Virtual Memory

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Lynda

A Windows 2000 PC running SP4 with 26 gigs of disk space
is receiving virtual memory errors with the pagefile. I
followed KB articles 259151 and 257758 to fix problem but
the user still gets the Limited Virtual Memory error upon
boot up. There is an article to modify the registry but
the article is for NT 4. Is it safe to use KB article
140472 to fix this problem? I have a full backup of the
workstation. There was not an article for 2000 to modify
the registry.

Thanks.
 
You might try defraging the paging file. In order to do this I use Diskeeper. In Win 9x I was able to turn off the swap file, reboot and defrag the hard drive, then turn the swap file (pagefile) back on and reboot again. I don't know if this works with Win2k and ntfs or not.
 
You might try defraging the paging file. In order to do this I use Diskeeper. In Win 9x I was able to turn off the swap file, reboot and defrag the hard drive, then turn the swap file (pagefile) back on and reboot again. I don't know if this works with Win2k and ntfs or not.
 
In said:
A Windows 2000 PC running SP4 with 26 gigs of disk space
is receiving virtual memory errors with the pagefile. I
followed KB articles 259151 and 257758 to fix problem but
the user still gets the Limited Virtual Memory error upon
boot up. There is an article to modify the registry but
the article is for NT 4. Is it safe to use KB article
140472 to fix this problem? I have a full backup of the
workstation. There was not an article for 2000 to modify
the registry.
Click to expand...

I did not check that article, becaus you said it was NT4-specific.

Determining why would be my first step. If the ACLs (file permissions)
on the root directory (location of the pagefile.sys) have been changed,
it could be that SYSTEM no longer has adequate permission for one
thing. And I recall an issue where a large number of files in the "\"
could cause this and/or similar problems... possibley fixed by SP3/4
(fuzzy recollection).

Defragmenting the volume may help. Even forcing a CHKDSK /F (or /R)
might help. Testing the RAM might reveal a memory problem. Anti-*
scanning a must. Assuming no other Event Log entries indicate other
issues (eg as with the disk).
 
In said:
A Windows 2000 PC running SP4 with 26 gigs of disk space
is receiving virtual memory errors with the pagefile. I
followed KB articles 259151 and 257758 to fix problem but
the user still gets the Limited Virtual Memory error upon
boot up. There is an article to modify the registry but
the article is for NT 4. Is it safe to use KB article
140472 to fix this problem? I have a full backup of the
workstation. There was not an article for 2000 to modify
the registry.
Click to expand...

I did not check that article, becaus you said it was NT4-specific.

Determining why would be my first step. If the ACLs (file permissions)
on the root directory (location of the pagefile.sys) have been changed,
it could be that SYSTEM no longer has adequate permission for one
thing. And I recall an issue where a large number of files in the "\"
could cause this and/or similar problems... possibley fixed by SP3/4
(fuzzy recollection).

Defragmenting the volume may help. Even forcing a CHKDSK /F (or /R)
might help. Testing the RAM might reveal a memory problem. Anti-*
scanning a must. Assuming no other Event Log entries indicate other
issues (eg as with the disk).
 
I'm going from memory here as I did this over a year ago, but you could
try disbaling the paging executive:

1. Navigate to
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management)
2. Add a REG_DWORD "DisbalePagingExecutive"
3. set the value to 1 (=enabled)

ONLY DO THIS IF YOU'RE CONFIDENT YOU HAVE PLENTY OF RAM - it's very
cheap now anyway.

This should force w2k (also XP) to use ALL available RAM before trying
to write to pagefile.sys

I've found it speeds up both w2k & xp significantly, but only if you
have 512Mb or more of RAM. With 1Gb RAM, it really flies! Your machine
will still write a pagefile.sys, but only when it absolutely has to.
You could also try START/SETTINGS/CONTROL
PANEL/SYSTEM/ADVANCED/PERFORMANCE/ADVANCED and changing the max & min
pagefile sizes to the same value. I think MS recommends 1.5 x RAM, but
I've been running up to 40 apps at once with 1Gb RAM and only 100Mb
pagefile. I've been doing this for over a year and the system has NEVER
run out of memory or tried to increase the pagefile size.

Clearly this might not work for everyone, and you should backup the
registry and your data before trying any of this (blah blah blah -
disclaimer).

