pagefile.sys on other partition (and possibly on other disk) ...

  • Thread starter Thread starter Vladimir Stefanovic
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Vladimir Stefanovic

Hi,

Is there any real benefit of making another partition for
storing pagefile.sys (swap file)?

Also, what about making such partition on another HD?

Is making a fixed size swap, of 4GB for example, better
than "Let Windows to choose..." ?
 
Vladimir said:
Is there any real benefit of making another partition for
storing pagefile.sys (swap file)?
Click to expand...


No, it's not only not a benefit, it's a detriment.What it does is move the
page file to a location on the hard drive distant from the other
frequently-used data on the drive. The result is that every time Windows
needs to use the page file, the time to get to it and back from it is
increased.

Also, what about making such partition on another HD?
Click to expand...


Putting the page file on a second *physical* drive is a good idea, since it
decreases head movement, but not to a second partition on a single drive. A
good rule of thumb is that the page file should be on the most-used
partition of the least-used physical drive. For almost everyone with a
single drive, that's C:.

If you have enough RAM, the penalty formoving the page file to a second
partition may be slight, since you won't use the page file much, but it
won't help you.

Also, the other problem with a separate partition like this is that you run
the risk of making it too small, in which case programs will fail for lack
of virtual memory, or too large, which is wasteful of disk space. If you
leave it on C:, it can expand or contract as needed.

Is making a fixed size swap, of 4GB for example, better
than "Let Windows to choose..." ?
Click to expand...


No. 4GB is *way* more than almost anyone needs.
 
Sat, 25 Mar 2006 14:30:18 +0100 from Vladimir Stefanovic
Is there any real benefit of making another partition for
storing pagefile.sys (swap file)?
No.

Also, what about making such partition on another HD?
Yes.

Is making a fixed size swap, of 4GB for example, better
than "Let Windows to choose..." ?
Click to expand...

Almost never.


For details, read Alex Nichols' excellent article at
<http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm>.
 
Thank you for the detailed explanation.

You answers were very useful, indeed.
 
Vladimir said:
Thank you for the detailed explanation.

You answers were very useful, indeed.
Click to expand...


If you mean me, you're welcome. But for the future, may I ask you to please
quote the message you'ree responding to, as I did above. Without a quote
it's very difficult to be sure to whom or to what you are responding, and in
many cases, your message turns out to incomprehensible without a quote. It
may seem apparent to you that you're replying to the message directly above
yours, but not everybiody keeps already-read messages (I don't, for example)
and not everybody sorts messages the same way you do.
 
[This followup was posted to microsoft.public.windowsxp.customize and
a copy was sent to the cited author.]

Sat, 25 Mar 2006 20:52:21 +0100 from Vladimir Stefanovic
Thank you for the detailed explanation.

You answers were very useful, indeed.
Click to expand...

Who is "you"? If it's me, you're welcome; but you got several
answers.

Please, in future show some context for what you're talking about.
When you write, remember that your readers will not know what you are
thinking.

(This doesn't mean quoting teh whole previous article; it means
quoting just enough to establish context. Please see
http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/unice.htm#quote for some more about
this.)
 
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