Is it possible to tell W2K to use only RAM?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Silence Seeker
  • Start date Start date
S

Silence Seeker

I have 1GB of RAM in my W2K based system. This is more than enough for
the applications I am running.

For performance reasons, I don't want the system use a paging file.
Currently paging is being used anyway, EVEN WHEN THERE IS PLENTY OF
PHYSICAL MEMORY AVAILABLE. This makes no sense to me. I wouldn't mind
if the OS used some needed memory from the HDD, when none is left in
RAM. But why use slower memory (from the page file) when there is
plenty of the MUCH faster one?

Is there any way to tell W2K to NOT use paging at all?

If so, how?

BTW, I tried setting the page file to 0, but the system creates a
temporary one (~20MB) anyway and keeps complaining whenever I reboot
that the system is "Low on Virtual Memory. Please increase the
size..."

Obviously the answer to my question is not trivial. Any experts here
that know how to do what I am trying to accomplish? (if possible at
all)

Thanks in advance,
Sam
 
When you read the original post you must have missed the part where he
mentions setting the pagefile size to "0".
You did read his post I hope?
 
"James Barley" said in news:%[email protected]:
When you read the original post you must have missed the part where he
mentions setting the pagefile size to "0".
You did read his post I hope?
Click to expand...

Oops, missed that. Then it does seem Windows disobeys the setting (if set
under 20MB), probably to ensure it handles portions of Windows and drivers
coded to be pageable.

One thing Silence might try is to keep the executive in real memory. See:

How to Stop the NTExecutive from Paging to Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=184419

However, also note the following KB article:

The DisablePagingExecutive Setting May Cause Windows 2000 to Hang
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=323608

So make sure you have Service Pack 4 installed. That only gets a bit more
of Windows loaded into real memory. It doesn't help with applications which
appear to require they be coded to be nonpageable to keep them in real
memory.

Silence doesn't mention what critical and taxed applications he has running
all the time. If one of these is Word, or just about anything else where
input is expected from the user, then I can't see why Silence would care
about paging when the application is mostly waiting for his next keystroke.

Changing priority for a process might better help. In Task Manager,
right-click the process for the application and up the priority to Above
Normal or High. I do this for games. You can also specify the priority
when loading a program by using the 'start' command to load it. I do that
for my shortcut to IE in my QuickLaunch toolbar (C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
/c start "WebBrowse" /abovenormal /b "C:\Program Files\Internet
Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"). I cannot do that for some games because their copy
protection actually has the initial executable start a different program,
and the initial program loader doesn't benefit from getting a higher
priority. I read about PriorityMaster
(http://prioritymaster.com/prod01.htm) but never tried it.
 
*Vanguard* said:
Oops, missed that. Then it does seem Windows disobeys the setting (if set
under 20MB), probably to ensure it handles portions of Windows and drivers
coded to be pageable.

One thing Silence might try is to keep the executive in real memory. See:

How to Stop the NTExecutive from Paging to Disk
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=184419

However, also note the following KB article:

The DisablePagingExecutive Setting May Cause Windows 2000 to Hang
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=323608

So make sure you have Service Pack 4 installed. That only gets a bit more
of Windows loaded into real memory. It doesn't help with applications which
appear to require they be coded to be nonpageable to keep them in real
memory.
Click to expand...

Vanguard, thank you very much for these links! These seem to be the
kind of articles I was looking for. I now have to read them carefully
to make sure I don't shoot myself in the foot... And yes, I do have
SP4 already installed.
Silence doesn't mention what critical and taxed applications he has running
all the time. If one of these is Word, or just about anything else where
input is expected from the user, then I can't see why Silence would care
about paging when the application is mostly waiting for his next keystroke.
Click to expand...

I do video editing and image editing. I open lots of application
windows simultaneously (I am a multi-tasker... ;-))

As I said before, I don't mind W2K paging out when needed. The problem
is that W2K decides for some strange reason that "when needed" is also
when there is 1/2GB of physical RAM available...
Changing priority for a process might better help. In Task Manager,
right-click the process for the application and up the priority to Above
Normal or High. I do this for games. You can also specify the priority
when loading a program by using the 'start' command to load it. I do that
for my shortcut to IE in my QuickLaunch toolbar (C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe
/c start "WebBrowse" /abovenormal /b "C:\Program Files\Internet
Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE"). I cannot do that for some games because their copy
protection actually has the initial executable start a different program,
and the initial program loader doesn't benefit from getting a higher
priority. I read about PriorityMaster
(http://prioritymaster.com/prod01.htm) but never tried it.
Click to expand...

Excellent tips. I will try them - but I have to first solve this
virtual memory issue first - no CPU power can help if memory access is
thrashing...

Regards,
Sam
 
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