help with 10gb windows partition size!!

[BrutalDrew]

As long as you keep an exact page file size AFTER defragmenting, performance is fine. If you use a page file range, it gets fragmented. No problems with using an exact size like 1 or 2GB.

Pagefile fragmentation doesn't effect performance in any tangible way. Also, setting the pagefile a "static" size is not a good solution to prevent fragmentation. The initial size should be at least 4x the observed PF usage while the mx should be 2x that. With a high enough initial size the pagefile will not resize, thus it will not become fragmented.

The ONLY time it makes sense to use a static size is if the pagefile is in its own partition. However, even that is a bad idea.

i use 1.5gb....
should i change that to 1 or 2, or is the 1.5 ok?

Like I said, the optimal PF size should be determined by your workload. Run your most intensive applications and then observe your PF usage through perfmon. The PF should be set like this:

Let X = Observed PF Usage

Initial = 4x
Max = 2(4x)

 

[aowen512]

thx for the reply

i will look into that and make the changes

 

[redduc900]

Open a command prompt (Start | Run | Type cmd, and click OK | At the prompt, type chkdsk /f c: and hit ENTER (You'll then be notified that the disk is locked, and then asked if you'd like to schedule CHKDSK to run on next reboot) | Hit the Y key, then hit ENTER | Close the command prompt, and reboot your PC.

After CHKDSK has run, and you arrive back at the desktop... open Event Viewer (Start | Run | Type eventvwr.msc, and click OK | Highlight 'Application' in the LH pane, then in the RH pane scroll down to the 'Winlogon' entry (located under the 'Source' column)... and double click it | In the Event Properties window that opens, click the 'Copy' button (located under the two arrow buttons) | Create a .txt file, and paste the contents of the log | Copy everything in the log except for the 'Internal Info', and paste the contents into this thread.

 

[K15]

Pagefile fragmentation doesn't effect performance in any tangible way. Also, setting the pagefile a "static" size is not a good solution to prevent fragmentation. The initial size should be at least 4x the observed PF usage while the mx should be 2x that. With a high enough initial size the pagefile will not resize, thus it will not become fragmented.

The ONLY time it makes sense to use a static size is if the pagefile is in its own partition. However, even that is a bad idea.



Like I said, the optimal PF size should be determined by your workload. Run your most intensive applications and then observe your PF usage through perfmon. The PF should be set like this:

Let X = Observed PF Usage

Initial = 4x
Max = 2(4x)

You know more than me

I'll go back and change it. Doesn't matter much, I just got my new rig tonight (sig) The old pentium 3 will be retired save the occasional Linux try-out.

 

[aowen512]

info posted below as asked

Event Type: Information
Event Source: Winlogon
Event Category: None
Event ID: 1001
Date: 12/6/2005
Time: 12:08:39 AM
User: N/A
Computer: ANTHONY
Description:
Checking file system on C:
The type of the file system is NTFS.
Volume label is Windows.


A disk check has been scheduled.
Windows will now check the disk.
Cleaning up minor inconsistencies on the drive.
Cleaning up 3 unused index entries from index $SII of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3 unused index entries from index $SDH of file 0x9.
Cleaning up 3 unused security descriptors.

10241405 KB total disk space.
10077540 KB in 47765 files.
12832 KB in 1783 indexes.
0 KB in bad sectors.
121813 KB in use by the system.
53264 KB occupied by the log file.
29220 KB available on disk.

4096 bytes in each allocation unit.
2560351 total allocation units on disk.
7305 allocation units available on disk.

 

[redduc900]

I know you mentioned having deleted all previous restore points, but I'd still like to see what the actual size of the folder is on the disk. In conjunction with what the other folks previously suggested you try... open Windows Explorer in a dual pane view | Tools | Folder Options | 'View' tab | Scroll down to 'Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)', and untick the checkbox | Select Yes in the warning dialog that appears, then OK out of 'Folder Options' | Expand C:, and highlight 'System Volume Information' in the tree | In the RH pane, there should be a folder called '_Restore{a string of numbers and letters}'. When you click on the folder to open it, you should receive an 'Access is denied' error message.

