Help moving Page file

[Guest]

I recently installed a second HD with 160GB. I created a dynamic disk with
several simple volumes, including a 2.56GB volume I was going to use just for
the pagefile.sys. I have read Alex Nichols article about virtual memory in
XP. My problem is that I can't get XP to use the volume I created for the
page file. ( it worked once, then the next time I rebooted it reverted back
to using the C: drive for the page file)

I have tried setting the C: drive to use 2-50MB, 10-50MB, no page file,
system managed, and several other combinations, but can't get XP to use the
larger page file on the other volume. XP just automatically creates a
pagefile.sys file on my C: drive of 763MB, regardless of what I try to set it
to.

I have 512MB RAM and set the volume on the second disk to 763-2400MB.
Is there any way to force XP to use the 2nd disk for paging? Do I have to
format the 2nd disk as a basic disk instead of a dynamic disk?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I can start from scratch because I haven't put anything of value on the
second HD yet. (except for formatting the volumes)

 

[Guest]

Open regedit and navigate to the following key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory
Management

Double-click PagingFiles, and edit the value data to read:

{preferred drive letter}:\pagefile.sys <initial size in mb> <maximum size in
mb>

Two points--the folder you specify for the new page file must have System -
Full Control permissions, and you must have enough free space on the new
drive to contain both pagefile.sys files. After reboot, delete the original
pagefile.sys.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Gerry for the suggestion.

I thought for sure that your solution would solve my problem, but XP pro is
still insisting on creating a 763MB pagefile on my C: drive.

The disk manager says that all my drives are healthy. I do have a full
backup of my C: drive written to another volume on the 2nd disk, and the E:
drive (the one I am trying to use for the pagefile) has 2 folders written to
it (System Volume Info, Recycler) I did double check that the drive had
System - full permission on it. I also tried to give the C: drive a modest
pagefile (10-50MB) to appease the XP gods.

I am obviously missing something, but I can't figure out what it is. I have
been searching the newsgroup and MS knowledge base for any thing that
addresses this situation. I haven't found anything or can't think of anything
that might be telling XP to behave this way.

My system is your simple standalone desktop computer. My original HD is a
basic volume with 2 partitions, the C: and a hidden partition installed by
the OEM for sys recovery. I have an A: floppy, a D: DVD writer. The 2nd HD is
a dynamic volume with E: Pagefile, F: Data, G: Back up of C:. I did download
and run a VB script (suggested in Alex Nichols Virtual Memory article) that
runs out of the group policy/scripts folder.

I can't think of any reason why any of that would affect the placement of
the pagefile. Anyone with any suggestions? I would greatly appreciate it!

And gerryf, thank you so much for taking the time to respond to my post. I
really thought you had the answer to my problem. Actually you probably did,
'cuz it should have worked.
-Thanks Again, srn1120

 

[gerryf]

Hmm, should have worked.....let's back up and use the GUI method and forget
the registry for the moment (though I would like to see the key referenced
above).

I am assuming you've done this, but just to make me feel better, humor me

Close everything

Now, back on the VIRTUAL MEMORY tab, select the second drive (or whatever
drive you're aiming for) in the DRIVE [VOLUME LABEL] box.

First, CREATE a new page file. Check CUSTOM SIZE and for now put in 1536 in
initial size and 1536 in maximum size. Click the SET button.

Now, select the C: drive. Check the NO PAGING FILE radio button and press
the SET button.

Click OK. Windows should say it needs to restart. Do so. (if it doesn't then
say so).

After reboot, go back to the the VIRTUAL MEMORY settings. What do you see?

If it has returned to the original state, what version of windows are you
using? Xp Pro or Home? Part of a workgroup or domain? Have you ever
installed any "tweaks" that might apply to virtual memory, for example, a
tweak to clear virtual memory at shutdown? Running any tweaking programs
like powertoys or xteq?

