Your paging file is too small"

  • Thread starter Thread starter Walterius
  • Start date Start date
W

Walterius

I keep doing what it says (increasing the size), but the size is never wrong
to begin with (720 min/1440 max; I have 512 MB RAM). And it keeps telling me
at every boot that the size is too small.

What's screwed up and how can I fix it?

Molti grazie.

Walterius Oldfartius
 
Sounds like incorrect drive permissions. The "Everyone" group permissions
might have been removed from the %systemdrive% Make sure that the System
account (NT Authority) has full control of the %systemdrive% and or the
drive you're trying to put the pagefile on. My
Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions

The system account (nt authority) is the operating system's account and
needs to have full control of the drive(s) the pagefile exists on. The
system account is included in the "Everyone" group.

You can also try restoring default permissions.

How to Restore the Default NTFS Permissions for Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=266118

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I keep doing what it says (increasing the size), but the size is never
wrong
| to begin with (720 min/1440 max; I have 512 MB RAM). And it keeps telling
me
| at every boot that the size is too small.
|
| What's screwed up and how can I fix it?
|
| Molti grazie.
|
| Walterius Oldfartius
|
|
 
Maybe you're doing/running something that requires a much larger
pagefile than would normally be the case? Maybe your pagefile is
fragmenting rapidly? Maybe you're not really increasing the size
although you think you are??

These may seem unlikely, but you might try setting pagefileMIN =
pagefileMAX (for starters in your case maybe 1440/1440.) This eliminates
fragmentation. Then, if you still get that msg, try increasing the size
until it's obvious that isn't helping. REMEMBER TO REBOOT after each
pagefile size change; the change doesn't occur until you restart the OS.

When the system says there's something wrong and you say there's nothing
wrong, Oldfartius, my money's on the system.

Some other responder, much cleverer than I, may have a new! improved!
technical answer. Caveat lector.

/Olderfartius :-)
I keep doing what it says (increasing the size), but the size is never wrong
to begin with (720 min/1440 max; I have 512 MB RAM). And it keeps telling me
at every boot that the size is too small.

What's screwed up and how can I fix it?

Molti grazie.

Walterius Oldfartius




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Hmm. Thanks, but:

1a. I use entirely the FAT32 file system, so security permissions don't
apply.

1b. I could not make any sense out of "My
Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions". There appear to be no
such options?

1c. I tried setting the Min = Max = 1440 for Swap File size. No joy.

2. I have a complex system and that may be a factor: Win2K partition with
Office XP, ditto with Office 2000, ditto with Office 97, WinMe, and Ubuntu
Linux. ??? The problem seems to have begun, if I recall rightly, with the
installation of Ubuntu a few days ago.

3. I use CCleaner many times a day. I suspect it might (occasionally?)
delete more than it is supposed to?

4. I also use ToniArts EasyCleaner [registry] every day or so. I let it do
all it wants to. Maybe I am deleting too much?

5. Other than five OS's, I do very little to stress the computer. No big
Photoshop edits, etc.

Probbaly you can't solve this from the excessive information I have
provided, but I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Btw--the computer rnns fine with only 20 a MB swap file. ???
 
You have all that on 1 hard drive?

Is there a boot manager that can isolate these partitions so that the
active partitioin can see only itself? Or are you allowing all
partitions to see each other?

No idea what Ubuntu is. Does the problem go away if you uninstall Ubuntu?

Trusting your system to "cleaner" software products is, generally
speaking, badly misplaced faith. That's a widely-held belief in these
newsgroups.

I don't understand your 20MB swapfile comment. Absent other information
about what this throwaway remark is supposed to mean...So What?
Hmm. Thanks, but:

1a. I use entirely the FAT32 file system, so security permissions don't
apply.

1b. I could not make any sense out of "My
Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions". There appear to be no
such options?

1c. I tried setting the Min = Max = 1440 for Swap File size. No joy.

2. I have a complex system and that may be a factor: Win2K partition with
Office XP, ditto with Office 2000, ditto with Office 97, WinMe, and Ubuntu
Linux. ??? The problem seems to have begun, if I recall rightly, with the
installation of Ubuntu a few days ago.

