What is a swap file?

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Bjorn said:
What is a swap file, is it a file placed on a removable hard drive to be
transferred?
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No, the "swap file" is the vernacular term used to refer to Windows'
Virtual Memory.

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm



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Bjorn said:
What is a swap file, is it a file placed on a removable hard drive to be
transferred?
Click to expand...

A swap file is a file on the hard drive that Windows uses to
supplement the installed RAM in your computer.

When memory requirements exceed the amount of installed RAM Windows
identifies the least used items currently in RAM and moves these items
out to the swap file so as to allow the RAM they occupy to be used for
other, currently more important, purposes. Then at some subsequent
point when the items moved to the swap file are needed again,
something else is moved out to the swap file and the items now needed
are moved back in again. This movement of memory content back and
forth between RAM and the swap file can be described as "swapping
places" hence the name swap file. The file is also referred to as the
page file or the paging file, because in Windows XP items are moved in
4K "pages" or blocks.

Virtual memory is another term that is frequently used in connection
with the swap file. Virtual memory actually refers to the
combination of both the installed RAM and the paging/swap file
although many people use it to just mean the paging/swap file.

Hope this explains the situation.

Good luck

Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
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