 

[Guest]

#%@$! My post didn't go through. Valuable lesson learned, write your post in
a text editor then paste it to the post.
Anyway,XP refuses to recognize any page file settings I enter and continues
to maintain a 764MB page file on C:
It did create a page file on E: which I can delete (and if I remember right,
will not recreate unless I change the value for it) but I am not able to do
anything to the one on C: because windows is always using it. Oh yeah,
windows does prompt me to restart the computer when I change the settings.

The registry key currently looks like this:
ab Pagingfiles REG_MULTI_SZ C:\pagefile.sys 0 0 E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536

The system I have is XP Pro w\ SP2. It is a standalone computer that does
not belong to a domain or workgroup. It accesses the internet through dial-up

I did run some VB scripts I downloaded from:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

This site is linked to the Virtual Memory article by Alex Nichols.The
scripts log the pagefile usage over a session. I have removed them from the
\\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\Logoff folder and even removed the
configuration.ini from the \Scripts folder.However, when I shut down I still
get the 'running logoff scripts' message before the 'saving your settings'
message.

I have no idea what that implies, but I do know those are the only scripts I
have ever run and had never seen that dialog before I ran those scripts.

The only other app I have that might mess with how XP handles the pagefile
is Virtual PC. But I haven't even opened that in over a week.

I don't know. Got any ideas on what I should try next?
I certainly appreciate all the advice you have given me so far, and I
apologize about not posting sooner. I actually did a post Wed afternoon after
I followed you suggestions, but somehow it never showed up.
Thanks Again,
-Scott

Hmm, should have worked.....let's back up and use the GUI method and forget
the registry for the moment (though I would like to see the key referenced
above).

I am assuming you've done this, but just to make me feel better, humor me

Close everything

Now, back on the VIRTUAL MEMORY tab, select the second drive (or whatever
drive you're aiming for) in the DRIVE [VOLUME LABEL] box.

First, CREATE a new page file. Check CUSTOM SIZE and for now put in 1536 in
initial size and 1536 in maximum size. Click the SET button.

Now, select the C: drive. Check the NO PAGING FILE radio button and press
the SET button.

Click OK. Windows should say it needs to restart. Do so. (if it doesn't then
say so).

After reboot, go back to the the VIRTUAL MEMORY settings. What do you see?

If it has returned to the original state, what version of windows are you
using? Xp Pro or Home? Part of a workgroup or domain? Have you ever
installed any "tweaks" that might apply to virtual memory, for example, a
tweak to clear virtual memory at shutdown? Running any tweaking programs
like powertoys or xteq?

 

[cquirke (MVP Win9x)]

On Tue, 14 Dec 2004 13:11:02 -0800, "srn1120"

I thought for sure that your solution would solve my problem, but XP pro is
still insisting on creating a 763MB pagefile on my C: drive.

I am obviously missing something, but I can't figure out what it is. I

My system is your simple standalone desktop computer. My original HD is a
basic volume with 2 partitions, the C: and a hidden partition installed by
the OEM for sys recovery.

Was the OEM to skint to cough up an OS CD?
Don't use the same OEM next time, if so.

The 2nd HD is a dynamic volume

May find you can't do things with that, that you can with a "real"
volume. I don't do NTFS, so I avoid that whole hassle.

"gerryf at thecomputerparamedic.com" wrote:

How big are you trying to make the pagefile? Certain seemingly
unrelated settings may impose a minimum size limit, i.e. the type of
memory dumps that are to be done after a crash. A full dump of all
RAM contents will bloat pagefile > RAM size.

That's prolly doomed. As it is, I'd keep pagefile on C: for speed, or
I'd put it on a *real* partition or logical volume on a separate HD.

---------- ----- ---- --- -- - - - -

On the 'net, *everyone* can hear you scream

 

[gerryf]

Check

Hmmm, still in use message is interesting and likely related to your problem

gpedit > computer policy > windows settings > scripts >startup and shutdown,
too


Log off and log back on with THE administrator account (do it safe mode),
see if you can change the setting there and log off, then back on as the
administrator account and see if the setting stuck.

I'm sure you gave your self admin status, but I wonder if this is related to
a user, or a system so using the admin account will help (or create another
user account and try it that way).

Then log off and back on as your normal account.

