Unallocated space / new partition

[Shank]

XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.

I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
partition of 2gb for swap file.

Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the unallocated
space.

When I highlight the unallocated space in PPM , the only choice of
actions I have is to view sectors.

How do I create a new partition?

cheers

 

[Dave Patrick]

What does Disk Management have to say about it?

Start|Run|diskmgmt.msc

BTW since the partitions will be sharing the same drive controller and disk
head there really isn't an advantage to doing this.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.
|
| I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
| partition of 2gb for swap file.
|
| Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the unallocated
| space.
|
| When I highlight the unallocated space in PPM , the only choice of
| actions I have is to view sectors.
|
| How do I create a new partition?
|
| cheers
|
| --
| Rob
|
| It's so nice to be insane, no one asks you to explain.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.

I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
partition of 2gb for swap file.

Putting the Page File on a second partition is not a good idea, and can hurt
your performance. What it does is move the page file to a location on the
hard drive distant from the other frequently-used data on the drive. The
result is that every time Windows needs to use the page file, the time to
get to it and back from it is increased.

Putting the page file on a second *physical* drive is a good idea, since it
decreases head movement, but not to a second partition on a single drive. A
good rule of thumb is that the page file should be on the most-used
partition of the least-used physical drive. For almost everyone with a
single drive, that's C:.

If you have enough RAM, the penalty for moving the page file to a second
partition may be slight, since you won't use the page file much, but it
won't help you.

Also, the other problem with a separate partition like this is that you run
the risk of making it too small, in which case programs will fail for lack
of virtual memory, or too large, which is wasteful of disk space. If you
leave it on C:, it can expand or contract as needed.

Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the
unallocated space.

You need to do this through Disk Management.

 

[Ron Martell]

XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.

I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
partition of 2gb for swap file.

Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the unallocated
space.

When I highlight the unallocated space in PPM , the only choice of
actions I have is to view sectors.

How do I create a new partition?

cheers

Use Disk Management.

Start - Run - DISKMGMT.MSC

Note a separate swap file partition for any sort of performance
reasons is basically foolish.

There are two possible situations:
1. Your computer is actually writing to and reading from the swap
file to a significant extent (note that there is no readily available
tool in Windows XP that will give you this information). In this case
the separate swap file partition will result in increased travel
distance for the disk head mechanism as shuttles back and forth
between the system partition and the swap file partition. Disk head
travel time is the slowest aspect of hard drive performance, and
increasing the distance travelled will increase this time, thereby
slowing performance. The best fix for heavy actual usage of the swap
file is to install more RAM.

2. Your computer is not actually using the swap file very much at
all. In that case the separate partition will provide no advantage.


Also some sources cite "swap file fragmentation" as a justification
for the separate partition. Swap file fragmentation as a performance
issue is right up there with Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and the Tooth
Fairy - lots of hype and very little substance.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."

 

[Shank]

XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.

I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
partition of 2gb for swap file.
<snip>

Thanks for the replies.

I have an old 1.6gb disc, which I'll install as a swap drive.

This comes about through setiathome. I've tried installing it a couple
of times, and my system freezes, requiring a power reboot, so I'm trying
to sort through various causes. I have already tried setting it to use
less cpu, which didn't work.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Thanks for the replies.

I have an old 1.6gb disc, which I'll install as a swap drive.

You're welcome, but bear in mind that a second *physical* drive, while
normally a good idea, in this case may also hurt you. If it's very old, it
may also be very slow.

How much RAM do you have?

 

[Gene K]

I will say that I WOULD NOT install that old and teeny drive. Instead buy a
new one since drives now are very cheap compared to yesteryear. Everyone I
know who moves the Swap file puts it on a second internal drive. Might also
consider buying a new Computer with bigger drives and much more RAM.
Gene K
| Shank wrote:
|
| > Shank wrote:
| >> XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.
| >>
| >> I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
| >> partition of 2gb for swap file.
| >> <snip>
| > Thanks for the replies.
| >
| > I have an old 1.6gb disc, which I'll install as a swap drive.
|
|
| You're welcome, but bear in mind that a second *physical* drive, while
| normally a good idea, in this case may also hurt you. If it's very old, it
| may also be very slow.
|
| How much RAM do you have?
|
| --
| Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
| Please reply to the newsgroup
|
|
| >
| > This comes about through setiathome. I've tried installing it a couple
| > of times, and my system freezes, requiring a power reboot, so I'm
| > trying to sort through various causes. I have already tried setting
| > it to use less cpu, which didn't work.
|
|

 

[Shank]

You're welcome, but bear in mind that a second *physical* drive, while
normally a good idea, in this case may also hurt you. If it's very old, it
may also be very slow.

Oops, thanks. Forgot to check the speed. 4500 is a bit too slow. Scotch
that idea.

How much RAM do you have?

1gb (512,256,256)

This all comes from trying to run setiathome. I have installed 2
versions (not concurrently), both of which freeze my system when in they
go into screensaver mode, even if I use a different screensaver. I am
working through possible causes. Tried setting cpu usage to less than
the default setting of 100%. No fix, so thought I'd try memory. I have
this vaguelly terrifying feeling that I may be in dll hell, but don't
really wish to go there yet.

 

[Shank]

I will say that I WOULD NOT install that old and teeny drive. Instead buy a
new one since drives now are very cheap compared to yesteryear. Everyone I
know who moves the Swap file puts it on a second internal drive. Might also
consider buying a new Computer with bigger drives and much more RAM.

Thanks Gene, but I'm an invalid on very limited income, and here in
kiwiland drives cost $1 per gb.

My pc is not too out of date, considering my uses. 1.7 celeron, 1gb ram,
160gb hd, 9600 pro etc.

