it's 500, 500 limit) I guess I'll see how that works out. I don't know why they give you the option to disable Pagefile... you can't.
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2002
- Location
- Frankfurt/London
you can! and it works.... if you dont do multitasking or play farcry etc
In an optimal situation, it's best to have a page file on separate physical disk. That way you don't get the minimal slow downs that Electromagnetic speaks of. Both disks work at the same time and therefore the read/write heads of a single disk don't have to move as much to put dat into and out of the pagefile. I'm sure that the laptop in question only has a single physical drive though and this cannot be accomplished. Personally, I would not disable it all together, I would make it small enough so as not to impact drive space. 400 to 500MB - Static.
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- Oct 9, 2003
- Location
- Phoenix. YOUR HAIR IS GOOD TO EAT
Would I be better off putting page file on a slower, backup drive, or keeping it on my OS/programs Raptor?
Man.....that's a tough call Tom. As fast as those dang Raptors are. I'd still say that if your page file was on a separate physical drive you would get better performance. Two drives working at the same time vice one drive going back and forth ya' know??
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2002
- Location
- Rootstown, OH
With a gig of ram it may be inconsequential... But if you have a seperate drive on a seperate channel, then I would put the pagefile on it because when paging starts we all know how that can impact performance.
I have my OS on my raptor, and my pagefile on my maxtor raid0's and I have 1gig of random.
Setting a static pagefile is definetly a good idea as it eliminates fragmentation due to swapping.
I have my OS on my raptor, and my pagefile on my maxtor raid0's and I have 1gig of random.
Setting a static pagefile is definetly a good idea as it eliminates fragmentation due to swapping.
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2003
- Location
- Phoenix. YOUR HAIR IS GOOD TO EAT
How do I move the page file? I was able to delete the one off the backup, but I can't copy/paste my current one. Close explorer and learn some DOS commands?
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2002
- Location
- Rootstown, OH
No you have to do it through windows.
Press windows+pause/break>advanced>performance>settings>advanced>virtual memory>change
Make sure all available drives are set to no paging file. Then highlight the drive on which you would like the pagefile to reside, and select custom size and input the same thing for min and max, then press the set button.
Ok all windows out. You will likely need to restart, and then you should go back and confirm the setting stuck.
Press windows+pause/break>advanced>performance>settings>advanced>virtual memory>change
Make sure all available drives are set to no paging file. Then highlight the drive on which you would like the pagefile to reside, and select custom size and input the same thing for min and max, then press the set button.
Ok all windows out. You will likely need to restart, and then you should go back and confirm the setting stuck.
