Pagefile Problems...

[Guest]

Machine: ThinkPad 1.8GHz Centrino, 1 GB RAM, 60 GB HDD

Windows XP Pro SP2 and all updates loaded


Windows managed page file on my Thinkpad was originally 1534 MB, which I
considered to be excessive. Fiddled around and tried to reset the pagefile.
Wasn't able to ...researched a bit on the web and found that Norton Antivirus
Auto-protect feature needs to be disabled. Did that and reset the pagefile to
0 bytes.....recoverd disk space, defragged and was quite happy!!!

Found that my Thinkpad was still committing between 300 - 400 MB as
pagefile. Did some further research and found that disabling pagefile doesn't
mean that Windows stops paging..... :-(

Defragged my hard disk, went to the System Properties and reset the pagefile
again to MIN = 300 MB and MAX = 400 MB. Clicked on the "Set" button, OKed my
way out and restarted my machine.....

Here's the problem...... After rebooting, the pagefile set in System
Properties 300-400 MB, but the size of the pagefile as reported in Windows
Explorer is 1534 MB. What gives?? I had defragged the HD b4 creating the new
file...so from where is Windows picking up the command to set the pagefile to
1534MB?????

How do I make sure that my pagefile is not more than 400 MB? While it might
appear that I am nitpicking about a couple of GB with all that hard disk
space, I would still like to restrict my pagefile to <400 MB.

Help appreciated..TIA...

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Please review the following:

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Alex Nichol]

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.mspx

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Machine: ThinkPad 1.8GHz Centrino, 1 GB RAM, 60 GB HDD
|
| Windows XP Pro SP2 and all updates loaded
|
|
| Windows managed page file on my Thinkpad was originally 1534 MB, which I
| considered to be excessive. Fiddled around and tried to reset the pagefile.
| Wasn't able to ...researched a bit on the web and found that Norton Antivirus
| Auto-protect feature needs to be disabled. Did that and reset the pagefile to
| 0 bytes.....recoverd disk space, defragged and was quite happy!!!
|
| Found that my Thinkpad was still committing between 300 - 400 MB as
| pagefile. Did some further research and found that disabling pagefile doesn't
| mean that Windows stops paging..... :-(
|
| Defragged my hard disk, went to the System Properties and reset the pagefile
| again to MIN = 300 MB and MAX = 400 MB. Clicked on the "Set" button, OKed my
| way out and restarted my machine.....
|
| Here's the problem...... After rebooting, the pagefile set in System
| Properties 300-400 MB, but the size of the pagefile as reported in Windows
| Explorer is 1534 MB. What gives?? I had defragged the HD b4 creating the new
| file...so from where is Windows picking up the command to set the pagefile to
| 1534MB?????
|
| How do I make sure that my pagefile is not more than 400 MB? While it might
| appear that I am nitpicking about a couple of GB with all that hard disk
| space, I would still like to restrict my pagefile to <400 MB.
|
| Help appreciated..TIA...

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Sasha

Where are you getting the pagefile figures quoted? Are they allocations
or in use figures?

You may check on pagefile (virtual memory) usage with Page File Monitor
for XP:
http://www.dougknox.com/


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[Guest]

Hi Gerry

The pagefile I set was MIN = 300 MB and MAX = 400 MB, in the system
Properties > Advanced > Virtual Memory Tab. Once I Click on the "Set" button,
the size of the pagefile displayed in the window above (listing all the
drives) changed to reflect the input I had given.

Once I OKed my way out and restarted the system, I found that my HD free
space was reduced by 1.49 GB, instead of the 400 MB which I allocated to the
MAX pagefile.sys. So I went to Windows Explorer and checked the size of the
pagefile.sys and it was 1.49 GB.

I did not have a pagefile prior to this setting, since I selected the "No
pagefile" option, restarted my systen and defragged the HD. I then checked in
Windows Explorer, which confirmed the absebce of pagefile.sys and also showed
an increase of HD space by 1.49 GB. I then reset my pagefile to the MIN/MAX
figures mentioned above, restarted my machine and Windows Explorer and System
Properties tab show the pagefile to be 1534 MB or 1.49 GB instead of 300/400
MB.

Just as a point of interest, I understand that Norton AV can cause some
problems, so I had disabled it during all the above mentioned steps.

PS to Cary: I have already gone through the excellent post about pagefiles.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Sasha

The figures you are quoting are allocations not usage. Try doubling the
MAX or setting no MAX.

In Task Manager on the Processes tab you can add a column to show
Virtual Memory size -View, Select Columns. What process is requiring so
much?


--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Thnx for th eclarificatoin..I thought I was limiting the pagefile size....

Processes usign a bulk of the virtual memory are:

Explorer.exe - 13180 K
svchost.exe - 18516 K
CLI.exe (ATI grphics card driver) - 24552 K
Firefox.exe - 29984 K

Aprrox 10 programs with ~ 5000 K usage
Approx 23 programs with ~ 2500 K usage
Apprx 13 programs with ~ 600 K usage

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Sasha

The pagefile of 1.49 gb is the default system setting i.e. 1.5 times the
1gb ram installed.

The link provided by Carey described how to deal with a corrupted
pagefile. To quote "The page file has become corrupt, possibly at a bad
shutdown. In the Virtual Memory settings, set to “No page file,†then
exit System Properties, shut down the machine, and reboot. Delete
PAGEFILE.SYS (on each drive, if more than just C, set the page file up
again and reboot to bring it into use.".

I am wondering whether you are correctly making the changes or you are
using a User Profile which does not have the powers to make the changes.
There follows the detailed procedures for Moving the Paging File -they
are very similar. To Log on as Administrator boot to safe mode by
pressing F8 key during start up.
How to Move the Paging File
1. Log on to the computer as Administrator.
2. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
3. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
4. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click
Settings.
5. Click the Advanced tab, and then under Virtual memory, click
Change.
6. In the Drive [Volume Label] list, click a drive other than the
one on which Windows is installed (Windows is usually installed on the
drive C). Under Total paging file size for all drives, note the value
that is displayed next to Recommended.
7. Click Custom size, and then type the recommended value in the
Initial size (MB) box.
8. Type the maximum size that you want to allow for paging in the
Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
9. In the Drive [Volume Label] box, click the drive on which
Windows is installed (usually the drive C), and then use one of the
following steps: • If you do not want a paging file on the drive, click
No paging file, and then click Set. A message similar to the following
message appears:
If the pagefile on volume C: has an initial size of less
than 126 megabytes, then the system may not be able to create a
debugging information file if a STOP error occurs.
Continue anyway?
Click Yes.


• If you want to keep the minimum size of the paging file on
the drive, click Custom size, and then type a value that is equal to or
greater than the amount of RAM in the computer in the Initial size (MB)
box. Type that same value in the Maximum size (MB) box, and then click
Set.

10. The following message appears:
The changes you have made require you to restart your computer
before they can take effect.
Click OK, click OK, click OK, and then click Yes when you are
prompted to restart the computer.



--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Using invalid email address

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please tell the newsgroup how any
suggested solution worked for you.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Guest]

Thanks Geryy, it worked...and sorry for the delay in posting back a reply...

Once again, thanks

 

[Gerry Cornell]

Sasha

Excellent. Thanks for reporting the outcome. It helps others know what
works and what does not!


--


Regards.

Gerry

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Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~