Page File Problem-is it RAM or HD issue?

[Guest]

Running XP Home SP2 on P4 CPU 2.00 GHz
RAM 256 MB
Local Disk (C total size 27.9 GB, free space 2.72 GB

There's this one particular Publisher 2000 file I have that is about 276 MB
in size. I can open it, I can edit it, but I cannot save it. Either the
entire system locks up, or just that application, or I get error &
informational messages about page file size, virtual memory, etc.

Here's the info from the virtual memory sub section under system properties:

3174 MB available on c drive for paging file
system managed size selected
recommended & currently allocated total paging file size 382 MB

Here's some more info but I can't remember where I found it.

Virtual Memory 2GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.96
Physical Memory 256 MB
Available Physical Memory 32.72

So, I think the file is too big for my system. But I don't know if I should
upgrade the RAM or the HD. I've tried reading other page file threads, but
I'm getting lost in the sauce. Please help me.

 

[Rich Barry]

Pegasus, rt click Taskbar and select Task Manager>Performance. See what
your PF ( Page File ) Usage is
At only 256MB of Ram you are marginal and a additional 256MB would
make a big difference.

 

[Guest]

Hi Rich,

Thanx for replying. It's fluctuating between 318 & 319 MB & the CPU usage
right now is between 8 & 10%. Would doubling my RAM fix this or considering
how glutted my drive is, would I be better off getting another or bigger
drive? I mean, would a new drive fix the problem as well, or would I still
be faced with the same problem?

Thanx again!
Pegasus

 

[Al Dykes]

Hi Rich,

Thanx for replying. It's fluctuating between 318 & 319 MB & the CPU usage
right now is between 8 & 10%. Would doubling my RAM fix this or considering
how glutted my drive is, would I be better off getting another or bigger
drive? I mean, would a new drive fix the problem as well, or would I still
be faced with the same problem?

Thanx again!
Pegasus

You're tight on disk space. It may not be causing your problem but
it's one thing to look at, and avoiding a disk upgrade will pay for
the memory you need, and it lots easier to add memory than to move to
a new disk.

XP can fit in 8GB and I run it on my laptop in 12GB with lots of data
and apps. Do you know what that extra 19GB is ? I may be time to
clean house.

XP should run acceptably in 256MB with the basic applications. You
haven't stated what applications you use. More memory may help
performance but you may still may need to make room for a pagefile
even with more memory.

If you're running NTFS filesystem then compression is great for some
types of data. It doesn't do anything for mp3, mpg, zip and jpg files
that are already compressed but for other things it can free up huge
amounts of space with no performance cost.

With disk space this tight and the file you are editing being a large
portion of the free space you need to pay attention to defrag.

 

[Guest]

Hi Al,

Thanks for replying. This problem only occurs with this one particular
Publisher 2000 file. I am not a gamer. I have a good amount of photos I use
in my catalog (that's the file I can no longer edit & save).

Generally speaking, I multi task but with this file, I shut everything else
down.

 

[Rich Barry]

Pegasus, you could try rt clicking MyComputer>select
Properties>Advanced>Performance-Settings>Virtual Memory-Change. Click on
Custom>type: 1000 in each box >select Set Ok. Restart and see if that
helps any. You can always go
back and let Windows Manage it. Also, go to MyComputer>rt click Drive
Icon>select Properties>Disk Cleanup>More Options>System Restore-Cleanup. Say
yes to all.