Memory - page file question

[Kenmitch]

Why do "they" recommend that the paging file be 1.5x as big as the RAM? That's counterintuitive... and now we have people wasting 24gb of hard drive space on a paging file.

Or worse yet....Wasted SSD space!

 

[VirtualLarry]

so how about that pagefile.sys that ran away? 😛 anyone know where to find that bastard?

Hes not in my task manager resource monitor, C drive or anywhere i look

Are you certain that you have all hidden files shown and enabled? You will know this if you see file extensions like .exe on programs, and see two "desktop.ini" files on your desktop.

 

[KingFatty]

Why do "they" recommend that the paging file be 1.5x as big as the RAM? That's counterintuitive... and now we have people wasting 24gb of hard drive space on a paging file.

I've heard that Windows 8 does not use this approach of simple-minded "use 1.5x" and I need to actually check my other computer running Win 8 on an SSD - I have 8 GB of RAM and an SSD on that system, so I wonder what size Windows 8 chose for the pagefile? Will report soon...

 

[Macgruber]

Are you certain that you have all hidden files shown and enabled? You will know this if you see file extensions like .exe on programs, and see two "desktop.ini" files on your desktop.

yes
but the issue still remains

 

[KingFatty]

I've heard that Windows 8 does not use this approach of simple-minded "use 1.5x" and I need to actually check my other computer running Win 8 on an SSD - I have 8 GB of RAM and an SSD on that system, so I wonder what size Windows 8 chose for the pagefile? Will report soon...

My Win 8 system has 8 GB of ram and an SSD, and Win 8 set the pagefile to 1216 MB.

So that's unlike Win 7; apparently Win 8 doesn't use the simple-minded approach of 1.5x RAM. I don't know how Win 8 came up with 1216 MB for the pagefile?

As for OP's disappearing pagefile, have you checked if you removed it and now it's supposed to not be there because it's removed? You'll probably never need it, unless you have some weirdo old software that is poorly programmed to force use of the pagefile even though you have so much ram it's not actually needed.

 

[Bill Brasky]

I set mine to 1GB-min 1GB-max... BAM done!

32gb of ram in my system and I did the same thing.

 

[shaolin95]

Why do "they" recommend that the paging file be 1.5x as big as the RAM? That's counterintuitive... and now we have people wasting 24gb of hard drive space on a paging file.

I have been around computers since my C64 and Tandy Coco and from the first time I heard that "rule or sugestion of 1.5x the Ram size" I was like that is the Dumbest thing I ever heard!
Like you said....the Paging file is supposed to be used when ram is not available so wth do you need it to be bigger the more RAM you have? It is so dumb and lacks any type of logic.
On the contrary, you will need less paging file the more RAM you have not more.
Gotta love when something like that is repeated for years like it was the gospel 😀

 

[Macgruber]

I have been around computers since my C64 and Tandy Coco and from the first time I heard that "rule or sugestion of 1.5x the Ram size" I was like that is the Dumbest thing I ever heard!
Like you said....the Paging file is supposed to be used when ram is not available so wth do you need it to be bigger the more RAM you have? It is so dumb and lacks any type of logic.
On the contrary, you will need less paging file the more RAM you have not more.
Gotta love when something like that is repeated for years like it was the gospel 😀

can you help me find my missing pagefile.sys ?

 

[KingFatty]

can you help me find my missing pagefile.sys ?

Press Win+break to bring up system settings.
Click advanced system settings to bring up System Properties
Under "Performance" click settings
Click the tab for "Advanced"
What is shown under Virtual Memory? Click the button Change...
What is shown? Is it automatically manage paging file? Is it Custom? Is it set to No paging file?

Feel free to uncheck the box for Automatically manage, and check the box for custom size. Enter 512 for initial size and 512 for maximum size.
Reboot to establish these changes and create a 512 MB pagefile and save a bunch of space on your drive.

 

[Macgruber]

Press Win+break to bring up system settings.
Click advanced system settings to bring up System Properties
Under "Performance" click settings
Click the tab for "Advanced"
What is shown under Virtual Memory? Click the button Change...
What is shown? Is it automatically manage paging file? Is it Custom? Is it set to No paging file?

Feel free to uncheck the box for Automatically manage, and check the box for custom size. Enter 512 for initial size and 512 for maximum size.
Reboot to establish these changes and create a 512 MB pagefile and save a bunch of space on your drive.

3072-3072 is my page file size, not automatically set

no pagefile.sys in my performance monitor or C:\windows

 

[Ketchup]

3072-3072 is my page file size, not automatically set

no pagefile.sys in my performance monitor or C:\windows

My pagefile.sys in 7 is in the root directory of C, and I have to uncheck 'hide protected operating system files' in folder options to see it.

 

[KingFatty]

3072-3072 is my page file size, not automatically set

no pagefile.sys in my performance monitor or C:\windows

Interesting, but I look at the silver lining to this cloud and see opportunity!

I would suggest setting your system to not use a page file at all. When you set that, the computer will ask you to reboot.

After rebooting, go back and set it to 512 MB. That will free up 2.5 gigabytes of space for your use, and will also ensure you actually have a pagefile.

 

[Macgruber]

My pagefile.sys in 7 is in the root directory of C, and I have to uncheck 'hide protected operating system files' in folder options to see it.

yeah i always set my files folders to show hidden but its not there either 🙁

Interesting, but I look at the silver lining to this cloud and see opportunity!

I would suggest setting your system to not use a page file at all. When you set that, the computer will ask you to reboot.

After rebooting, go back and set it to 512 MB. That will free up 2.5 gigabytes of space for your use, and will also ensure you actually have a pagefile.

i will try this , ty fatty 🙂

 

[tracerbullet]

Could have moved?

Do a run - regedit. Then:
H-key local machine
system
current control set
control
session manager
memory management

You should see the location of the pagefile (and also set prefetch and such if desired).

That will tell you if it's somewhere else. If it shows it to be in the normal place then either 1) You haven't properly looked for it somehow, or 2) You aren't actually making one.