3. I use CCleaner many times a day. I suspect it might (occasionally?)
delete more than it is supposed to?

4. I also use ToniArts EasyCleaner [registry] every day or so. I let it do
all it wants to. Maybe I am deleting too much?

5. Other than five OS's, I do very little to stress the computer. No big
Photoshop edits, etc.

Probbaly you can't solve this from the excessive information I have
provided, but I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Btw--the computer rnns fine with only 20 a MB swap file. ???




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More than likely this one applies.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/223188/

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Hmm. Thanks, but:
|
| 1a. I use entirely the FAT32 file system, so security permissions don't
| apply.
|
| 1b. I could not make any sense out of "My
| Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions". There appear to be
no
| such options?
|
| 1c. I tried setting the Min = Max = 1440 for Swap File size. No joy.
|
| 2. I have a complex system and that may be a factor: Win2K partition with
| Office XP, ditto with Office 2000, ditto with Office 97, WinMe, and Ubuntu
| Linux. ??? The problem seems to have begun, if I recall rightly, with the
| installation of Ubuntu a few days ago.
|
| 3. I use CCleaner many times a day. I suspect it might (occasionally?)
| delete more than it is supposed to?
|
| 4. I also use ToniArts EasyCleaner [registry] every day or so. I let it do
| all it wants to. Maybe I am deleting too much?
|
| 5. Other than five OS's, I do very little to stress the computer. No big
| Photoshop edits, etc.
|
| Probbaly you can't solve this from the excessive information I have
| provided, but I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts.
|
| Btw--the computer rnns fine with only 20 a MB swap file. ???
|
|
 
I have all that on two 60-GB HDDs.

The normal size of a Windows 9x/2K swap file is 700-1440 MB.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution. It adds two partitions to the drive on which
it is installed.

It is not necessary to hide the partitions from each other. The Ubuntu boot
manager and the Win2K boot manager take care of that.

All the partitions and OS's can see each other and access each other's FAT32
files, except that Windows cannot normally see the Ubuntu Linux file system;
however, Partition Magic can see it.

Not willing to uninstall Ubuntu because I am just (barely) learning Linux.
E.g., I do not yet know how to find all Linux files or delete files. I did,
however, teach Ubuntu to see my Windows files.

Anything else? :)

Walterius Oldfartus
Dan Seur said:
You have all that on 1 hard drive?

Is there a boot manager that can isolate these partitions so that the
active partitioin can see only itself? Or are you allowing all
partitions to see each other?

No idea what Ubuntu is. Does the problem go away if you uninstall Ubuntu?

Trusting your system to "cleaner" software products is, generally
speaking, badly misplaced faith. That's a widely-held belief in these
newsgroups.

I don't understand your 20MB swapfile comment. Absent other information
about what this throwaway remark is supposed to mean...So What?
Hmm. Thanks, but:

1a. I use entirely the FAT32 file system, so security permissions don't
apply.

1b. I could not make any sense out of "My
Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions". There appear to be no
such options?

1c. I tried setting the Min = Max = 1440 for Swap File size. No joy.

2. I have a complex system and that may be a factor: Win2K partition with
Office XP, ditto with Office 2000, ditto with Office 97, WinMe, and Ubuntu
Linux. ??? The problem seems to have begun, if I recall rightly, with the
installation of Ubuntu a few days ago.

3. I use CCleaner many times a day. I suspect it might (occasionally?)
delete more than it is supposed to?

4. I also use ToniArts EasyCleaner [registry] every day or so. I let it do
all it wants to. Maybe I am deleting too much?

5. Other than five OS's, I do very little to stress the computer. No big
Photoshop edits, etc.

Probbaly you can't solve this from the excessive information I have
provided, but I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Btw--the computer rnns fine with only 20 a MB swap file. ???




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Your config scares me. Not least the part about how the W2k boot mgr
takes care of intersystem protection.

Can't tell from the thread (especially given that 20MB swapfile remark)
whether the pagefile is actually ever getting set to the numbers you're
intending. It does seem that either the settings aren't 'taking' at all
or something else is nullifying/resetting them.

The normal size of an NT-based system swapfile is a variable depending
on several factors, principally RAMsize and secondarily system load. I
have no idea whether or to what extent the size of a swapfile in a
DOS-based W9x system matters; I've never had one.

