Virtual Memory question

[sethm1]

Intel i740 processor
6 GB DDR3
320 GB drive- C
250 GB drive - B (what I use as one of my back ups and this is an internal drive)
ATI Radeon 4850 (1GB)

What would be the best setting? - System Managed, No paging file, or ????

 

[Nibiru2012]

You can use a system managed "Paging File" which is virtual memory if you want. I always make a separate partition on another hard drive and put the Paging File on it.

For example; I have 4GB of RAM, so I set up 5GB partition on my second hard drive and moved the Paging File to there from the C drive. I made the Paging File 4GB same as my RAM. Windows likes it better if the Paging File is separate from the program files. I've been doing this since I first started using XP back in 2001. Never had any issues.

With 4GB of RAM or more there is no reason to make the Paging File larger than the size of RAM. Some people use less for the Paging File. It's a personal choice really.

More info can be read about here.

 

[SystemsAdminAS]

seth,

I'm with nibiru for the same reasons - if you're doing a clean install, always make a 5-10 GB partition first to place the paging file in later on when the installation is all set. Doing this accomplishes two things - the file used most by your machine will stay on the fastest part of your HD, AND you are ensuring it won't become fragmented.

When you are done installing, head into your advanced system settings and specify the page file size statically on this partition, generally the size of your RAM is good. You can always set a minimum of 2048 (2 gigs) and on x86 machines go up to 4096 (4 gigs) for a range. If you are installing a x64 version, you can technically specify up to 16tb (16,000 gigs). I generally do a range of 1-2x the size of whatever amount of RAM I have in the machine - this concept can be applied to any version of Windows back through 3.1, and is one of the best things you can do to help prevent your machine from losing performance over time.

 

[sethm1]

Thanks-
x86 refers to a 32 bit machine ?

I already been thru the install (of Win 7)- can I still set up an extra partition?
If so, how?

I have 6 GB of ram- so minimum of 2048 and max of 12,000 ?
Can I do this even I don't set up a second partition?

 

[SystemsAdminAS]

seth,

x86 is a reference to a 32-bit architecture, yes. Win 7 will let you enlarge a partition if you have extra unallocated space (see Computer Management in the Administrative tools dialog), or create a partition out of unallocated space, but not directly dice up a partition so you can get a 5-10 GB chunk out of it for a pagefile partition.

However, you can use third-party products like Acronis TrueImage Home to do this - the trial version is capable of shrinking your main partition, moving it forward, and creating a partition on the beginning of the drive for a pagefile which you can then specify in Winows.

http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/trueimage/index.html

 

[Nibiru2012]

sethm1

You can in Computer Management section go to Disk Management and click on the partition you'll create the new partition from. Choose the "Shrink Volume" option and then reduce it by the amount you choose. You'll then have an unallocated space and make it your new partition. Fairly simple, but be sure you click the "Apply" arrow in the menu and your done.

Hope it all works out for you.

 

[sethm1]

Thanks - I'll add this tio my project list.

Oh, So when setting up the page file what is the setting for the C drive?

Also- I have a another internal hard drive - drive B.
Plus the DVD drive then my 12-1 card reader.
I think the last designated letter is K - for one of the 12-1 ports.
When I partition my C drive, theoretically I can designate it as the "Z" drive - yes?

 

[SystemsAdminAS]

Nibiru,

Ah, I misspoke on that - you are correct, you CAN shrink a volume using computer management, but only thereby freeing up space AFTER the partition, rather than BEFORE it as you can with Acronis - it's actually a 3-step procedure with a shrink, moving the partition 'forwards' on the drive, then creating the new partition 'before' the old partition.

With the Shrink Volume utility in computer management, you could at least cordon off your page file to protect from fragmentation, but the problem is that it'll end up being on the slower part of the drive at the end, rather than at the beginning - this might result in worse performance as that constantly accessed file is permanently placed in the worst spot...

If you want to reserve a new partition to set up better paging, I'd recommend either doing it during a clean install or using acronis to get the partition on the beginning of the drive if at all possible..

 

[Nibiru2012]

Thanks - I'll add this tio my project list.

Oh, So when setting up the page file what is the setting for the C drive?

