Win2k Swap File/Page file size..

[bjc112]

hey all, i was just wondering.. 2k pro has it set at 640 megs.. and i have 448 ram.. i really don't think it needs to be that big.. i know it really doesn't matter but..

 

[Gk0r]

hell i got 256 mbs of ram page file 60kb usage 0%

 

[bjc112]

60KB.. or MB.. i think i am going to lower it to about 50!!

 

[bjc112]

well i lowered it to 50.. and no problems.. ran quake 3.. seems fine.. is this ok to have it at 50.. i doubt i'll go about 500 megs of MEM usage..

 

[Mungla]

I have 512MB of RAM and Win2k's default pagefile size settings are:
Min - 768MB
Max - 1536MB

However, I cannot find a pagefile on my HD. Normally, it would put it the root directory of my C drive. Has anyone heard of Win2k completely deleting the pagefile and only using the RAM?

 

[bjc112]

i might lower it to zero.. but its probably safer at 50!!...

lil bump too!!

what is your guys page files/ swap set at??????

 

[ledzepp98]

if you set it to zero, win2k will automatically create one at like 20megs or something like that the next time you restart

 

[SUOrangeman]

Mungla-

pagefile.sys is likely a hidden system file. Without registry edits, it will be in the root directory of the drive (and not in a sub directory).

-SUO

 

[Mungla]

Never mind, since I reinstalled Win2k, I forgot to check the "show hidden system files." Duh!

It look as though Windows isn't using the file during normal activities. It hasn't been modified since the last time I rebooted.

 

[Dually]

512MB period.

 

[timmfin]

Are page file and swap file the same thing? I've heard both and I am just making sure. I have 512 ram and a 256 swap file right now, I think I'll set it lower.

 

[Hard_Boiled]

They call it page file in Win2K, for the most part it's the same thing as the swap file.

Hard drives are huge these days, I only have 27 gigs and can't even fill them. My page file is 576 megs, I have 384 megs of ram. If someone has 30-60 gigs of hard drive space, should they really care about their page file and getting it as small as possible?

 

[bjc112]

Tim, i would definately lower it to around 25-50... mine has been at 50 for a couple days, rrunning several days.. no problems at alL!

 

[wolf550e]

well i have 256mb ram aand a permanent 512mb swap file, rarely used.
you can lower it to 50megs if you have so muh ram, but whatever you do DONT disable the pagefile. it is needed for some stuff. really. (norton speedisk is one example)

 

[MulLa]

I have the same question as Hard_Boiled why are we concerned about pagefile size when we have 30-60G hdds these days. Is there any performance increase for having a smaller pagefile?

 

[bjc112]

wolf.. why do you have yours set that high??? i know it really doesn't matter but... how often do you go above 300 megs of ram if you had a 50 meg swap?!?!

 

[borealiss]

if you have the space, i would keep the page file the size you had it originally. i have 448megs of ram like you, and set my page file to 200 megs. win2k will always page your disk, no matter how much ram you have, and especially if you multitask a lot. when i would run a ftp server, play mp3's, and burn at 8x on the same hard disk with the page file, the size of the page file relative to the overall speed of my system made a huge difference. the huge page file makes it easier on the hard disk, since consecutive sectors on the disk are not likely to be free for writing information to. think of your page file as a huge hash table, the more you allocate, the less of a chance there will be a collision. when i went to a 700 meg page file, my overall system performance when performing the tasks above was just like i was doing none of the above. everything was smooth, and i'm guessing this is because there are more consecutive sectors in the page file free, making it easier on the hard disk since it can just keep the write head in the same place, whereas on a smaller page file where there's less of a chance of consecutive sectors, it would have to split the file into several areas of the page file. this results in more reads and writes on the hard disk's part, so you maybe be surprised by what a large pagefile can do for you. more seeks, reads, and writes result in lower performance.