Pagefile problem...here is a strange one!

[Michael]

I'm hoping someone can solve this...I'm an IT pro but I can't seem to find
a solution.
XP Pro, SP2 w/all updates, 1.0GB RAM, 2 SATA Drives, no Norton, viruses,
etc.
Whenever I specify a pagefile on C (boot & system drive) alone no problems,
if I specify a pagefile on F alone(1st partition on 2nd HD - HD has 2
partitions - data only) no problem. However, if I specify a pagefile on
BOTH C AND F it creates them OK, but upon reboot it ALWAYS removes the
pagefile on F and leaves the pagefile on C. If I look at the Virtual Memory
under Performance Options it shows both pagefiles as still set (I usually
set the F pagefile for 1533MB, C for 64MB). It makes no difference what
values I choose, the same problem occurs. It seems XP doesn't like 2
pagefiles - even if they are on 2 harddrives as Microsoft says. I like to
keep a small pagefile on C for stop errors if they ever occur. I hope
someone has experienced this and has an answer. Google brought up nothing.

 

[SmoothNinjaGirl]

did a search for you quick.. not sure if its any help.. but..

right-click on my computer, advanced tab, performance options, click
on
the change button in virtual memory section, highlight the drive you
want to
add swap file to and type in the min. and max. size of your swap file.

 

[Michael]

did a search for you quick.. not sure if its any help.. but..

right-click on my computer, advanced tab, performance options, click
on
the change button in virtual memory section, highlight the drive you
want to
add swap file to and type in the min. and max. size of your swap file.

SmoothNinjaGirl - I understand that...please read my post. Thanks for
trying tho. Michael

 

[SmoothNinjaGirl]

yeah just trying..
im not too good at page file systems..

actually just started getting back into being techy.. a lil rusty
lately..

 

[John John]

Look at:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management

and ensure that the following REG_MULTI_SZ value is properly recoded:

Name: PagingFiles
Type: REG_MULTI_SZ
Data: C:\pagefile.sys 64 64
F:\pagefile.sys 1533 1533

John

 

[Guest]

I also have 1G ram for Mce2005 and do not use a pagefile. Reduce on error
from complete to small dump. Frees up 1+gig of disk. Never any problems.

 

[Michael]

John,John - The registry entry is correct - I checked that previously.
PagingFiles REG_MULTI_SZ C:\pagefile.sys 128 128 F:\pagefile.sys 1533 1533

I believe the problem is a tough one but thanks for trying!

Michael

 

[John John]

There have been postings in these groups of different AV software
causing this problem. It seems to me there are reports of other than
Symantec AV also causing this.

John

 

[John John]

You mean you haven't had any problems yet... Do you think that running
without a pagefile increases the performance of your computer?

John

 

[Michael]

I believe I have found the problem - it is a module of ZoneZlarm
7.0.302.00 (free edition). I began to suspect it last night due to an
error I received when performing a boot-time defrag on my C drive. The
error was received at the end that was:
STOP: c0000218 {Registry File Failure}
The registry cannot load the hive (file):
\SystemRoot\System32\Config\default
or its log or alternate is corrupt, absent, or not
writable.
After this I received a blue-screen (rare for me) that said Windows
encountered a problem with srescan.sys and could not continue. When
searching the google forums and websites I discovered others were having
this problem with srescan.sys and defrag utilities - it prevents some
utilities from writing to certain files on the hard drive. I uninstalled
srescan device in device manager (non-plug and play - hidden devices) and
removed the srescan files and registry entries. I now have a pagefile on
both drives and ZoneAlarm works fine. Srescan, from what I have read, is
a part of the AntiVirus component of ZoneAlarm free edition which I don't
use - I use NOD32. I hope this helps anyone else having the same problem.

Michael

 

[John John]

Thank you for updating us and informing us of the solution, it will be
helpful to others who read looking for a solution or for those who help
in these groups.

John

 

[Zilbandy]

I also have 1G ram for Mce2005 and do not use a pagefile. Reduce on error
from complete to small dump. Frees up 1+gig of disk. Never any problems.

You might want to read the following article regarding the Pagefile by
the late Alex Nichol MVP at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

I also have 1G ram for Mce2005 and do not use a pagefile. Reduce on
error from complete to small dump. Frees up 1+gig of disk. Never any
problems.

Regardless of how much RAM you have, running without a page file is a
mistake.

1. If you don't have a page file, you can't use all the RAM you have. That's
because Windows preallocates virtual memory in anticipation of a possible
need for it, even though that allocated virtual memory may never be used.
Without a page file, that allocation has to be made in real memory, thus
tying up that memory and preventing it from being used for any purpose.

2. There is never a benefit in not having a page file. If it isn't needed,
it won't be used. Don't confuse allocated memory with used memory.

If you haven't had a problem doing this, consider yourself lucky.