Page File in XP Pro

[munruss]

I want to change my page file location for the best performance for my machine Here are my current stats:

Initial size (MB) 1152
Maximun size (MB) 2304

Total paging file size for all drives:
minimum allowed: 2MB
recommended: 1150MB
currently allocated: 1151MB

i have (2) 15 gig partitions that i can use for this. What do you recommend me doing?

 

[Nothinman]

I would recommend leaving it alone, chances are you aren't using it enough to notice a difference.

 

[spyordie007]

Let Windows manage the size on the same partition that Windows is installed on.

The only real time you should have to "tweak" the pagefile for better performance is when both of these requirements are met:
1. You are out of physical RAM so the system is performing a large number of pages.
2. You have a seperate physical hard drive that connects to the system on a seperate channel (2 IDE drives on the same channel do not qualify).

There have been dozens of threads about this very topic in the past. I suggest reading some of them if you want further information on the topic.

 

[Ryoga]

Rule of thumb is that the maximum size a page file needs to be on an average system is an amount equal to 1.5 times the current amount of system RAM or 512MB (whichever is less). That means if you have more that 384MB of system RAM, you don't need to go over 512MB for an average system.

If you wish to more accurately calculate what your page file maximum will ever be, do the following. Stress your system. Open up five or six pages in IE and go to your favorite web sites. Open up a .pdf in Acrobat. Open a MS Word document and an Excel spreadsheet. Open up Windows Media Player and load a movie. If you are able to, open up a recent 3D game, start a level, and then <Atl>+<Tab> out. Do this all at once. If at some point this makes your system perform below the level you would ever run it at, you can stop.

Now, open up the Task Manager, and click the Performance tab. Under Commit Charge, look at the Peak value. Divide that by 1000 (1024) to get it in MB. Now add 20% to it. Chances are, you will never need that much page file, so set that value as your maximum.

You can also get a rough idea of what your peak should be by simply using your system for two weeks and then checking the Peak Commit Charge and adding ~30%.

In certain applications, such as if you play Everquest, do multimedia editing, or other system-intensive programs you should probably leave page file management to Windows. Having Windows take time to resize the page file is less aggrivating than potentially choking it.