memory paging

[Tester]

Hello there,
What is a reliable indicator to see if my machine is paging
excessivelly and I need more memory? How does the paging work? I use
XP Pro. Thanks, T

 

[Bob I]

Your computer acts slow when you open additional application or switch
windows/apps and the harddrive light flashes most of the time.

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Hello there,

What is a reliable indicator to see if my machine is paging
excessivelly and I need more memory? How does the paging work? I use
XP Pro. Thanks, T

How much memory does your computer have now? Do you hear your hard
drive working heavily while you are doing just basic tasks?

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello there,
What is a reliable indicator to see if my machine is paging
excessivelly and I need more memory? How does the paging work? I use
XP Pro. Thanks, T

How much RAM you need for good performance is *not* a
one-size-fits-all situation. You get good performance if the amount of
RAM you have keeps you from using the page file, and that depends on
what apps you run. Most people running a typical range of business
applications find that somewhere around 384-512MB works well, others
need more. Almost anyone will see poor performance with less than
256MB. Some people, particularly those doing things like editing large
photographic images, can see a performance boost by adding even more
than 512MB--sometimes much more.

If you are currently using the page file significantly, more memory
will decrease or eliminate that usage, and improve your performance.
If you are not using the page file significantly, more memory will do
nothing for you. Go to
http://billsway.com/notes_public/winxp_tweaks/ and download
WinXP-2K_Pagefile.zip and monitor your pagefile usage. That should
give you a good idea of whether more memory can help, and if so, how
much more.

 

[John John (MVP)]

You can use the built-in perfmon utility to monitor the pagefile as well
as key memory counters. Or you can use this little utility to monitor
the pagefile: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

John

 

[Tester]

Hi,
Sorry, I am using XP Pro with 512 MB memory, office 2003 and the
McAfee antivirus. I noticed is the anti virus that slows down opening
of any window/application. I eliminated all extra services with
msconfig, including wireless adapter(I have a laptop), machine starts
at 310 MB(I got it down from 380 MB), next when Outlook 2003 opens
memory goes to 449 MB and next after opening an excel documen(40 MB)
and a web page, they are so loaded nowadays and they easily take 100
MB-it already goes to 600MB. Yes, hard drive spins a lot.
Thanks a lot, T

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf]

Sorry, I am using XP Pro with 512 MB memory, office 2003 and the

McAfee antivirus. I noticed is the anti virus that slows down opening
of any window/application. I eliminated all extra services with
msconfig, including wireless adapter(I have a laptop), machine starts
at 310 MB(I got it down from 380 MB), next when Outlook 2003 opens
memory goes to 449 MB and next after opening an excel documen(40 MB)
and a web page, they are so loaded nowadays and they easily take 100
MB-it already goes to 600MB. Yes, hard drive spins a lot.
Thanks a lot, T

Memory being as cheap as it is today, you would be doing yourself a
favor to upgrade to at least 1GB to give your computer some more elbow
room. 2GB will surely last you for quite a few years. If you know the
type installed in your PC, you can visit newegg.com and buy a 1GB kit
for $31-37. 2GB kits for $51-57.

- Thee Chicago Wolf

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hi,
Sorry, I am using XP Pro with 512 MB memory, office 2003 and the
McAfee antivirus. I noticed is the anti virus that slows down opening
of any window/application. I eliminated all extra services with
msconfig, including wireless adapter(I have a laptop), machine starts
at 310 MB(I got it down from 380 MB), next when Outlook 2003 opens
memory goes to 449 MB and next after opening an excel documen(40 MB)
and a web page, they are so loaded nowadays and they easily take 100
MB-it already goes to 600MB. Yes, hard drive spins a lot.

The McAfee antivirus is the second worst antivirus product on the
market; only Norton is worse. It is very likely the primary cause of
your performance problems.

Instead of McAfee, my view is that NOD32 is the best anti-virus
software on the market, and if you want a freeware anti-virus program,
Avast! is also a very good product.

 

[Twayne]

Hello there,

What is a reliable indicator to see if my machine is paging
excessivelly and I need more memory? How does the paging work? I use
XP Pro. Thanks, T

Doug Knox (dougknox.com) has a decent XP pageile monitor. There are
several around hte 'net that work well. Both MS and the MVPS.org site
also carry such things with good explanations.

Basically, the pagefile is where XP puts things it really wants in
memory but doesn't have enough room for. When memory gets full, it
writes to the pagefile on the hard drive. The only accurate way to tell
if you're using too much pagefile space is to monitor it and see what
the pagfile is doing. I have a Gig of RAM on my system and my pagefile
very seldom ever changes; it sits right around 150 Meg or so. The
pagefile will NEVER be completely empty; the indicator of needing more
RAM though is large pafefile and/or constantly changing numbers inthe
size of hte pagefile. For that you need a monitor, really, though there
are other ways to gauge it.
Wikipedia has a good explanation if you look up pagefile there.
Clear & easy to read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paging

HTH

Twayne

 

[Twayne]

Your computer acts slow when you open additional application or switch

windows/apps and the harddrive light flashes most of the time.

Well; that's one of several possibilities, but it doesn't pin down the
pagefile or RAM usage.

 

[Plato]

What is a reliable indicator to see if my machine is paging
excessivelly and I need more memory? How does the paging work? I use
XP Pro. Thanks, T

Got 2 gig of RAM?