Pagefile question?

[PUDBUDZ]

I have 1gig of rambus so I changed my Virtual Memory to (No paging file)...but when I checked (Windows Memory Information) with Sisoft Sandra it tells me that my swap file is 926mb can anyone tell me whats happening here....How can i change this...I want my ram to be used b4 my swapfile!

HELP....

PUD

Heres a screenshot of my memory info!

 

[gothic]

SiSoft Sandra has been known to tell a couple of little white lies (perhaps it's just extending the truth !!). Have you checked to see if the pagefile.sys is actually on drive C? if it is then try again to disable it.
I've got a fair bit of RAM but still leave a limited pagefile, finding that certain programmes (Photoshop / QuarkXpress etc. like a fair bit of paging, especially when i'm editing REAL files (500/600 megs)).

 

[Neuro]

pagefile

hey did u edit the reg to force xp to use your ram first?
add this reg key

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

also to unload dll files add this:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AlwaysUnloadDLL]
@="1"

the first one will force win xp to use your ram before page file

the second will unload dll files when u close programs

i have no problems with these 😀

 

[PUDBUDZ]

I dont know what to believe any more! Sisoft sandra says one thing. Windows system info says another....windows system info says:

Total virtual memory=3.4gig
Available virt mem=3.09
Page file space=2.4gig

What the hell is happening?

And the answer is yes Neuro...i did do the reg tweaks...thanks for the idea anyway....any other ideas?

Pud

 

[Mike89]

You need to change your logic from 98 to XP.

XP uses memory in a completely different way than 98 did. It needs a pagefile in conjunction with the physical memory. It's just the way the OS operates.

Running without a pagefile will offer no benefits in XP and most likely will work negatively for the OS. It needs a pagefile at least as large as the physical memory for optimal performance. Don't ask me why, I didn't design this OS.

Plus some programs won't run without a pagefile.

PS. I don't know why you have so much physical memory. I used to think XP used more memory than 98. Since I have been running XP, I have changed my mind. 98 doesn't really use more, it wastes more. I am running 512 megs and notice I always have more memory on hand than I ever did with 98. Again it's because XP is so much more efficient in memory usage and releases memory back that is not used, which 98 had a hard and inconsistent time doing.

Set your pagefile size to memory size and don't worry about it. XP will be very happy and so will you.

 

[Qumahlin]

Mike89:

Saying that XP needs a pagefile and will run negatives without one is completely untrue, I have a gig of ram and XP runs noticeably faster with my pagefile disabled.

I only re-enabled my page file a few days ago because I tried to open up photoshop and found out it requires one, so I set my initial page file to be 10meg and my max to be 20meg...I don't do anything photoshop intensive enough to suck up my full gig of ram so the size of my pagefile means nada, just needs to be there to get photoshop to open

 

[Neuro]

paging file

Yes xp needs a pagefile to run that is the way the nt kernal was made (xp and win2k use the same kernal nt5.0)

but u can force xp to use ram which is much faster then your hard drive. This will give your programs a faster responce time if u have over 256 meg of ram add this reg key

** if u have under 256 meg of ram remove the large system cache key ************


next we keep the kernal from being paged
begin copy here***************************************
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"AlwaysUnloadDLL"=dword:00000001

end copy************************************

copy this into notepad save file as memtweak.reg
then double click on the file to add to your reg
then reboot
😎😉 😉

 

[Mike89]

I didn't say "would", I said "most likely", and I'm not swearing to any of it because I am no guru of Windows XP.

I have done some experimenting myself and have tried all those tweaks that were just posted.

I have not been able to tell any difference whatever way I go. Most likely because I do have the 512 megs of ram anyway and running a fast CPU. Perhaps the more I experiment with XP, I will come to more concrete conclusions for my own system.

The large system cache reg tweak is the one that changes the checkbox in the memory setting from "Programs" to "System Cache"

That's why I asked this question to begin with. To hear from others what difference they have noticed.

I have also run my system without a pagefile and again, don't notice any performance increase.

I think this "to pagefile or not to pagefile" and "size of pagefile" debate is going to be never ending with no apparent clear cut answer everyone is going to agree on. Hell, I bet even people within Microsoft won't even necessarily agree with each other on some of this. I can even picture little electron size gremlins arguing with each other about this inside the computer!

Different points of view and different claims are rampant and diverse. I'm still trying to figure this stuff out myself.

 

[Highwind7777]

sad, but true, w2k and xp must have a page file 🙁....but u can use ramdisk...set ramdisk to be like 700 megs and put your pagefile on it...works like a charm😀

 

[Qumahlin]

huh? why does everyone say XP needs a pagefile????? I haven't been using one since i've had XP,

In fact I only recently started to use one because photoshop won't start without one,

but since the release of XP I have been running completely fine with my pagefile set to off, and I know theres not one on there cause when I set it to off I made sure I deleted pagefile.sys then defragged my drive, so why does everyone keep insisting you NEED a pagefile?

 

[PUDBUDZ]

I understand the debate about the page file but....

...When i disable the pagefile and go into the Windows system info it shows me still having one but doesnt say what drive and its 948meg....

...when i enable it and go to Windows system info it shows it there on the correct drive but it is much larger than it should be...

...i made it 500meg min and max and it shows pagefile space as 1.39 gig!...

Damn...they dont have a message icon with someone pulling thier hair out!😡

Anyother words of wisdom?

 

[Qumahlin]

I know windows shows there being one somewhere in the order of a few gig, ti says that on my comp too, but it is some sort of misrepresentation because I'd notice if a few gig suddenely dissapeared from my harddrive and there are bit any files on my HD remotely close to the size it reports...methinks MS is calling the pagefile somethin else