Page and Swap file sizes?

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Ritter197

With WindowsXP and 1 GB of memorey, 2 harddrives, 1 with 80 GB the 2nd with
320GB, how large should these files be?
 
Simple specs are not enough to determine your optimum page file size. It
depends on the use of the computer and the software it runs. Also, I think
too many folks spend too much time attempting to "optimize" this anyway. The
Windows defaults work pretty well unless you have some very unusual
requirements.

The Windows default will create a pagefile of 1.5 times your RAM on the
system (boot) drive. That has always worked well for me. You might want to
move it off of the system drive (depending on your software). But if your
secondary drive is busier than your system drive it won't buy you much.

-Frank
 
With WindowsXP and 1 GB of memorey, 2 harddrives, 1 with 80 GB the 2nd
with 320GB, how large should these files be?
Click to expand...

There aren't two files for page and swap. It's all the same one - called
pagefile.sys. The XP default of 1.5 x the amount of RAM is not the best for
all systems. If the system has only a small amount of RAM this formula
allocates too little for the page file. If a large amount of RAM this
formula allocates too much. The size needed for the page file depends on
the amount of installed RAM and what programs are run. See this link for a
discussion of Virtual Memory in XP and setting the page file. In it is a
link to a small utility that monitors actual page file usage. Run that to
get an idea of how much is needed by the system running the programs you
run.

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
 
Ritter197 said:
With WindowsXP and 1 GB of memorey, 2 harddrives, 1 with 80 GB the
2nd with 320GB, how large should these files be?
Click to expand...



First, note that it's only a single file, called the page file. In Windows
98 a very similar file was called the swap file.

For information on page file settings, read
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
 
Thank you. Good info. and fine link.

Rock said:
There aren't two files for page and swap. It's all the same one - called
pagefile.sys. The XP default of 1.5 x the amount of RAM is not the best
for all systems. If the system has only a small amount of RAM this
formula allocates too little for the page file. If a large amount of RAM
this formula allocates too much. The size needed for the page file
depends on the amount of installed RAM and what programs are run. See
this link for a discussion of Virtual Memory in XP and setting the page
file. In it is a link to a small utility that monitors actual page file
usage. Run that to get an idea of how much is needed by the system
running the programs you run.

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
Click to expand...
 
Ritter197 said:
With WindowsXP and 1 GB of memorey, 2 harddrives, 1 with 80 GB the 2nd
with 320GB, how large should these files be?
Click to expand...

If you don't know the answer already, you don't need to set this by hand.
Let Windows handle the pagefile unless you have a need for a specifically
sized pagefile.
 
First, note that it's only a single file, called the page file. In Windows
98 a very similar file was called the swap file.
Click to expand...

Page and swap are both jargon for the same thing: The win98 swap file is
identical in function to the XP page file. As far as users are concerned,
the only thing that changed since then is which term is currently prevalent
in Redmond for the concept of an OS kernel swapping rarely used memory
pages to a temporary location on disk.
 
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