Can the script be removed from add/remove cp?

btw, cquirke makes an interesting point...if you remove the pagefile from
C:, you will no longer be able to use memory dumps in the event of a
crash---this is more of an issue on a server.

Perhaps I will download that script and do a little deconstruction, but that
will have to wait until I get to a non-production machine (don't want to
hoarke this one up).

#%@$! My post didn't go through. Valuable lesson learned, write your post in
a text editor then paste it to the post.
Anyway,XP refuses to recognize any page file settings I enter and continues
to maintain a 764MB page file on C:
It did create a page file on E: which I can delete (and if I remember right,
will not recreate unless I change the value for it) but I am not able to do
anything to the one on C: because windows is always using it. Oh yeah,
windows does prompt me to restart the computer when I change the settings.

The registry key currently looks like this:
ab Pagingfiles REG_MULTI_SZ C:\pagefile.sys 0 0 E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536

The system I have is XP Pro w\ SP2. It is a standalone computer that does
not belong to a domain or workgroup. It accesses the internet through dial-up

I did run some VB scripts I downloaded from:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm computer policy

This site is linked to the Virtual Memory article by Alex Nichols.The
scripts log the pagefile usage over a session. I have removed them from the
\\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\Logoff folder and even removed the
configuration.ini from the \Scripts folder.However, when I shut down I still
get the 'running logoff scripts' message before the 'saving your settings'
message.

I have no idea what that implies, but I do know those are the only scripts I
have ever run and had never seen that dialog before I ran those scripts.

The only other app I have that might mess with how XP handles the pagefile
is Virtual PC. But I haven't even opened that in over a week.

I don't know. Got any ideas on what I should try next?
I certainly appreciate all the advice you have given me so far, and I
apologize about not posting sooner. I actually did a post Wed afternoon after
I followed you suggestions, but somehow it never showed up.
Thanks Again,
-Scott

Hmm, should have worked.....let's back up and use the GUI method and forget
the registry for the moment (though I would like to see the key referenced
above).

I am assuming you've done this, but just to make me feel better, humor me

Close everything

Now, back on the VIRTUAL MEMORY tab, select the second drive (or whatever
drive you're aiming for) in the DRIVE [VOLUME LABEL] box.

First, CREATE a new page file. Check CUSTOM SIZE and for now put in 1536 in
initial size and 1536 in maximum size. Click the SET button.

Now, select the C: drive. Check the NO PAGING FILE radio button and press
the SET button.

Click OK. Windows should say it needs to restart. Do so. (if it doesn't then
say so).

After reboot, go back to the the VIRTUAL MEMORY settings. What do you see?

If it has returned to the original state, what version of windows are you
using? Xp Pro or Home? Part of a workgroup or domain? Have you ever
installed any "tweaks" that might apply to virtual memory, for example, a
tweak to clear virtual memory at shutdown? Running any tweaking programs
like powertoys or xteq?

 

[Guest]

OK still no difference, but I did observe something

interesting. When I logged on as the admin in safe mode, the

settings we set appeared in the Performance Options>>virtual

memory>>tot paging file size for all drives 1536.
1)I was able to delete the pagefile on C: in safe mode.
2)No 'running logoff scripts' message in either safe or

normal admin logoff.
3)Using gpedit shows that the logoff and logon folders are

empty. (I already had moved the scripts and config.ini to a

folder in My Docs.) So the instruction to run logoff scripts

must be set somewhere else.<-- The scripts don't appear in

the CP either.
4)I do have the memory dump set to none.
As you can already guess, when I boot normally windows

recreated the 764MB pagefile on C: in spite of the fact that

the register key only has E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536 as a

value and the Gui settings show the same. (no pagefile on

any other volumes)However the value for tot page on all

drives shows 764MB in the performance options window.
Go figure?
Stubborn little bugger isn't it.
I'm not sure if you have anything else in your arsenal to

try, but I sure do appreciate all the help you have given me

so far. Thanks gerrf, and thanks to cquirke for his comments

also.(I do have XP Pro -no SP's on disk, the oem partition

is useless)
-Scott

Check

Hmmm, still in use message is interesting and likely related to your problem

gpedit > computer policy > windows settings > scripts >startup and shutdown,
too


Log off and log back on with THE administrator account (do it safe mode),
see if you can change the setting there and log off, then back on as the
administrator account and see if the setting stuck.

