pagefile

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Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

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.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

In news:42CD5818.E5728158@analysis-knowledge.com,
Sanford Aranoff <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> typed:

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


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 Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

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.

--
Ted Zieglar
"You can do it if you try."

"Sanford Aranoff" <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> wrote in message
news:42CD5818.E5728158@analysis-knowledge.com...
> 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.
>
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

Ken Blake wrote:

> In news:42CD5818.E5728158@analysis-knowledge.com,
> Sanford Aranoff <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> typed:
>
> > Would it be good to create a special partition, say, e:, for
> > the
> > pagefile?
>
> 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 Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup

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

Okay, next question. What size?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

In news:42CD6F5A.CA8960ED@analysis-knowledge.com,
Sanford Aranoff <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> typed:

> Ken Blake wrote:
>
>> In news:42CD5818.E5728158@analysis-knowledge.com,
>> Sanford Aranoff <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> typed:
>>
>>> Would it be good to create a special partition, say, e:, for
>>> the
>>> pagefile?
>>
>> No, it would be bad, and can hurt your performance.

> Thanks.


You're weclome.


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


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?



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

--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.newusers (More info?)

No bad idea. That puts the swap far away from where your computer is normally working.

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http://webdiary.smh.com.au/archives/_comment/001075.html
=================================================
"Sanford Aranoff" <aranoff@analysis-knowledge.com> wrote in message news:42CD5818.E5728158@analysis-knowledge.com...
> 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.
>
>