Pagefile?

[Gamingphreek]

I have a Software windows RAID array running. So because Windows has to be on the C: and you cant put Windows on its own created RAID partition i have Windows on the C: and everything else on the D: (Not fun wish hardware worked with WinXP). So I disabled virtual memory on the C: and enabled it for the D: so the pagefile could take advantage of the increased transfer rates of RAID.

However, i decided to do a good ol' defrag and it says that it cant move the file. Well i thought it was on the D: but i checked anyways and lo and behold i have a 2GB pagefile.sys on my C:.

Can someone help me out here?

(Also I would LOVE to reinstall but my WinXP disc is damaged so it cant format the drive. I have a valid CD-Key when i got my copy of XP but the disc is bad. Would it be a bad idea to torrent a copy or something and just use those files with my CD-Key? Also I have Vista downloaded i just dont have a PC to use it on at collge. Should i consider just ditching XP and using the Vista beta until the real Vista comes out?)

-Kevin

 

[Atheus]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Would it be a bad idea to torrent a copy or something and just use those files with my CD-Key

Bad idea in what way? It's a completely morally sound thing to do in my book. And you're highly unlikely to get arrested if that's what you mean.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Well im saying is there something wrong with the files that are torrented that would make my copy of windows invalid (Or not able to pass the MS genuine certification)? If so is there anything i can do to get a fresh install copy of the Windows CD (ie: Where the formatting files aren't damaged).

Right now I cant use my Hardware RAID because 2000 does not support SATA HW RAID (NVRAID). (I install 2000 for formatting purposes and then just upgrade to XP and i HATE doing it that way)

-Kevin

 

[bendixG15]

Try MS for a replacement CD..

 

[Nothinman]

So because Windows has to be on the C:

Not true.

So I disabled virtual memory on the C: and enabled it for the D: so the pagefile could take advantage of the increased transfer rates of RAID.

That's pointless since pagefile activity is almost completley random seeks and RAID won't help with those.

However, i decided to do a good ol' defrag and it says that it cant move the file. Well i thought it was on the D: but i checked anyways and lo and behold i have a 2GB pagefile.sys on my C:.

Just leave it on C: and forget about it, if you're actually using the pagefile you'll be paging a lot to both drives anyway and the speed difference between the two volumes won't mean anything.

Right now I cant use my Hardware RAID because 2000 does not support SATA HW RAID (NVRAID). (I install 2000 for formatting purposes and then just upgrade to XP and i HATE doing it that way)

NVRAID isn't hardware RAID and if Win2K isn't support bitch at nVidia since they're the ones writing the drivers.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Not true.

The Windows RAID partition comes into effect when windows starts. Therefore I need a C: partition and then the RAID partition.

Just leave it on C: and forget about it, if you're actually using the pagefile you'll be paging a lot to both drives anyway and the speed difference between the two volumes won't mean anything.

The problem is I dont have enough room for it on my C:. I allocated 10GB for windows and somehow 9Gig is gone. I dont know how or where I just know the Windows install is taking up 3.94Gig, and my Documents is taking up 1 Gig. Program files is taking up 1 Gig. And then this "pagefile.sys" is taking up 2. That brings me to a grand total of 8Gig out of 10Gig. I cant put it on this drive. Can you tell me what this "pagefile.sys" is (aside from the fact that it is my pagefile) and why it isn't on the drive i assigned it to?

NVRAID isn't hardware RAID and if Win2K isn't support bitch at nVidia since they're the ones writing the drivers.

No, it is hardware RAID as it is executed in the HW. It does not, like discrete solutions, have a dedicated amount of cache and a dedicated chip (As it runs through the northbridge). At any rate it will be much easier than trying to get this thing to work through windows.

As for no 2K support technically there is no XP support. Read the title of this...this is what I was having problems with. I found this article afterwards (or someone here did)

 

[nweaver]

If it's hardware raid, then windows can be installed on it...


it's most likely "winraid" like a winmodem.

add a 2 GB page file to your D drive
Shrink the C:\ drive down to 200MB
run defrag

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: nweaver
If it's hardware raid, then windows can be installed on it...


it's most likely "winraid" like a winmodem.

add a 2 GB page file to your D drive
Shrink the C:\ drive down to 200MB
run defrag

Right now I am using the Windows Software RAID. I WANT to use the NVRAID which is hardware based.

As for the pagefile that is my problem!! I disabled Virtual memory on the C: yet it is appears to be taking up 2Gig of space on it.

-Kevin

 

[Nothinman]

The Windows RAID partition comes into effect when windows starts. Therefore I need a C: partition and then the RAID partition.

Reread what I quoted, you said Windows has to be installed on C: which isn't true whether RAID is involved or not. Infact all of our servers where I work have Windows on D:.

The problem is I dont have enough room for it on my C:. I allocated 10GB for windows and somehow 9Gig is gone. I dont know how or where I just know the Windows install is taking up 3.94Gig, and my Documents is taking up 1 Gig. Program files is taking up 1 Gig. And then this "pagefile.sys" is taking up 2. That brings me to a grand total of 8Gig out of 10Gig. I cant put it on this drive. Can you tell me what this "pagefile.sys" is (aside from the fact that it is my pagefile) and why it isn't on the drive i assigned it to?

10G is kind of anemic for a Windows install unless you're very careful, but I have no idea why Windows won't move the thing for you. I'd probably have just edited the pagefile registry key manually by now though if I were you.