And you're right about the drive. 4500rpm would slow things down, even
if it fixed the problem with setiathome.

Cheers

 

[DanS]

This all comes from trying to run setiathome. I have installed 2
versions (not concurrently), both of which freeze my system when in
they go into screensaver mode, even if I use a different screensaver.

It obvious the problem is with Seti@Home, which by it's design uses your PC
for computations when it is idle......when the screensaver comes on.

Simply un-install all versions.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Oops, thanks. Forgot to check the speed. 4500 is a bit too slow.
Scotch that idea.

1gb (512,256,256)

It depends on what apps you run, but for *most* people, 1GB is more than
enough RAM to keep them from using the swap file at all. Unless you do large
graphics editing or something like that, I doubt very much whether any
changes you make to its location will have any perceptible effect on
performance

This all comes from trying to run setiathome. I have installed 2
versions (not concurrently), both of which freeze my system when in
they go into screensaver mode, even if I use a different screensaver.
I am working through possible causes. Tried setting cpu usage to less
than the default setting of 100%. No fix, so thought I'd try memory.
I have this vaguelly terrifying feeling that I may be in dll hell,
but don't really wish to go there yet.

It's *highly* unlikely .that swap file settings of any kind will have any
effect on this problem.

 

[Todd]

Oops, thanks. Forgot to check the speed. 4500 is a bit too slow. Scotch
that idea.

1gb (512,256,256)

This all comes from trying to run setiathome. I have installed 2
versions (not concurrently), both of which freeze my system when in they
go into screensaver mode, even if I use a different screensaver. I am
working through possible causes. Tried setting cpu usage to less than
the default setting of 100%. No fix, so thought I'd try memory. I have
this vaguelly terrifying feeling that I may be in dll hell, but don't
really wish to go there yet.

I had a problem with my system freezing when some videos played (other
videos worked fine). This is not the same problem that you have, but your
problem may have the same solution. The solution was to go to the video
chip manufacturer's site and download the latest driver. I haven't had the
problem since.

Todd

 

[Shank]

It depends on what apps you run, but for *most* people, 1GB is more than
enough RAM to keep them from using the swap file at all. Unless you do large
graphics editing or something like that, I doubt very much whether any
changes you make to its location will have any perceptible effect on
performance

I do a lot of rendering (3ds max), so might swap file does get a working
over.

It's *highly* unlikely .that swap file settings of any kind will have any
effect on this problem.

Yes, I you're probably right. It is probably the seti program
conflicting with something else.

I still need to look at relocating my swap to a separate drive though,
as even taking my ram to the max allowed by my motherboard, I'm still
going to have a lot of disc i/o while rendering large files.

Well, it looks like I'm going to have to start trying seti with various
background processes turned off and try and track down the process
conflicts. Damn, if 3ds max and a couple of other programs I rely on
came in linux ports, I'd be able to dump any errors to a text file.
There are linux programs that do the job, but either not as well or
require a huge learning curve.

 

[Phil Weldon]

'Shank' wrote:
| I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
| partition of 2gb for swap file.
|
| Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the unallocated
| space.
|
| When I highlight the unallocated space in PPM , the only choice of
| actions I have is to view sectors.
|
| How do I create a new partition?
_____

Keep the swap file in the same partition. You want it near the outer tracks
(faster sequential transfer rate) near the file allocation tables and
frequently used files. Make the swap file a fixed size (2 GBytes) to reduce
fragmentation.

If you want to improve swap file access speed, putting in on a second
physical drive, preferably on a channel by itself, or at least a channel not
shared by a slower transfer rate device such as a CD or DVD drive.

You will get better results by putting the swap file on the fastest hard
drive you have; higher capacity hard drives generally have faster sequential
transfer rates than smaller drives.

You can create a new partition to use the unallocated space using Windows
XP; go to 'Disk Management' in 'Storage' in Computer Management' in
'Administrative Tools' in 'Control Panel'.

Phil Weldon

| XP SP2, Paragon partition manager 7.
|
| I have 45gb of unallocated space, out of which I want to make a
| partition of 2gb for swap file.
|
| Windows management doesn't give me any options to format the unallocated
| space.
|
| When I highlight the unallocated space in PPM , the only choice of
| actions I have is to view sectors.
|
| How do I create a new partition?
|
| cheers
|
| --
| Rob
|
| It's so nice to be insane, no one asks you to explain.

 

[Ron Martell]

Keep the swap file in the same partition. You want it near the outer tracks
(faster sequential transfer rate) near the file allocation tables and
frequently used files. Make the swap file a fixed size (2 GBytes) to reduce
fragmentation.

Swap file fragmentation as a performance issue is right up there with
Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy - lots of hype and very
little substance.

If you want to improve swap file access speed, putting in on a second
physical drive, preferably on a channel by itself, or at least a channel not
shared by a slower transfer rate device such as a CD or DVD drive.

IDE drives have not been affected by the performance of other devices
on the same channel for about 10 years. It was a factor when the
first IDE drives were developed.

You will get better results by putting the swap file on the fastest hard
drive you have; higher capacity hard drives generally have faster sequential
transfer rates than smaller drives.

If you are using the swap file to such an extent that swap file drive
choice is having a noticeable impact on overall performance then what
you really need to do is to add more RAM so as to reduce swap file
usage, or change your usage patterns so that there are fewer apps open
at the same time, allowing more RAM for use by the apps that are
running.

With multiple hard drives the best performance option is to create a
swap file on each drive, allowing Windows to choose whichever one is
optimal for each operation.
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP (1997 - 2006)
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"Anyone who thinks that they are too small to make a difference
has never been in bed with a mosquito."