If this is the case, right click the folder and select 'Properties' | 'Security' tab-->'Add' button | 'Advanced' button | 'Find now' button | Highlight 'Administrators' under the 'Name (RDN)' column, and click the 'OK' button | Hit OK in the 'Select Users or Groups' dialog | Click OK in the _Restore{a string of numbers and letters] window.

Right click the _Restore{string of numbers and letters} folder in the RH pane of Explorer, and select 'Properties' | Under the 'General' tab, check to see what the size of the folder is... and make note of it here. In addition, if you have hibernation enabled... you'll have a hiberfil.sys file which is going to be the same size as the amount of RAM you have installed.

I'm just thinking aloud here... in addition, considering the 9.77GB size of your primary volume... 1% of the total size is set aside for the MFT (Master File Table), and another 12% for the MFT Zone. 100.04MB (how much of the 1% is actually used is another matter) set aside for the MFT, and 1200.53MB for the MFT Zone. Just for your info... the MFT is used to hold the critical index structures from which files on an NTFS volume are referenced. However, if there is insufficient free space on the system, then the MFT is automatically reduced in size.

 

[billb]

1.) Your disks are way to fragmented. Try OO Defrag. (Trial Version http://www.oo-software.com/en/download/index.shtml) It's the best.
2.) As for pagefile size/fragmentation it depends on how much memory and what programs you run. Alotta memory (4gigs?)...you'll prolly never need a pagefile. 128megs...big pagefile(1.5 gigs?)
3.) if the disk is near full, and pagefile size is dynamin there will be alotta pagefile fragmentation and a big slowdown (disk thrashing!)
4.) Treesize Pro (Trial version http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/download.shtml) will show a display of all files on the disk sorted by size (among other useful info).

 

[BrutalDrew]

1.) Your disks are way to fragmented. Try OO Defrag. (Trial Version http://www.oo-software.com/en/download/index.shtml) It's the best.

"It's the best" is subjective. I myself prefer PerfectDisk.

2.) As for pagefile size/fragmentation it depends on how much memory and what programs you run. Alotta memory (4gigs?)...you'll prolly never need a pagefile. 128megs...big pagefile(1.5 gigs?)

You always want a pagefile, regardless of how much memory you have. The optimal size should be determined by your workload.

3.) if the disk is near full, and pagefile size is dynamin there will be alotta pagefile fragmentation and a big slowdown (disk thrashing!)

If the initial size is high enough it will not need to be resized, thus it will not become fragmented.

4.) Treesize Pro (Trial version http://www.jam-software.com/treesize/download.shtml) will show a display of all files on the disk sorted by size (among other useful info).

I use SequoiaView for this and like it.

 

[aowen512]

problem is, with such low space being represented... my defrag will not work, says i need to create more space and then try again

i use perfectdisk my self

 

[aowen512]

any other suggestions you guys can think of?

 

[I.M.O.G.]

Follow Redducs last suggestion and let us know the result... what is the size on your restore folder?

BTW, with a seperate partition for OS like this, one of the beauty's of it is that you can just reformat when necessary... I would reformat my own system before chasing around an odd problem for more than a few days.

 

[aowen512]

when i go to properties on the folder, i only get the tabs of general, sharing, and customize.

under the sharing there is also some talk about security, but nothing i can see that relates to what you have posted

im sorry if this makes a difference and that i hadnt said it before but the op is windows xp pro, if that makes a difference from home

 

[I.M.O.G.]

In the general tab does it tell you a file size?

If you disable system restore, that folder should disappear. If its still there, its probably taking up some amount of space which might help to explain your issue.

 

[aowen512]

yea it says 0, 0, and 0 again for files and folders

so the gen tabs says its empty.. should i believe that?

 

[redduc900]

when i go to properties on the folder, i only get the tabs of general, sharing, and customize. under the sharing there is also some talk about security, but nothing i can see that relates to what you have posted. im sorry if this makes a difference and that i hadnt said it before but the op is windows xp pro, if that makes a difference from home

In order to be able to view the 'Security' tab, you'll need to disable 'Simple file sharing'. Open Windows Explorer | Tools | Folder Options | 'View' tab | Remove the check from the 'Use simple file sharing (Recommended)' checkbox, and click OK.