I doubt I can contribute more here. I hope I haven't led you astray.

Good luck. :-)
I have all that on two 60-GB HDDs.

The normal size of a Windows 9x/2K swap file is 700-1440 MB.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution. It adds two partitions to the drive on which
it is installed.

It is not necessary to hide the partitions from each other. The Ubuntu boot
manager and the Win2K boot manager take care of that.

All the partitions and OS's can see each other and access each other's FAT32
files, except that Windows cannot normally see the Ubuntu Linux file system;
however, Partition Magic can see it.

Not willing to uninstall Ubuntu because I am just (barely) learning Linux.
E.g., I do not yet know how to find all Linux files or delete files. I did,
however, teach Ubuntu to see my Windows files.

Anything else? :)

Walterius Oldfartus
You have all that on 1 hard drive?

Is there a boot manager that can isolate these partitions so that the
active partitioin can see only itself? Or are you allowing all
partitions to see each other?

No idea what Ubuntu is. Does the problem go away if you uninstall Ubuntu?

Trusting your system to "cleaner" software products is, generally
speaking, badly misplaced faith. That's a widely-held belief in these
newsgroups.

I don't understand your 20MB swapfile comment. Absent other information
about what this throwaway remark is supposed to mean...So What?
Hmm. Thanks, but:

1a. I use entirely the FAT32 file system, so security permissions don't
apply.

1b. I could not make any sense out of "My
Computer|Drive|File|Properties|Security|Permissions". There appear to be
Click to expand...
no
such options?

1c. I tried setting the Min = Max = 1440 for Swap File size. No joy.

2. I have a complex system and that may be a factor: Win2K partition
Click to expand...
with
Office XP, ditto with Office 2000, ditto with Office 97, WinMe, and
Click to expand...
Ubuntu
Linux. ??? The problem seems to have begun, if I recall rightly, with
Click to expand...
the
installation of Ubuntu a few days ago.

3. I use CCleaner many times a day. I suspect it might (occasionally?)
delete more than it is supposed to?

4. I also use ToniArts EasyCleaner [registry] every day or so. I let it
Click to expand...
do
all it wants to. Maybe I am deleting too much?

5. Other than five OS's, I do very little to stress the computer. No big
Photoshop edits, etc.

Probbaly you can't solve this from the excessive information I have
provided, but I would still appreciate anyone's thoughts.

Btw--the computer rnns fine with only 20 a MB swap file. ???




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From a command prompt;

echo %systemdrive%

then see if the drive letter matches
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
PagingFiles

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Tempting to use the KB article, but how (pls explain) does it apply? ??
 
Bingo! It doesn't match. The registry uses C:. My OS is running on F:. Do I
change the registry reference from C" to F:?
 
I spoke too soon. The registry first mentions C: and then mentions F: in the
same entry. I am confused.
 
Post the contents of 'PagingFiles'

What is the expected drive letter for the boot partition?

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
|I spoke too soon. The registry first mentions C: and then mentions F: in
the
| same entry. I am confused.
 
No, don't edit the registry here.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Bingo! It doesn't match. The registry uses C:. My OS is running on F:. Do
I
| change the registry reference from C" to F:?
 
PagingFiles REG_MULTI_SZ c:\pagefile.sys 800 1440 f:\pagefile.sys 1440 1440

The former value (800 1440) is from when I tried to increase the swap file
size without realizing I was changing C:, not F:.

The latter value (1440 1440) is when I set both F: values to the max.

I haven't checked it, but I believe the boot partition is always on C: in
both Windows and Linux.
 
Be aware that Microsoft defines the boot partition for the partition where
the operating system is installed, while the system partition is the first
primary active partition (where the boot sector resides)

What was the drive letter for the boot partition when you installed windows?
What is the file system for C:\ ? and for F:\ ? It's possible the pagefile
might be corrupt. You can overwrite the file from the recovery console.
Here's how to do it.

Create a zero byte text file named pagefile.txt say in the root of C:\

Then Control Panel|Admin Tools|Local Security Policy Recovery console:
"Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to 'Enabled'

Then start the recovery console.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer.

