protectorx said:
I was just wonder if my pf usage was high. Normally, when im not using any
programs, the pf usage is around 300. To me, this seems a bit high, however,
i do not have great knowledge with pcs and this may be normal. If it is too
high, please tell me how i could fix it and make it lower. I did run adware
and spyware scans because i heard that that can help, but it is still the
same. Thankyou
Specs.
Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz
1024MB Ram - pf is set to about 1.5 the amount of ram
ATi Radeon x700pro 256MB - maybe this runs some kind of extra program and
uses more?
Everything is up to date.
PFUsage as reported by the Windows Task Manager includes a lot of
"Phantom" usage, which is nothing to be concerned about.
For example, my own system, also with 1024 mb of RAM, currently is
reporting PFUsage of 472 mb.
However an additional check, with a special utility, shows that there
is only 36 mb of active memory content in the page file, all the rest
is phantom usage.
The biggest cause of this phantom usage is the unused portions of
memory allocation requests. Almost everything requests more memory
than they usually need under normal conditions, and Windows must
identify memory address locations to satisfy all of these requests. So
what Windows does is to allocate RAM only to those portions of the
requests that are actually used, and to map the unused portions to
locations in the page file. That ensures the most efficient usage of
the available RAM and does not slow the computer down at all because
this mapping does not involve any actual disk activity - all that is
needed are entries in the memory mapping tables maintained by the
system.
If you want to see how much, if any, actual PFUsage (that is the
actual writing out of active memory content from RAM to the page file
so as to allow that RAM to be used for other, currently more important
tasks) the utility I use was developed as a script by MVP Bill James
and then compiled into a program by MVP Doug Knox. The compiled
version can be downloaded from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm and the script
from
http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/
Hope this explains the situation.
Good luck
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca
Syberfix Remote Computer Repair
"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."
