Hello guys!!!

Let's start and say that I LOVE TECHNOLOGY!

So I bought a PC and increased the memory size of it from 512MB to 1Gb, 1,5GB and now I am happy that I can use 3GB of DDR Memory!!!

BUT!

The pagefile issue is "freaking" me out...

I know that Microsoft recommends 1,5 the size of physical memory for the minimum ammount of the pagefile and twice for the maximum size of physical memory for the pagefile.

Now that I have 3GB of memory what size could be my pagefile?

I tried to set it as Microsoft says but a message pop-up and say that I can only use 4096MB for the pagefile.

can you enlighten me?

thank you in advance!

cheers!

Digital Family.

With 3GB RAM you may not require a page file at all! Read why HERE.

i_XpUser

Set it to "system managed size".

"4096MB"

Ram is ram to the OS even if it is a part of the hard drive.

That is my guess.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

All memory is not equal.

Ram works in billionths of a second whereas your hard drive works in thousandths. The pagefile commonly known as virtual memory is a file on the hard drive.

This means having a 4gig page file will SLOW your system down not speed it up.

Personally I would set it static [min and max values the same] @500meg. Then wait and see if you ever get a low virtual memory popup. Doubt you ever will with 3gig in the box.

A static setting is better than system managed since system managed means dynamic. Dynamic means the pagefile can grow or shrink consuming cpu cycles. Upon expansion it can fragment and drag your system performance down even farther.

Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

I think you are right, I will use static pagefile and see...

thank you very much !!!

did you know there is a command in Windows xp boot.ini file for 3GB memory?

Digital Family.

If I were you, I would make the pagefile 3GB plus 1 MB, i.e. 3073 MB.

regards

suatcini

And why is that? 1MB ?

Digital Family.

Making a pagefile that large, even on a server, without a reason doesn't make sense.

"did you know there is a command in Windows xp boot.ini file for 3GB memory?"

Yes but I don't think that is what you think it means. Here is a quote dealing with using the /3gb switch with Exchange

"Under typical circumstances and for each process, 2 GB of virtual address space is allotted for the user-mode process, and another 2 GB of virtual address space is allotted to the operating system. When you use the /3GB switch in Windows Server 2003, 3 GB of virtual address space is allotted for the user-mode process, and only 1 GB of virtual address space is allotted to the operating system. This reallocation of the extra 1 GB of address space helps to resolve the problem of memory fragmentation in the Store.exe virtual address space. With the larger address space allocated to Store.exe, memory can be more easily joined before all large memory blocks are used."

This isn't something you want to do with your system.

Give a person a fish, they eat for a day. Suggest they internet search and they learn a skill for a lifetime.

No, the ram to the OS is the same limit. Nothing was said about speed.

Your limit is the OS's limit.

I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

I also would not set it too high. Also I always put my pagefile on a different partition than the OS is on.
With 3 gig of memory you could easily run with no pagefile at all.
I would set up a pagefile at min 200 meg max 200. That way Windows can write certain things to a pagefile. Unless you have a very fast machine Windows seems to run faster with at least a small pagefile.
If you make the pagefile too big you aren’t utilizing your memory..its just sitting there empty. So since you have 3 gigs of memory you might as well use it.
I have 1 gig of memory with a min-max pagefile of 200 megs and my machine runs very fast.

Wanderer, you are right, I also read it in the Microsoft site.I don't think I need that, it's a switch that helps MS Exchange 2003.

Zero244, I will "play" with my pagefile and set it in a small size...I don't think I will see much difference but what I have to lose? ;)

Something else guys, a friend of mine has 2 modules of 1GB CL3 memory (2X1GB) and 2 modules of 512MB CL2.5

His system hungs... Is it because the modules are in different clock speeds and thus not compatible?

If he would use 4 modules in the same clock speed (let's say CL2.5) he could have better results and see his rig running smooth ?

Thanks a lot ! Waiting for your answers

Digital Family.

Answers to several questions:

It is not a good idea to put the page file on a different partition of the same HDD. You may incur too much movement of the read/write head of the HDD, which eventually causes early HDD failure.

In today's HDD with too large sizes, it is immaterial to spare 3 GB for page file. 1 MB is always added to calculations. I have seen it in more than one web site where it is advised. It is the slack.

No page file is not a good idea. Even if you do not need it, make it just 2 MB.

If you want less page file activity, you can give DisablePagingExecutive a value of 1 under HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Regards

suatcini

Ultraxmode,

In the BIOS, give RAM timings the slowest of the speeds of RAM sticks installed. This should take care of hangs, I guess.

But please tell him, if he uses same RAM sticks, both timings and capacity, he may benefit a good performance hit by utilizing the dual-channel property of the M/B. Double the RAM speed.

Regards

suatcini

Thanks suatcini.I will inform my buddy!

Talk you later guys! Many thanks!

and Merry Christmas!

"Kala Christougenna" in Greek! :)

Digital Family.