I'm sure you gave your self admin status, but I wonder if this is related to
a user, or a system so using the admin account will help (or create another
user account and try it that way).

Then log off and back on as your normal account.

Can the script be removed from add/remove cp?

btw, cquirke makes an interesting point...if you remove the pagefile from
C:, you will no longer be able to use memory dumps in the event of a
crash---this is more of an issue on a server.

Perhaps I will download that script and do a little deconstruction, but that
will have to wait until I get to a non-production machine (don't want to
hoarke this one up).

#%@$! My post didn't go through. Valuable lesson learned, write your post in
a text editor then paste it to the post.
Anyway,XP refuses to recognize any page file settings I enter and continues
to maintain a 764MB page file on C:
It did create a page file on E: which I can delete (and if I remember right,
will not recreate unless I change the value for it) but I am not able to do
anything to the one on C: because windows is always using it. Oh yeah,
windows does prompt me to restart the computer when I change the settings.

The registry key currently looks like this:
ab Pagingfiles REG_MULTI_SZ C:\pagefile.sys 0 0 E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536

The system I have is XP Pro w\ SP2. It is a standalone computer that does
not belong to a domain or workgroup. It accesses the internet through dial-up

I did run some VB scripts I downloaded from:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm computer policy

This site is linked to the Virtual Memory article by Alex Nichols.The
scripts log the pagefile usage over a session. I have removed them from the
\\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\Logoff folder and even removed the
configuration.ini from the \Scripts folder.However, when I shut down I still
get the 'running logoff scripts' message before the 'saving your settings'
message.

I have no idea what that implies, but I do know those are the only scripts I
have ever run and had never seen that dialog before I ran those scripts.

The only other app I have that might mess with how XP handles the pagefile
is Virtual PC. But I haven't even opened that in over a week.

I don't know. Got any ideas on what I should try next?
I certainly appreciate all the advice you have given me so far, and I
apologize about not posting sooner. I actually did a post Wed afternoon after
I followed you suggestions, but somehow it never showed up.
Thanks Again,
-Scott

Hmm, should have worked.....let's back up and use the GUI method and forget
the registry for the moment (though I would like to see the key referenced
above).

I am assuming you've done this, but just to make me feel better, humor me

Close everything

Now, back on the VIRTUAL MEMORY tab, select the second drive (or whatever
drive you're aiming for) in the DRIVE [VOLUME LABEL] box.

First, CREATE a new page file. Check CUSTOM SIZE and for now put in 1536 in
initial size and 1536 in maximum size. Click the SET button.

Now, select the C: drive. Check the NO PAGING FILE radio button and press
the SET button.

Click OK. Windows should say it needs to restart. Do so. (if it doesn't then
say so).

After reboot, go back to the the VIRTUAL MEMORY settings. What do you see?

If it has returned to the original state, what version of windows are you
using? Xp Pro or Home? Part of a workgroup or domain? Have you ever
installed any "tweaks" that might apply to virtual memory, for example, a
tweak to clear virtual memory at shutdown? Running any tweaking programs
like powertoys or xteq?

 

[gerryf]

Maddening....familiar with hijackthis? It will report on all programs
running at startup....perhaps something funky in there....

I'd like to see this thing in person (so I could help you kick it around the
room)