Then from the recovery console command line;
SET allowallpaths = TRUE

to gain access to all folders.

Then
copy C:\pagefile.txt C:\pagefile.sys
copy C:\pagefile.txt F:\pagefile.sys

Restart for effect.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| PagingFiles REG_MULTI_SZ c:\pagefile.sys 800 1440 f:\pagefile.sys 1440
1440
|
| The former value (800 1440) is from when I tried to increase the swap file
| size without realizing I was changing C:, not F:.
|
| The latter value (1440 1440) is when I set both F: values to the max.
|
| I haven't checked it, but I believe the boot partition is always on C: in
| both Windows and Linux.
 
Dave,
Local Security Policy Recovery console:
"Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to 'Enabled'
Click to expand...

This does not exist??? Were you thinking Win XP? Therefore I did not attempt
the rest of your Recovery Console procedure.

I originally installed Windows ME and I installed it to the only place it
can be installed, C:.
The Windows 2000 installations (three of them) went into other partitions,
along with yet another partition for data.

The file system for all five Windows partitions is FAT32 (for compatibility
with Windows ME).

I have come to the tentative conclusion that I overwhelmed the Ubuntu Linux
GRUB bootloader with too many Windows OS's. The Ubuntu Linux installation
procedure mentions adding only ONE extra Windows OS. Three may have been too
much for GRUB. I had a similar problem with the LILO bootloader (same number
of Windows partitions) with another distribution of Linux and blew every
OS--Windows and Linux--and the MBR. Repairing that took a while. :)

Meanwhile, despite whining at every boot about a blown swap file, my main
Windows 2000 system works fine. I am writing this in it now.

Last night I defragged all partitions, checking for errors (WME Defrag). One
of the W2K partitions reported that there were errors; perhaps my C: drive
was corrupt; and my C: drive didn't have enough space to write the SCANDISK
error log. Ridiculous. That partition has GBs of spare space.

In other words, I think GRUB and Windows are not cooperating the way they
ideally should.

I have set Linux aside for a day or two. I've gotten overwhelmed myself. I
have no further questions for now, Dave, and I appreciate--very much--your
help.

Dave Patrick said:
Be aware that Microsoft defines the boot partition for the partition where
the operating system is installed, while the system partition is the first
primary active partition (where the boot sector resides)

What was the drive letter for the boot partition when you installed windows?
What is the file system for C:\ ? and for F:\ ? It's possible the pagefile
might be corrupt. You can overwrite the file from the recovery console.
Here's how to do it.

Create a zero byte text file named pagefile.txt say in the root of C:\

Then Control Panel|Admin Tools|Local Security Policy Recovery console:
"Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to 'Enabled'

Then start the recovery console.

To start the Recovery Console, start the computer from the Windows 2000
Setup CD or the Windows 2000 Setup floppy disks. If you do not have Setup
floppy disks and your computer cannot start from the Windows 2000 Setup CD,
use another Windows 2000-based computer to create the Setup floppy disks. At
the "Welcome to Setup" screen. Press F10 or R to repair a Windows 2000
installation, and then press C to use the Recovery Console. The Recovery
Console then prompts you for the administrator password. If you do not have
the correct password, Recovery Console does not allow access to the
computer.

Then from the recovery console command line;
SET allowallpaths = TRUE

to gain access to all folders.

Then
copy C:\pagefile.txt C:\pagefile.sys
copy C:\pagefile.txt F:\pagefile.sys

Restart for effect.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| PagingFiles REG_MULTI_SZ c:\pagefile.sys 800 1440 f:\pagefile.sys 1440
1440
|
| The former value (800 1440) is from when I tried to increase the swap file
| size without realizing I was changing C:, not F:.
|
| The latter value (1440 1440) is when I set both F: values to the max.
|
| I haven't checked it, but I believe the boot partition is always on C: in
| both Windows and Linux.
Click to expand...
 
It exists in all OS's Windows 2000 and later.

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

:
| Dave,
|
| > Local Security Policy Recovery console:
| > "Allow floppy copy and access to all drives/folders" set to 'Enabled'
|
| This does not exist??? Were you thinking Win XP? Therefore I did not
attempt
| the rest of your Recovery Console procedure.
<snip>
 
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