Hi,
You can configure virtual memory in windows xp and thereby improve the
performance by following the instructions in the article given below:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308417&Product=winxp
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314482&Product=winxp
or
How to set performance options in Windows XP
INTRODUCTION
MORE INFORMATION
How to manage processor time
How to change the performance of foreground and background programs
How to manage computer memory
How to change the size of the virtual memory paging file
How to optimize the memory usage
How to change the visual effects
Glossary
REFERENCES
INTRODUCTION
Windows allocates resources according to its settings and manages devices
accordingly. You can use the System tool in Control Panel to change
performance options that control how programs use memory, including paging
file size, or environment variables that tell your computer where to find
some types of information.
This article describes how to set the performance options for your
computer.
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MORE INFORMATION
How to manage processor time
Windows manages system processing. Windows can allocate tasks between
processors and manage multiple processes on a single processor. However,
you can set Windows to allocate more processor time to the program that you
are currently running. The added processor time causes programs to respond
more quickly. Or, if you have background programs such as printing or disk
backup that you want to run while you work, you can have Windows share
processor resources equally between background and foreground programs.
Note You must be logged on as an administrator to the local computer or
have the correct network credentials to make certain changes in System.
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How to change the performance of foreground and background programs
Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
Click the Advanced tab, and then use one of the following methods under
Processor scheduling:
Click Programs to assign more processor resources to the foreground program
than the background program.
Click Background services to assign equal amounts of processor resources to
all programs.
Notes
If you click Programs, the foreground program runs more smoothly and
responds more quickly. If you want a background task such as a Backup
utility to run faster, click Background services.
The Programs option allocates short, variable time slices (quanta) to
running programs, and the Background services option assigns long, fixed
quanta.
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How to manage computer memory
When your computer is running low on RAM, and you must have more RAM
immediately, Windows uses hard disk space to simulate RAM. This is known as
virtual memory. It is also known as the paging file. This is similar to the
UNIX swapfile. By default, the virtual memory paging file (named
pagefile.sys) that is created during installation is 1.5 times the RAM on
your computer.
You can optimize virtual memory use by dividing the space between multiple
drives and by removing space from slow or heavily accessed drives. To best
optimize your virtual memory space, divide it among as many physical hard
drives as possible. When you select drives, follow these guidelines:
Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files.
Avoid putting a paging file on a fault-tolerant drive such as a mirrored
volume or a RAID-5 volume. Paging files do not require fault-tolerance, and
some fault-tolerant computers experience slow data writes because they
write data to multiple locations.
Do not put multiple paging files on different partitions on the same
physical disk drive.
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How to change the size of the virtual memory paging file
You must be logged on as an administrator or as a member of the
Administrators group to complete this procedure. If your computer is
connected to a network, network policy settings may also prevent you from
completing this procedure.
Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Change under Virtual memory.
Under Drive [Volume Label], click the drive that contains the paging file
that you want to change.
Under Paging file size for selected drive, click Custom size, type a new
paging file size in megabytes (MB) in the Initial size (MB) or Maximum size
(MB) box, and then click Set.
If you decrease the size of either the initial or maximum paging file
settings, you must restart your computer to see the effects of those
changes. When you increase the paging file size, you typically do not have
to restart your computer.
Notes
To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed
size. The recommended minimum size is equivalent to 1.5 times the RAM on
your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example,
if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size
is 1152 MB.
For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum
recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The
recommended size is equivalent to 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is
good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size. However,
you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use much
memory.
To delete a paging file, set both the initial size and the maximum size to
zero, or click No paging file. We strongly recommend that you do not
disable or delete the paging file.
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How to optimize the memory usage
You can optimize your computer's memory usage. If you use your computer
primarily as a workstation instead of as a server, you can devote more
memory to your programs. Your programs will work faster and your system
cache size will remain the default size that came with Windows XP. You can
also set aside more computer memory for a larger system cache if your
computer is used primarily as a server, or if you use programs that require
a larger cache.
Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
Click the Advanced tab, and then click Settings under Performance.
Click the Advanced tab, and then use one of the following methods under
Memory usage:
Click Programs if you use your computer primarily as a workstation instead
of as a server. This option allocates more memory to your programs.
Click System cache if your computer is used primarily as a server or if you
use programs that use a larger cache.
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How to change the visual effects
Windows provides several options to set the visual effects of your
computer. For example, you can show shadows under menus. Shadows give menus
a 3-D look. You can configure Windows to display all the contents of a
window while you move the window on your screen. To make large text more
readable, you can display the smooth edges of screen fonts.
Windows provides options to turn on all the settings (for best appearance),
or none of the settings (for best computer performance). You can also
restore the default settings.
To change the visual effects, follow these steps:
Click Start, click Run, and then type sysdm.cpl in the Open box.
Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
Click the Visual Effects tab, and then use one of the following methods:
Click Adjust for best performance to have Windows automatically adjust the
settings for best performance.
Click Adjust for best appearance to have Windows automatically adjust the
settings for best appearance.
Click Custom, and then select the check boxes for those items that you want
to turn on. Clear the check boxes for the items that you want to turn off.
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Glossary
background program A background program is a program that runs while the
user is working on another task. The computer's microprocessor assigns
fewer resources to background programs than to foreground programs.
environment variable An environment variable is a string of environment
information such as a drive, path, or file name that is associated with a
symbolic name that Windows can use. You use System in Control Panel or the
set command at the command prompt to define environment variables.
foreground program A foreground program is a program that runs in the
active window (the upper-most window with the highlighted title bar). The
foreground program responds to commands that the user issues.
mirrored volume A mirrored volume is a fault-tolerant volume that
duplicates data on two physical disks. A mirrored volume provides data
redundancy by using two identical volumes. These volumes are known as
mirrors. They duplicate the information that the volume contains. A mirror
is always located on a different disk. If one of the physical disks fails,
the data on the failed disk becomes unavailable, but the system continues
to operate in the mirror on the remaining disk. You can create mirrored
volumes only on dynamic disks.
partition A partition is part of a physical disk that functions as if it
were a physically separate disk. After you create a partition, you must
format it and assign it a drive letter before you can store data on it. On
basic disks, partitions are known as basic volumes. Basic volumes include
primary partitions and logical drives. On dynamic disks, partitions are
known as dynamic volumes. Dynamic volumes include simple, striped, spanned,
mirrored, and RAID-5 volumes.
RAID-5 volume A RAID-5 volume is a fault-tolerant volume with data and
parity striped intermittently across three or more physical disks. Parity
is a calculated value that is used to reconstruct data after a failure. If
a part of a physical disk fails, Windows recreates the data that was on the
failed part from the remaining data and parity. You can create RAID-5
volumes only on dynamic disks, and you cannot mirror or extend RAID-5
volumes.
Hope this helps.
S.Vijay
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights
