How to make XP use more RAM?

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Guest

Hi
just built this gig w/ 1GB RAM and I seldom get to use more than 250MB of it - that is, running a virus scan, a download and some other aps (Media Player, for ex) at the same time

Is there any way to force XP to use more RAM instead of a page file
Michael
 
Hi,
just built this gig w/ 1GB RAM and I seldom get to use more than 250MB of it - that is, running a virus scan, a download and some other aps (Media Player, for ex) at the same time.

Is there any way to force XP to use more RAM instead of a page file?
Michael
Click to expand...

Run more programs.

I'm serious.

If the programs that you have loaded only need 250 MB of RAM to keep up
with the demands you are placing on them, that is all that will be used.
 
Try this

3. Disable paging of drivers and kernel core Post Comment
This will keep the kernel core and drivers in memory and not swap to
the much slower harddisk, this will require you have plenty of memory,
but it will keep system from paging so often.

To do this edit this DWORD registry key :

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \System \CurrentControlSet \Control \Session
Manager \Memory Management]
DisablePagingExecutive=1

keeps stuff in memory. faster than pagefile.

ALso there is a way to minimize the usage of the pagefile.
I can't find it, keep looking you will be able to use the memory.



HTH

Hemlock
 
Thx. for your answer, I will disable Paging in registry.
Re. minimizing usage of page file, I've read somewhere a tip to move the page file on a dedicated partition (2xRAM size) such that the HDD read/write head(s) do not span too much of the platter. Don't know if it's worth it - mainly on a NTFS partition.
Michael
 
I do not believe you should disable the Pagefile function....
be careful.....
XP needs the pagefile to function effectively...
 
Please note disabling paging totally may not be a good idea
keeping the kernel in memory seems to give me about 15-25% faster
performance.

Another trick, if you have two physical drives, put the OS on one
and the pagefile on the other.

If you like to tune, try these

I would not disable paging altogether.

If you like to tune or tweak try these

http://www.blackviper.com/

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

http://www.cyberiapc.com/overclocking.htm very carefully......


as always let the buyer beware and have backups.


Hemlock

More on the memory management.


Memory Performance

Improving memory performance can be done simply by preventing your
hard drive from being used for cache. This is only useful with 256Mb
or more of RAM.

Everything that you'll need to edit here can be found in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/Session
Manager/Memory Management

So of course add
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management] to your *.reg file.

Disable Paging Executive
This will prevent pages sections from RAM going to the hard drive. If
you have a large amount of RAM at least 256Mb (I suggest 512) you
might want to keep the data in your RAM to improve your performance
considerably due to reduced amount of hard drive swappage. The entry
that you will want to modify is called DisablePagingExecutive.
Changing this from 0 to 1 will keep the data in your RAM.

"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

System Cache Boost
The XP kernel can be loaded into your RAM with a simple registry edit.
This can greatly improve performance since the NT Kernel will always
be in your RAM. With this edit you will allocate roughly 4Mb of your
RAM for the kernel. Sometimes more RAM is used but most of the time it
is only 4Mb. The entry that you will need to find is called
LargeSystemCache and you'll need to change this from 0 to 1 in order
to enable this.

"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

To put both of these RAM tweaks into use you'll add something like
this to your reg file

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management]
"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001
"LargeSystemCache"=dword:00000001

Disable Virtual Memory

Right click my computer

Click the advanced tab

Click the settings button under performance

Click the advanced tab

Click change by Virtual Memory

If you have more than 512Mb of RAM
be wary He suggests you click no paging file

Click set then ok 3 times and you'll need to reboot

This may cause your system to quit booting

DirectX based games that use large textures will often times NOT be
able to run even when you have 512Mb of RAM.
 
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