Paging file size

[kris]

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting. All users are shown to have
"Administrator" credentials, but I have also tried to go in
the "safe" mode and log in as "Administrator".

Additional info: I had a previous occasion to do the same
thing. At that time, a program called "Intel Application
Accelerator" was the culprit and uninstalling this program
helped me change the paging file size.

Thank you very much in advance for any help one of you
could give me.

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting. All users are shown to have
"Administrator" credentials, but I have also tried to go in
the "safe" mode and log in as "Administrator".

Additional info: I had a previous occasion to do the same
thing. At that time, a program called "Intel Application
Accelerator" was the culprit and uninstalling this program
helped me change the paging file size.

Thank you very much in advance for any help one of you
could give me.

The first thing to do is set the paging file to NONE and make sure that you
press the SET Button on the dialog box. The PF is likely corrupted.

Reboot and go to the root of the C: drive and delete the pagefile.sys.

Next, go back into the pagefile dialofg box and set the pagefile with
whatever settings you wish, again make sure that the SET Button is pushed
before exiting. Reboot and check to make sure the file is recreated in the
root of C:.

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting. All users are shown to have
"Administrator" credentials, but I have also tried to go in
the "safe" mode and log in as "Administrator".

did you remember to press the [Set] button (on the right) after you entered
the new values for the pagefile size? it's not exactly intuitive, and many
people type the values and press OK, but forget to press the Set button
first.

tip - if you have more than 1 *physical* (not partitions) drive in your
computer, performance can be enhanced by moving the pagefile to 'the most
used partition of the least used drive', a mouthfull to be sure, but
basically it means, if you have more than one hard drive in you system,
Windows installed on C: (for example) and data files, etc stored on drive
D:, then chances are the secondary drive D: will not see as much activity as
the primary Windows C: drive, so all things being equal in terms of drive
performance, etc... it would be best to move the pagefile to drive D: (need
further explanation, ask me)

and contrary to popular belief, if you set the pagefile to 'System managed
size', Windows will (on startup) choose the best size and location for the
pagefile. on my system, i have set System managed size (don't forget to
press Set after each change) on 2 physical hard drives, so on startup
Windows creates 2 separate pagefiles, one on each drive. in my experience,
Windows knows how to manage virtual memory better than the user does,
although there are so-called 'experts' and pundits who will tell you
otherwise. and don't listen to those who tell you to disable the pagefile,
that is simply nonsense. if you would like more information on virtual
memory and how windows manages it, i have some excellent resources from REAL
experts. just ask me.

if you do set 2 or more pagefiles, be absolutely sure they are on *separate
physical drives* else you will not see a performance improvement, in fact,
you will likely experience the opposite

Additional info: I had a previous occasion to do the same
thing. At that time, a program called "Intel Application
Accelerator" was the culprit and uninstalling this program
helped me change the paging file size.

tsk! tsk! Intel's IAA is commonly known to be garbage, and will immediately
destabilize your system, i'm sorry to say... get rid of it

 

[kris]

Thank you. There is no file named "pagefile.sys" in my C
drive.

 

[Kris]

Thank you. I have only one hard drive [C]. Is something
possible ?

-----Original Message-----

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting. All users are shown to have
"Administrator" credentials, but I have also tried to go in
the "safe" mode and log in as "Administrator".

did you remember to press the [Set] button (on the right) after you entered
the new values for the pagefile size? it's not exactly intuitive, and many
people type the values and press OK, but forget to press the Set button
first.

tip - if you have more than 1 *physical* (not partitions) drive in your
computer, performance can be enhanced by moving the pagefile to 'the most
used partition of the least used drive', a mouthfull to be sure, but
basically it means, if you have more than one hard drive in you system,
Windows installed on C: (for example) and data files, etc stored on drive
D:, then chances are the secondary drive D: will not see as much activity as
the primary Windows C: drive, so all things being equal in terms of drive
performance, etc... it would be best to move the pagefile to drive D: (need
further explanation, ask me)

and contrary to popular belief, if you set the pagefile to 'System managed
size', Windows will (on startup) choose the best size and location for the
pagefile. on my system, i have set System managed size (don't forget to
press Set after each change) on 2 physical hard drives, so on startup
Windows creates 2 separate pagefiles, one on each drive. in my experience,
Windows knows how to manage virtual memory better than the user does,
although there are so-called 'experts' and pundits who will tell you
otherwise. and don't listen to those who tell you to disable the pagefile,
that is simply nonsense. if you would like more information on virtual
memory and how windows manages it, i have some excellent resources from REAL
experts. just ask me.

if you do set 2 or more pagefiles, be absolutely sure they are on *separate
physical drives* else you will not see a performance improvement, in fact,
you will likely experience the opposite

Additional info: I had a previous occasion to do the same
thing. At that time, a program called "Intel Application
Accelerator" was the culprit and uninstalling this program
helped me change the paging file size.

tsk! tsk! Intel's IAA is commonly known to be garbage, and will immediately
destabilize your system, i'm sorry to say... get rid of it

 

[Ron Martell]

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting. All users are shown to have
"Administrator" credentials, but I have also tried to go in
the "safe" mode and log in as "Administrator".

Additional info: I had a previous occasion to do the same
thing. At that time, a program called "Intel Application
Accelerator" was the culprit and uninstalling this program
helped me change the paging file size.

Thank you very much in advance for any help one of you
could give me.

See MVP Alex Nichol's article at http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
especially the section dealing with problems.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[=?iso-8859-1?Q?francis=A0g=E9rard?=]

Thank you. I have only one hard drive [C]. Is something
possible ?

is WHAT possible? please be specific

did you manage to get the pagefile created (remember to press the SET
button)?

the pagefile.sys is a hidden file, so you won't see it listed in explorer
unless you unhide files (explorer, tools, options, view, show hidden
files...)

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Thank you. There is no file named "pagefile.sys" in my C
drive.

Yes, there is. It's a hidden file, and you haven't change from
the default not to show hidden files.

Got to My Computer, and click Tools | Folder Options. On the view
tab, check the radio button "Show hidden files and folders."

You'll then be able to get to the file.

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Alex Nichol]

I had to reinstall my Home edition of Windows XP with the
reinstallation disk that came with my Dell computer,
purchased in 2002. During the reinstallation, the paging
file is missing. I am unable to change the size of the
paging file. I went into System Properties - Advanced -
Performance Settings - Advanced - Virtual Memory Change -
custom size - and set the range as 384-768 MB. The
information is there on the screen, but the bottom panel
indicating current allocation continues to show "0" after
number attempts at restarting.

Usual reason is forgetting to click the Set button after making a
change. Does not take effect unless you do. Other possibilities, see
the Problems section at my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm

 

[John G]

I am having the same issue. I had to reinstall XP to a Dell. Afterwards
logins stall loading user settings. Checking page file settings show "0"
and when opening the Virtual Memory Change window receive "Your system has
no paging file, or the paging file is too small." I have attempted to set
using a user who has admin rights and booting in safe mode using
Administrator. Yes, the set button was clicked. I then set no paging
option and rebooted to safe mode and no pagefile.sys was found. ( Show
hidden files is selected).

Could this be a corrupt registry?