Hope this helps.
 
I'm going from memory here as I did this over a year ago, but you could
try disbaling the paging executive:

1. Navigate to
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session
Manager\Memory Management)
2. Add a REG_DWORD "DisbalePagingExecutive"
3. set the value to 1 (=enabled)

ONLY DO THIS IF YOU'RE CONFIDENT YOU HAVE PLENTY OF RAM - it's very
cheap now anyway.

This should force w2k (also XP) to use ALL available RAM before trying
to write to pagefile.sys

I've found it speeds up both w2k & xp significantly, but only if you
have 512Mb or more of RAM. With 1Gb RAM, it really flies! Your machine
will still write a pagefile.sys, but only when it absolutely has to.
You could also try START/SETTINGS/CONTROL
PANEL/SYSTEM/ADVANCED/PERFORMANCE/ADVANCED and changing the max & min
pagefile sizes to the same value. I think MS recommends 1.5 x RAM, but
I've been running up to 40 apps at once with 1Gb RAM and only 100Mb
pagefile. I've been doing this for over a year and the system has NEVER
run out of memory or tried to increase the pagefile size.

Clearly this might not work for everyone, and you should backup the
registry and your data before trying any of this (blah blah blah -
disclaimer).

Hope this helps.
 
I don't think editing the registry directly is going to do it for you.
You'd be better off modifying the registry through the control panel, as
follows:

First off, optimize you swap file settings. I recommend a file with a
minimum of 2x+2 your physical ram, and a max of 4095 on your C drive. (This
setting is debatable, btw). Reboot.

Boot into "safe mode with command prompt" mode. Delete all instances of the
swap file (hidden, system, read only files with the extension *.swp in the
root of C:\. Boot into "safe mode". Defrag. Reboot normally.
 
I don't think editing the registry directly is going to do it for you.
You'd be better off modifying the registry through the control panel, as
follows:

First off, optimize you swap file settings. I recommend a file with a
minimum of 2x+2 your physical ram, and a max of 4095 on your C drive. (This
setting is debatable, btw). Reboot.

Boot into "safe mode with command prompt" mode. Delete all instances of the
swap file (hidden, system, read only files with the extension *.swp in the
root of C:\. Boot into "safe mode". Defrag. Reboot normally.
 
In said:
I don't think editing the registry directly is going to do it for
you. You'd be better off modifying the registry through the
control panel, as follows:

First off, optimize you swap file settings. I recommend a file
with a minimum of 2x+2 your physical ram, and a max of 4095 on
your C drive. (This setting is debatable, btw). Reboot.
Click to expand...

Debatable indeed since we know neither the physical RAM in the
system, nor the "workload" in terms of number and type of
applications run.
Boot into "safe mode with command prompt" mode. Delete all
instances of the swap file (hidden, system, read only files with
the extension *.swp in the root of C:\. Boot into "safe mode".
Defrag. Reboot normally.
Click to expand...

I suspect you are mixing W9x and NTx instructions here. For one
thing (and by default) there can only be one "swap" file per
partition and it is named: pagefile.sys. More correctly called the
paging file in NTx.

The chances that filename, location, etc. were altered is exceedingly
slim as I see it, although several such files over multiple volumes
and/or physical drives is not uncommon.
 
In said:
I don't think editing the registry directly is going to do it for
you. You'd be better off modifying the registry through the
control panel, as follows:

First off, optimize you swap file settings. I recommend a file
with a minimum of 2x+2 your physical ram, and a max of 4095 on
your C drive. (This setting is debatable, btw). Reboot.
Click to expand...

Debatable indeed since we know neither the physical RAM in the
system, nor the "workload" in terms of number and type of
applications run.
Boot into "safe mode with command prompt" mode. Delete all
instances of the swap file (hidden, system, read only files with
the extension *.swp in the root of C:\. Boot into "safe mode".
Defrag. Reboot normally.
Click to expand...

I suspect you are mixing W9x and NTx instructions here. For one
thing (and by default) there can only be one "swap" file per
partition and it is named: pagefile.sys. More correctly called the
paging file in NTx.

The chances that filename, location, etc. were altered is exceedingly
slim as I see it, although several such files over multiple volumes
and/or physical drives is not uncommon.
 
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