Also- I have a another internal hard drive - drive B.
Plus the DVD drive then my 12-1 card reader.
I think the last designated letter is K - for one of the 12-1 ports.
When I partition my C drive, theoretically I can designate it as the "Z" drive - yes?

Let's take these in order:

1. Setting for the "C" drive is: NONE or no paging file

2. You can change your drive letter assignments in Disk Management. I always use D as the CD/DVD drive. A & B are traditionally reserved for floppy disk drives, although these days that may be somewhat antiquated. My drives are C=(1st HDD) system disk, D=DVD-RW burner, E=(1st HDD) Misc Files, F=(2nd HDD) Media Files G=(2nd HDD) Paging File

I WOULD NOT designate the C drive as Z drive. Leave it as C drive. Windows will natively look to the C drive when you install programs, etc. If you have a second hard drive in your case, partition it for your Paging File.

 

[SystemsAdminAS]

Agreed with Niburu - If you do a clean install of XP, it will assign drive letters in order, so the paging drive ends up being "C" in this manner, which is normally OK with modern programs because the installers look for %systemroot% which is wherever drive your Windows folder resides on. Older programs typically just use a static 'C:\' as the base drive, so on installations you would have to respecify your drive letter and path.

Vista and Win 7 assign whichever partition you install Windows onto as the C:\ drive automatically during installation so u don't have that issue. If you're changing around drive letters, common practice is to have A/B open for floppies, and Hard Drives / Disc / removables next, followed by mapped network drives - though in the end you can play around with them how you like.

If you have a second HD you want to store your paging file on rather than the HD windows resides on, that can give you even more performance over a single HD, though the best performance is typically had using RAID with multiple HD's, but that may be more complex a setup than you want to try out.

Niburu is also right in that some programs will fail to install if they don't see a C:\ drive as a default installation choice. You can get around this by having, say, a USB thumb drive designated as C:\, but it's much less of a headache to have a permanent drive partition as C:\, pereferably the one containing your Windows folder.

 

[sethm1]

Since I already installed win 7 – I can’t re-partition the C drive.
I have True Image 2010 version. Back when it was just called True Image Home
On a XP machine)
During that install I did set up partition. Though after wards I wanted to decrease the size of that new partition. It was such a hassle. I actually ended up and after much effort un partitioned so that the C was 100%

With regards to the Z drive- yes know not to rename the C drive, its that I thought when I repartition a drive, that new partition is given its own drive letter.

Is Re-partitioning doable on any drive? I am wondering if I should do this to my second drive.

And if this turns out all too complicated and & don’t reparation the C or the B drive,
Then what is best for the Page file : System managed OR set a Min & a Max ?

Thx.

 

[SystemsAdminAS]

If you don't have it on a separate partition, I have still had better results with specifying a range rather than letting the system manage it. Oftentimes you will actually see the current allocated and recommended page file size in the lower left of that window, and in all versions of windows I have seen the system-managed setting currently allocate half of what it even recommends! I don't get that at all -_-

You will never go wrong specifying 1-2x your physical RAM in the Custom Size dialog, but if you have 512 MB or less memory (you yourself have 6gb, so this is for the sake of argument) that you should still specify 2-4 GB in a x86 OS these days because (a) it's the maximum you can specify anyway and (b) everyone can spare the HD space. If you have a x64 OS, then you can certainly go higher, but it's rare that you would need more than 2x your ram allotment, especially in your case as you have 6GB installed, BUT expecially if you run a lot of programs at once, and/or you are playing higher-end games or doing something data-intensive like editing digital video, you may want to try a range of different values to tweak your system. I'd say 6GB to 12GB page file should be plenty for you, and you could probably even get by with 4GB as Niburu pointed out. Either way, I would still specify a range so that Windows can still increase the size if it needs to - you can just specify the same # for the lower and upper range to keep the file the same size all the time, but this doesn't allow for any flexibility.

regards,

Erik

 

[sethm1]

Thanks for tips

 

[sethm1]

Curious - any benchmarks with a page file in a separate partition versus setting a Min & a Max?

 

[Nibiru2012]

Curious - any benchmarks with a page file in a separate partition versus setting a Min & a Max?

None that I'm aware of. Besides I have never really heard of anyone benchmarking the Paging File.