Configure Virtual Paging File. Does this work?

Cronoisme · Aug 12, 2011

Anyone have any idea if this works. I saw it on a website that was explaining how to tweak windows xp.

Also :Configure Virtual Paging File

This tweak can increase the amount of RAM significantly used on your computer. What this tweak actually does is it uses your hard-drive disk-space to emulate RAM. This is called caching, or in Microsoft terms - The Virtual Paging File Size.

1.) Go into Control Panel and into Performance and Maintenance
2.) Get into System
3.) Click the Advanced Tab
4.) In the Performance Frame, click on Settings
5.) Once in Settings click on the Advanced Tab
6.) Now under Virutal Memory click on Change
7.) Here you can set your RAM value. The recommended increase you should make should be achieved by multiplying your RAM by 1.5. This is already done if you have a System Managed file size. This will drastically increase performance, because the system will now have a pool of cache to retrieve memory from.

After you configure Virtual Memory you should set "Initial Memory" and the "Maximum" to be the same to avoid this pagefile to be defragmented, i.e you get better performance. Use 384 MB pagefile if you have installed 256 MB RAM. (256MBx1.5=384MB) or 768 MB if you have 512 MB RAM ( 512MBx1.5=768MB)
If you used XP "clean-up" on your hardisk, then defragmented it, the PC would perform even better. Enjoy.

and if so my Initial size is 1440 and my maximum size is 2880? Do i mutiply both of these by 1.5? It also says to make the initial size and max size the same size? Im confused on that part.

mimon · Aug 12, 2011

Cronoisme said: ↑

if you have installed 256 MB RAM. (256MBx1.5=384MB) or 768 MB if you have 512 MB RAM ( 512MBx1.5=768MB)
Click to expand...

how much in physical RAM(memory sticks)do you have installed ?

Cronoisme · Aug 12, 2011

I have 3 gigs all together. I have two 1g'g sticks and the other two are 512 mb

mimon · Aug 12, 2011

the initial size for 3gb's(3072MB's) at x1.5 = 4608

Cronoisme · Aug 12, 2011

Do I put that for both initial and maximum size? And do you have any idea if this tweak even works?

mjnc · Aug 14, 2011

Cronoisme said: ↑

Do I put that for both initial and maximum size? And do you have any idea if this tweak even works?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can use 1.5 * installed RAM as the Initial and Maximum size.

The only thing about this technique that might be considered a tweak is setting the Initial and Maximum sizes the same.

A System Managed pagefile is not like that and will be resized intermittently.

The theory is that by setting the Initial and Maximum sizes the same, this prevents resizing
and therefore reduces disk activity for pagefile management and thereby improves system performance.

Ian Hutchinson · Oct 24, 2011

is it 1.5X or 2X or 3X saw alot of different people saying different things.
But I did see setting min & max the same. Makes sense just wondering what the multiplier number is

mjnc · Oct 25, 2011

Ian Hutchinson said: ↑

is it 1.5X or 2X or 3X saw alot of different people saying different things.
But I did see setting min & max the same. Makes sense just wondering what the multiplier number is
Click to expand...

There is a lot of apparently conflicting information available on the internet about paging file sizes,
even from "authoritative" sources.

It seems that the "official" multiplier from Microsoft is 1.5
Microsoft Support: RAM, virtual memory, pagefile, and memory management in Windows

Microsoft said:

Users frequently ask "how big should I make the pagefile?"
There is no single answer to this question because it depends on the amount of installed RAM and on how much virtual memory that workload requires.
If there is no other information available, the typical recommendation of 1.5 times the installed RAM is a good starting point.
Click to expand...

After reading a number of articles on this subject from various sources, I found the following to be the most helpful.
Virtual Memory in Windows XP

aumha.org said:

How big should the page file be?

There is a great deal of myth surrounding this question. Two big fallacies are:

The file should be a fixed size so that it does not get fragmented, with minimum and maximum set the same

The file should be 2.5 times the size of RAM (or some other multiple)

Both are wrong in a modern, single-user system. A machine using Fast User switching is a special case, discussed below.)

....

How big a file will turn out to be needed depends very much on your work-load. Simple word processing and e-mail may need
very little — large graphics and movie making may need a great deal. For a general workload, with only small dumps provided
for (see note to ‘Should the file be left on Drive C:?’ above), it is suggested that a sensible start point for the initial
size would be the greater of (a) 100 MB or (b) enough to bring RAM plus file to about 500 MB. EXAMPLE: Set the Initial page
file size to 400 MB on a computer with 128 MB RAM; 250 on a 256 MB computer; or 100 MB for larger sizes.

But have a high Maximum size — 700 or 800 MB or even more if there is plenty of disk space. Having this high will do no
harm. Then if you find the actual pagefile.sys gets larger (as seen in Explorer), adjust the initial size up accordingly.
Such a need for more than a minimal initial page file is the best indicator of benefit from adding RAM: if an initial size
set, for a trial, at 50MB never grows, then more RAM will do nothing for the machine's performance.
Click to expand...

Here is some more useful and interesting information on this subject.
Microsoft Support: Optimizing Your Paging File (PAGEFILE.SYS)

Microsoft said:

The paging file is not necessarily a single file; it can be a group of files stored in various locations, across hard
disks and partitions. The files are collectively referred to as "the paging file." When thinking about the size of the
paging file, the sum of all the files that make up the paging file is the only value you need to keep in mind.

If you have multiple hard disks, splitting up the paging file is a good idea, as it will speed up the access time. If you
have two hard disks, and you split the paging file, both hard disks can be accessing information simultaneously, greatly
increasing the throughput. However, if you have two hard disks, and one hard disk is faster than the other, it may be more
effective to store the paging file on only the faster hard disk. Some experimentation may be necessary to arrive at the
best configuration for your system.

Note: There is no point in splitting up the paging file between multiple partitions as it does not increase the ability of
the hard disk to access the paging file. This may be a good idea, however, if your logical drives aren't large enough for
the entire paging file.
Click to expand...

Since I have two hard drives installed, I have split the paging file in this manner.
C:
Initial size: 2MB
Maximum size: 50MB

K: (a dedicated partition on separate hard drive)
Initial size: 256MB
Maximum size: 2304MB
Recommended: 2301MB

I have 1.5GB of RAM installed with Windows XP.

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Configure Virtual Paging File. Does this work?

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