OK still no difference, but I did observe something

interesting. When I logged on as the admin in safe mode, the

settings we set appeared in the Performance Options>>virtual

memory>>tot paging file size for all drives 1536.
1)I was able to delete the pagefile on C: in safe mode.
2)No 'running logoff scripts' message in either safe or

normal admin logoff.
3)Using gpedit shows that the logoff and logon folders are

empty. (I already had moved the scripts and config.ini to a

folder in My Docs.) So the instruction to run logoff scripts

must be set somewhere else.<-- The scripts don't appear in

the CP either.
4)I do have the memory dump set to none.
As you can already guess, when I boot normally windows

recreated the 764MB pagefile on C: in spite of the fact that

the register key only has E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536 as a

value and the Gui settings show the same. (no pagefile on

any other volumes)However the value for tot page on all

drives shows 764MB in the performance options window.
Go figure?
Stubborn little bugger isn't it.
I'm not sure if you have anything else in your arsenal to

try, but I sure do appreciate all the help you have given me

so far. Thanks gerrf, and thanks to cquirke for his comments

also.(I do have XP Pro -no SP's on disk, the oem partition

is useless)
-Scott

Check

Hmmm, still in use message is interesting and likely related to your problem

gpedit > computer policy > windows settings > scripts >startup and shutdown,
too


Log off and log back on with THE administrator account (do it safe mode),
see if you can change the setting there and log off, then back on as the
administrator account and see if the setting stuck.

I'm sure you gave your self admin status, but I wonder if this is related to
a user, or a system so using the admin account will help (or create another
user account and try it that way).

Then log off and back on as your normal account.

Can the script be removed from add/remove cp?

btw, cquirke makes an interesting point...if you remove the pagefile from
C:, you will no longer be able to use memory dumps in the event of a
crash---this is more of an issue on a server.

Perhaps I will download that script and do a little deconstruction, but that
will have to wait until I get to a non-production machine (don't want to
hoarke this one up).

#%@$! My post didn't go through. Valuable lesson learned, write your

post
in

a text editor then paste it to the post.
Anyway,XP refuses to recognize any page file settings I enter and continues
to maintain a 764MB page file on C:
It did create a page file on E: which I can delete (and if I remember right,
will not recreate unless I change the value for it) but I am not able

to
do

anything to the one on C: because windows is always using it. Oh yeah,
windows does prompt me to restart the computer when I change the settings.

The registry key currently looks like this:
ab Pagingfiles REG_MULTI_SZ C:\pagefile.sys 0 0 E:\pagefile.sys 1536 1536

The system I have is XP Pro w\ SP2. It is a standalone computer that does
not belong to a domain or workgroup. It accesses the internet through dial-up

I did run some VB scripts I downloaded from:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm computer policy

This site is linked to the Virtual Memory article by Alex Nichols.The
scripts log the pagefile usage over a session. I have removed them

from
the

\\GroupPolicy\User\Scripts\Logoff folder and even removed the
configuration.ini from the \Scripts folder.However, when I shut down I still
get the 'running logoff scripts' message before the 'saving your settings'
message.

I have no idea what that implies, but I do know those are the only

scripts
I

have ever run and had never seen that dialog before I ran those scripts.

The only other app I have that might mess with how XP handles the pagefile
is Virtual PC. But I haven't even opened that in over a week.

I don't know. Got any ideas on what I should try next?
I certainly appreciate all the advice you have given me so far, and I
apologize about not posting sooner. I actually did a post Wed

afternoon
after

I followed you suggestions, but somehow it never showed up.
Thanks Again,
-Scott

:

Hmm, should have worked.....let's back up and use the GUI method and forget
the registry for the moment (though I would like to see the key referenced
above).

I am assuming you've done this, but just to make me feel better,

humor
me

Close everything

Now, back on the VIRTUAL MEMORY tab, select the second drive (or whatever
drive you're aiming for) in the DRIVE [VOLUME LABEL] box.

First, CREATE a new page file. Check CUSTOM SIZE and for now put in

1536
in

initial size and 1536 in maximum size. Click the SET button.

Now, select the C: drive. Check the NO PAGING FILE radio button and press
the SET button.

Click OK. Windows should say it needs to restart. Do so. (if it

doesn't
then

say so).

After reboot, go back to the the VIRTUAL MEMORY settings. What do

you
see?

If it has returned to the original state, what version of windows

are
you

using? Xp Pro or Home? Part of a workgroup or domain? Have you ever
installed any "tweaks" that might apply to virtual memory, for

example,
a

tweak to clear virtual memory at shutdown? Running any tweaking programs
like powertoys or xteq?