Virtual Memory

[Derek]

Hi all,

My notebook is installed with Win XP professional with 512MB RAM. Even
though I set no paging file, WinXP still allocates virtual memory for each
process. How can I disable paging?

Thanks in advance,
Derek

 

[Nick Burns]

Their is a lot of programs that don't like and won't run without a pagefile.
Turning it off will get you less performance.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

In

Hi all,

My notebook is installed with Win XP professional with 512MB RAM. Even
though I set no paging file, WinXP still allocates virtual memory for
each process. How can I disable paging?

Don't turn off the page file. It can't possibly help you, and can
hurt.

Don't mix up allocation with use. There is no performance penalty
for allocating page file. The only performance penalty is if you
have to use it.

 

[S.Sengupta]

Hello Derek,
Here is an excellent article on virtual memory:-
'Virtual Memory in Windows XP'
by Alex Nichol(MS-MVP - Windows Storage Management/File Systems)
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
please go through it.
regards,
ssg MS-MVP
pronetworks.org

 

[Derek]

Hi SSG,

I have read that article but paging does not help performance. My daily need
is email, MS office and web surfing so I wonder why I should need paging.

Best regards,
Derek

 

[S.Sengupta]

Hello Derek,
A hidden file or files on the hard disk that Windows uses to hold parts
of programs and data files that do not fit in memory. The paging file
and physical memory, or random access memory (RAM), comprise virtual
memory. Windows moves data from the paging file to memory as needed and
moves data from memory to the paging file to make room for new data.
Also known as a swap file.
Microsoft strongly recommends that you do NOT disable or delete the
paging file.Still if you want to disable then see here:-
'How do I disable the Windows XP paging file?'
http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBK/tip5000/rh5056.htm
regards,
ssg MS-MVP
pronetworks.org

 

[kimmy]

Hi SSG,

I have read that article but paging does not help performance. My
daily need is email, MS office and web surfing so I wonder why I
should need paging.

It's easy enough to turn off. Just experiment with different settings and
see what works best for you.
Control Panel/System/Advanced/Performance/Settings/Advanced will get you to
where you can play with it. I doubt you can trash your system from there,
you can always set it back.

Kimmy

 

[Glenn]

You're right, paging does not help performance. Until you run out of
physical memory, at which time, without paging, the system would just stop.

I would be quite surprised if XP could even run with only 512 Mb of memory
without paging. Whatever piece of code is currently executing must be in
memory, plus whatever pieces have already run. I'm guessing that the entire
registry would also have to be in memory. Add to that any temporary
information that each program in the operating system has to keep track of.
Each pixel on the screen is kept in memory. The position of the mouse. The
desktop icon placements and labels. The start menu. Etc. Then add on the
information that your e-mail program needs to keep in memory - your
preferences and options, plus whatever text is displayed on the screen. Plus
a whole lot more that I couldn't even start to imagine. Probably adds up to
more than 512 Mb. So if you turn off paging, expect to see a few program
failures.

On the flip side, if you don't exceed 512Mb, nothing will get paged out, so
there should be no performance degradation from having it turned on.

 

[Derek]

Hi Kimmy,

I am afraid that virtual memory cannot be turned off this way. If you view
the task manager, it still shows PF usage !

Best regards,
Derek
'

 

[Alex Nichol]

My notebook is installed with Win XP professional with 512MB RAM. Even
though I set no paging file, WinXP still allocates virtual memory for each
process. How can I disable paging?

Don't. You misunderstand what Virtual memory is about. Read up at
www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

 

[Alex Nichol]

I have read that article but paging does not help performance. My daily need
is email, MS office and web surfing so I wonder why I should need paging.

Go back and re-read. If properly set up there will be no actual traffic
to and from the page file - but it provides a potential home for all the
large amount of virtual memory space that programs ask to have allocated
and never use. If you have no page file, that stuff locks out RAM to no
purpose. And maybe to the tune of hundreds of MB

 

[Guest]

This proposed to be an interesting and informative discussion. Instead we have opinions, conflicting data, and a variety of humble 'experts'. IMHO a TYPICAL COMPUTER DISCUSSION where it still remains all questions and only opinions, however humble however learned.
When I first used XP Home in my new Gateway 16 mos ago (upgrade from win 95!!!) it was like Windows was taking over my computer. And thats what XP is- you cant even decide to use text style WP you must use Windows which says 'naughty naughty, how dare you save in a text format, You really should use these [complicated] systems which we put so much work into developing.
Virtual Memory? Mhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh That says VIRTUAL???? Meaning its there but not there, may be used if somehow accessed, and the process for activation is within the programming of windows and its brethern
Is all this FUN or what? We could be taking a ride in the country.....

Larry in Michigan

 

[kimmy]

Hi Kimmy,

I am afraid that virtual memory cannot be turned off this way. If you
view the task manager, it still shows PF usage !

That number is allocation, not usage. If you look at it with something like
CachemanXP, which breaks it down, the usage will show 0 and the number you
see in task manager will show as allocation. In fact, usage will show that
the PF is not available.

Another tweak you might want to try is to Disable Executive Paging. This
will prevent the OS from paging itself to disk. In my experience this gives
better performance enhancement than turning off PF. Do this by modifying
the reg value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management and set the value DisablePagingExecutive=1. If it
doesn't help you, or causes problems just set it back to 0.

Every system is different. On mine, with 512 ram, the page file gets so
little use that it's silly to turn it off. For example, right now, with IE,
OE, WordPerfect, and WMP9 running I show about 200 mb free ram. Only if I
start editing photos does the ram get eaten up. Then the swap file comes
into play. No matter what people tell you, the only way to know is to try
different settings on your own system and see what works best.

Kimmy