Windows XP Pagefile

[qbas]

Well i would want to know what would be the most optimal Pagefile (swapfile)? I have 512Mb amount of memory, so any hints?

My pagefile at the moment is Min: 768 and Max: 768 oh and i have shared my 120GB hard-drive to 3 different partitions.

 

[su root]

Most people recommend that you set your RAM size to RAM*1.5 or RAM*2
(for you, that would be 768 or 1024). I also suggest setting the maximum size the same.

It really depends on use though. If you are doing heavy operations: video/sound/large photo editing, then you will use a lot of memory, and need a larger swap file.

The large the swapfile is, the longer it takes to find things in it. If it's too small, it could run out and then start crashing programs to get memory back.

 

[itshondo]

I currently don't use a pagefile 'cause I have 1gb memory and windows doesn't need it (it works for me)-

When I had 512 mb ram I used to set my swap file for 768 mb maximum and 768 mb minimum- my rig ran fine that way. I read aout it at Tweakxp.com.

 

[JigPu]

It really depends on what you do with your computer. I've got 512MB of RAM and never use more than 500MB of swapfile. Some dudes doing heavy video/photo editing could eat up 1GB of swapfile I suppose.

If you're system has been up for a while, you can see the maximum amount of pagefile you've used. Open up task manager, go to the performance tab, and look at 'Peak' under 'Commit Charge'. That's the most pagefile you're computer has used since it was last restarted. 100MB+peak is usually a good value assuming you've used your system fairly heavily for a day or two.

JigPu

 

[qbas]

It really depends on what you do with your computer. I've got 512MB of RAM and never use more than 500MB of swapfile. Some dudes doing heavy video/photo editing could eat up 1GB of swapfile I suppose.

If you're system has been up for a while, you can see the maximum amount of pagefile you've used. Open up task manager, go to the performance tab, and look at 'Peak' under 'Commit Charge'. That's the most pagefile you're computer has used since it was last restarted. 100MB+peak is usually a good value assuming you've used your system fairly heavily for a day or two.

JigPu

Well my computer has been used pretty heavy and my Peak reads 420760, is that bad? If it is bad how can i decrease it?

 

[Tebore]

I've got a desktop and a laptop with 512DDR. I've set both to 512 min/max and no problems so far. I'd say for ppl with 512 ram a pagefile from 512-1gig is optimal. I've read on the net that Windows XP/2000 is so good at managing Pagefile that it's no longer necessary to set a manual one.

 

[BUBBLE]

move the page file

It is good idea to move the pagefile.sys to a diffrent partion or hard disk to improve the performance. This is a well known fact. Hope it'll bring you much performance than you currently have.

 

[su root]

As well, it is also recommended to have a page file on every physical drive, so that if one drive is in use, another can be used for swap.

 

[qbas]

Well i have one hard drive that has been partitioned in 3 different "drives", should i put pagefile to every one of them?

BTW. Where should i move the pagefile.sys file to improve performance then?

 

[redduc900]

The following quote is taken from the MSKB article I've linked to below...

The optimal solution is to create one paging file that is, by default, stored on the boot partition, and then create one paging file on another, less frequently accessed partition. Additionally, it is optimal to create the second paging file so that it exists on its own partition, with no data or operating-system-specific files. By design, Windows uses the paging file on the less frequently accessed partition over the paging file on the more heavily accessed boot partition. An internal algorithm is used to determine which paging file to use for virtual memory management

How to Configure Paging Files for Optimization and Recovery in Windows XP

In addition, Virtual Memory is always in operation and can't be “turned off” (or...“set the system to use no page file space at all”.)

Doing this would waste a lot of the RAM. The reason is that when programs ask for an allocation of Virtual memory space, they may ask for a great deal more than they ever actually bring into use...the total may easily run into hundreds of MB's. These addresses have to be assigned somewhere by the system. If there's a page file available, the system can assign them to it...if there isn't, they have to be assigned to RAM, locking it out from any actual use.

Therefore, you shouldn't turn off paging even with a vast amount of RAM. You can set the initial size down to about 50-100MB, and it will never get bigger, and will see no traffic (except the system initially 'parking' a few files in it). Not having the possibility of paging would result in locking out a lot of RAM. The reason is that many programs ask for allocations of virtual address space far bigger than they actually use. These have to be associated with some physical device. If there's a page file, they can go with that...resulting in a page file on which there isn't any traffic. If you don't have a page file, then they have to be assigned to RAM, and that part of RAM becomes effectively useless...it can't be used for anything else.