Pagefile Settings

[iamloco724]

i dont know much about setting the pagefile settings..but ive read certain ways are better for optimal performance

im running windows xp pro service pack 3
i got 3gb ram

and i have 2 internal drives

what would be the ideal settings for my pagefile

Initial size
Max size

and which drive should it be on for best performance

 

[KSoD]

Initial Size doesnt mean squat. If you set the size up yourself then you will only need Max Size. You should set it for the largest you can. Most likely will be either 3072MB or 4096MB. If at all possible you should create a separate partition for it all on its own.

 

[iamloco724]

Initial Size doesnt mean squat. If you set the size up yourself then you will only need Max Size. You should set it for the largest you can. Most likely will be either 3072MB or 4096MB. If at all possible you should create a separate partition for it all on its own.

ive heard if possible its better to set it up on a different hard drive other then windows i have my 2nd internal..should i set it up on this and if so is there anything special i have to do to make this work correctly

 

[Slaymate]

In the best case scenario you would never use a page file.

Your page file is basically a substitute for your system memory, if you get to multitasking so hard that your using all of your existing memory then the system will use the hard drive as memory. If the page file is used then your performance will suffer, a hard drive is extremely slow compared to actual system memory. And because the page file is being treated as memory it is having to do multiple reads and writes very frequently. So having the page file on a fast hard drive is still going to be slow, to the point that it won't matter how fast the drive is. If your system does have to use the page file setting a maximum limit is really just saving you drive space. If you set a "Custom" page file size and the system reaches that limit and needs more, your PC will shutdown.

If you have (2) drives I would set the page file to "System Managed" on your secondary drive.

 

[KSoD]

ive heard if possible its better to set it up on a different hard drive other then windows i have my 2nd internal..should i set it up on this and if so is there anything special i have to do to make this work correctly

That is utter garbage. Cause i have tried it on other hard drives, i have tried it on its own partition on other hard drive and i have been using it as its own partition on the same hard drive. Not a single one of them offered any better performance. With Today's system pagefile is almost completely useless. Slay is completely correct in his remarks.

With the speed of todays systems page files are a thing of the past. If you were on Win95 or Win98 then i could see this question serving a purpose. But XP, Vista and especially Win7 page file is utterly useless and having it on a separate drive altogether from the system drive could actually cause system perfomace hinderance as the system would have to read and write to 2 drives at the same time. At least if you have just a partition you are only taxing 1 hard drive.

 

[iamloco724]

That is utter garbage. Cause i have tried it on other hard drives, i have tried it on its own partition on other hard drive and i have been using it as its own partition on the same hard drive. Not a single one of them offered any better performance. With Today's system pagefile is almost completely useless. Slay is completely correct in his remarks.

With the speed of todays systems page files are a thing of the past. If you were on Win95 or Win98 then i could see this question serving a purpose. But XP, Vista and especially Win7 page file is utterly useless and having it on a separate drive altogether from the system drive could actually cause system perfomace hinderance as the system would have to read and write to 2 drives at the same time. At least if you have just a partition you are only taxing 1 hard drive.

thanks..makes sense