Win7 pagefile.sys. Flexible size or fixed? Can I reduce size if I increased RAM?

[GoodEnough]

I upped to 8GB RAM. My page file is 8GB.
I'd think I'd need less pagefile space since I now have more RAM,
and am less likely to need to need pagefile capacity.

Any basics on reducing it?
Is it always a fixed size?

Can I remove it, and then let it add back, as needed?
Or does it need the full 8GB up front?

 

[mikeymikec]

Modern versions of Windows by default will auto-allocate the size of the swap file (what you called the page file). In the vast majority of cases I see no reason to alter that behaviour, AFAIK Windows doesn't do anything stupid like swapping out active process data to disk when there's plenty of RAM available.

For the sake of the size of my boot SSD I set the swapfile to a fixed figure of 1GB (I have 8GB RAM too, Win7 64) , my logic being that if a really wants to swap, it can without failing.

There is no generally applicable and valid rule of thumb regarding swap file size that I'm aware of, it very much depends on the load that the system in question is expected to have.

You can set Windows to not use the swap file at all. Some people do (some also claim that their computer is faster for it but I've never seen any hard and reproducible evidence to this effect). It's been a while since I've last heard of a problem doing that. I just think that for the sake of recouping a relatively small amount of disk space one is introducing a risk of a problem occurring with a particular application.

You can also set Windows to have a default ("initial") amount of swap and a maximum amount under advanced system properties.

 

[Charlie98]

MikeyMike pretty much covered it.

On all my systems I set my page file as a fixed 4GB to avoid any problems. There was a rather extensive thread on this subject some time ago, if you need further information on it, give it a search.

 

[BarkingGhostar]

I'm old and slow and don't have a pagefile in my SSD-booted system.

 

[bigi]

Meh, do it as fixed 1024/1024 and call it a day just for sake of "compatibility issues".

I do no page file at all with my 32GB system.

 

[GoodEnough]

You can also set Windows to have a default ("initial") amount of swap and a maximum amount under advanced system properties.

I think I'll do this. No downside. If it gets reupped back to 8GB, then fine.
If not, I saved some space.

 

[gammaray]

thats all you need with 8GBs of RAM