windows xp 2gb ram -swap file

[Dimitris_22_Greece]

Hello

I have 2gb ram on my pc and i want to ask if there is a need to use swap
file

i don't play games
i don't use photoshop or autocad or 3dstudio max

generally i don't use memory-need applications

thx in a lot

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I have 2gb ram on my pc and i want to ask if there is a need to use
swap file

i don't play games
i don't use photoshop or autocad or 3dstudio max

generally i don't use memory-need applications

Necessary? Maybe.
Why are you concerned.. Is there some sort of performance issue you are
trying to alleviate?

 

[Guest]

According to PCWorld.com article:

http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,123413,00.asp

5. Toss your swap file: If your PC has at least 1GB of RAM, you may be able
to speed up your PC by disabling the swap file in your virtual memory
settings. Simply click No paging file in the Virtual Memory dialog box (see
Figure 1). To open your virtual memory settings in Windows XP, right-click My
Computer, click Properties, Advanced, choose the Settings button under
"Performance", click the Advanced tab, and select the Change button.

But better yet, Dimitris_22_Greece, why don't you tell us your results,
please.

 

[Mak]

The thingy is called paging file (there is no swap file on XP) and yes, you
need it.

Paging file is a backing storage for process' virtual private _writable_
address space.
Running without paging file will _not_ stop paging, windows will just page
more to other files when your computer is short on RAM.
RAM is always short. Windows tells _each_ application that it is alone on
the computer, has access to all CPU time and has access to 2GB of (not
shared) memory (no matter how much RAM is installed).
Run - perfmon | Process | virtual bytes | _total
to see how much virtual memory is in use, page file or no page file - it all
depends on your current workload.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

David

The advice in the Article you quote is controversial. This Article give the
more
conventional wisdom on this subject.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm


--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

I guess I got my *** handed back to me on this one. Well, I'm back to school
on this one, however I'd still like to hear from the original poster.
Disabling a swap or page file has always been controvertial, and the general
wisdom has been to let windows manage it. However, I saw the article earlier
and thought it was appropriate as well as coming from a reliable source. The
post from Mak is interesting and take a little work to figure out with trying
to log identical actions. Sorry for the quick answer.

 

[Jim]

The thingy is called paging file (there is no swap file on XP) and yes,
you need it.

Paging file is a backing storage for process' virtual private _writable_
address space.
Running without paging file will _not_ stop paging, windows will just page
more to other files when your computer is short on RAM.
RAM is always short. Windows tells _each_ application that it is alone on
the computer, has access to all CPU time and has access to 2GB of (not
shared) memory (no matter how much RAM is installed).
Run - perfmon | Process | virtual bytes | _total
to see how much virtual memory is in use, page file or no page file - it
all depends on your current workload.

I let XP manage the page file size. As near as I can tell, neither my Dell
4600 nor my Dell Inspiron 6000 has ever needed a page file; hence the system
has never created one. The 4600 has 512 MB, and the 6000 has 1GB (shared, I
haven't bothered to determine how much is really available). However, I am
not about to attempt to disable the page file.
I regularly run PS 7 on the 4600.
Jim

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Dimitris

That is not use of the pagefile. See the section headed
"What is loaded in RAM " in the Article in the link, which
follows:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

You may check on pagefile (virtual memory) usage with
Page File Monitor for XP:
http://www.dougknox.com/

Make sure you study the readme.txt file carefully to ensure
you get the utility to work as it should.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England

Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~