No, it is hardware RAID as it is executed in the HW. It does not, like discrete solutions, have a dedicated amount of cache and a dedicated chip (As it runs through the northbridge). At any rate it will be much easier than trying to get this thing to work through windows.

If it was real hardware RAID it would have a dedicated chip since that's what differentiates between hardware and software RAID. The NVRAID crap does all (except the little bit of firmware magic for booting) of it's work through the driver in Windows, i.e. in software. There's a reason that when you bootup Linux it sees both drives seperately on those RAID cards, it's because there's no real hardware RAID going on.

As for no 2K support technically there is no XP support. Read the title of this...this is what I was having problems with. I found this article afterwards (or someone here did)

Then once again, call either nVidia or the motherboard manufacturer because if they provide drivers that can be installed during OS installation and they don't work then that's a bug and they should fix it for you.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Oh, good point about the RAID. Would it be advantageous at all for me to just bite the bullet and buy a cheap PCI-E SATA RAID card then?

As for no support for the NVRAID, it is actually a problem with the Windows install. It loads the drivers from the floppy but then when it reaches the GUI part of the install windows installs a regular IDE driver over top because it doesn't recognize the WHQL signature. It loads the drivers, but doesn't support it throughout the install which results in endless reboots/BSOD.

Is there anyway you can tell me where the registry key for the pagefile is located?

-Kevin

 

[Gamingphreek]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16816132008

I know it is a generic brand but Im in college so i dont have too much money. All i need is something that does all the RAID in HW. Is this card what I am looking for or is it similar to the Nvidia RAID?

-Kevin

 

[Nothinman]

Oh, good point about the RAID. Would it be advantageous at all for me to just bite the bullet and buy a cheap PCI-E SATA RAID card then?

If you really care about RAID, I don't really see the facination though.

As for no support for the NVRAID, it is actually a problem with the Windows install. It loads the drivers from the floppy but then when it reaches the GUI part of the install windows installs a regular IDE driver over top because it doesn't recognize the WHQL signature. It loads the drivers, but doesn't support it throughout the install which results in endless reboots/BSOD.

Sounds like they just need resigned properly then, which should be really simple for them.

Is there anyway you can tell me where the registry key for the pagefile is located?

Not off the top of my head and I can't run VMWare right now since I'm booted into a Xen dom0 kernel. Searching for pagefile.sys should find it though. Have you tried doing each step with a reboot inbetween? Meaning, enable the pagefile on the other drive and reboot to make sure that took before you disable the one on C:. And make sure you have all of the kernel dump options off because they require a pagefile on the system drive.

All i need is something that does all the RAID in HW.

Why?

 

[Gamingphreek]

Not off the top of my head and I can't run VMWare right now since I'm booted into a Xen dom0 kernel. Searching for pagefile.sys should find it though. Have you tried doing each step with a reboot inbetween? Meaning, enable the pagefile on the other drive and reboot to make sure that took before you disable the one on C:. And make sure you have all of the kernel dump options off because they require a pagefile on the system drive.

Well, i know where pagefile.sys is. It is on the root directory of my C:. But you're saying i should search for it in the registry then?

As for the RAID, i want as little software running as possible. I want my HW to do as much as possible. As for why i need it i have 2x 160GB Samsung SATAII HDD's. I dont want them split i want one big 320GB partition so RAID-0 is my answer (Plus i want the experience in dealing with RAID arrays, i love dealing with computers!!)

-Kevin

 

[nweaver]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Not off the top of my head and I can't run VMWare right now since I'm booted into a Xen dom0 kernel. Searching for pagefile.sys should find it though. Have you tried doing each step with a reboot inbetween? Meaning, enable the pagefile on the other drive and reboot to make sure that took before you disable the one on C:. And make sure you have all of the kernel dump options off because they require a pagefile on the system drive.

Well, i know where pagefile.sys is. It is on the root directory of my C:. But you're saying i should search for it in the registry then?

As for the RAID, i want as little software running as possible. I want my HW to do as much as possible. As for why i need it i have 2x 160GB Samsung SATAII HDD's. I dont want them split i want one big 320GB partition so RAID-0 is my answer (Plus i want the experience in dealing with RAID arrays, i love dealing with computers!!)

-Kevin

Raid 0 is pretty much worthless (backup backup backup)
Raid 0 experience is even more worthless (nobody who cares about their data runs raid0)

Even if you run raid 5, bacup, backup, backup. Read a DRP, raid might be a part, but it's NOT part of the backup plan/portion of the DRP

 

[Gamingphreek]

Umm what is this backup backup backup.

I haven't had any problems with instability. And if you are referring to what the RAID array does, you are mistaking 0 for RAID 1.

How is that controller though. Will everything run in hardware or am i going to have to look for something better? (And back to my other question what should i do about the OS)

-Kevin

 

[Nothinman]

I haven't had any problems with instability. And if you are referring to what the RAID array does, you are mistaking 0 for RAID 1.

Consumer level PATA and SATA drives are so cheap I would be scared to trust my data to even one of them without a backup, putting 2 in RAID0 is even scarier. And yes, obviously one of his RAID comments had a typo of 0 instead of 1.

How is that controller though. Will everything run in hardware or am i going to have to look for something better? (And back to my other question what should i do about the OS)

Well after reading through the manual (man, their english is bad) it appears to be a software RAID card too. In the section on updating the driver they refer to it as "Silicon Image SiI 3132 SoftRaid5 Controller". But if you don't really care about hardware vs software it might be worth a try, your main problem with the current controller is the NVRAID driver, righ? Since this is SII it'll have a different driver and might work for you.