pagefile

  • Thread starter Thread starter Sanford Aranoff
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Sanford Aranoff

Just bought a new xp machine. Using Partition Magic, I plan to partition
my drive into c (for programs), I (for data), and J (for pictures and
stuff). I ghost c: and i: to an external hard drive.

Would it be good to create a special partition, say, e:, for the
pagefile?

I have 1G memory and 80 G on the hard disk.

Thanks.
 
No bad idea. That puts the swap far away from where your computer is normally working.
 
The idea is to put the page file on a separate hard disk (not a separate
partition on the same hard disk, which is counter-productive). This offers a
theoretical performance advantage under certain conditions, but you are not
likely to notice the difference.

I have the page file on a separate hard disk but only because it reduces the
size of my system partition, so I can image it more quickly.
 
In
Sanford Aranoff said:
Would it be good to create a special partition, say, e:, for
the
pagefile?
Click to expand...


No, it would be bad, and can hurt your performance. 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.


Putting the swap file on a second *physical* drive is a good
idea, since it decreases head movement, but not on 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:.



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.
 
Ken said:
In

No, it would be bad, and can hurt your performance. 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.

Putting the swap file on a second *physical* drive is a good
idea, since it decreases head movement, but not on 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:.

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.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I bought a Dell computer, and was told that they do not install
second drives, which I wanted.

Okay, next question. What size?
 
In
Thanks.
Click to expand...


You're weclome.

I bought a Dell computer, and was told that they do not
install second drives, which I wanted.
Click to expand...


Assuming that it's a desktop, not a laptop, it's very easy to buy
and install one yourself. It's probably cheaper than getting it
from Dell, too.


Okay, next question. What size?
Click to expand...



What size should the page file be? Read the late MVP Alex
Nichol's article "Virtual Memory in Windows XP" at
http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm
 
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