Increase - Virtual Ram - to make ur sys faster

[Marik]

1. Hold down the Windows Key and press the Pause/Break button at the top right of your keyboard (another way is right-clicking your computer and clicking Properties).

2. Click on the Advanced tab.

3. Under Performance, click Settings.

4. Then click the Advanced tab on the button that pops up.

5. Under Virtual Memory at the bottom, click Change.

6. Click the Custom Size button.

7. For the initial size (depending on your HD space), type in anywhere from 1000-1500 (although i use 4000), and for the Maximum size type in anywhere from 2000-2500 (i use 6000).

8. Click Set, and then exit out of all of the windows.

9. Finally, restart your computer.

10. You now have a faster computer and 1-2gb of virtual RAM!

[shought]

Making it an expandable value(so 1000-2000) will only cause windows to change it all the time, and this way it might even get fragmented! It's much better to set it to a set limit, like 768 MB(or less, but if anyone wants to know, i'll explain why not) will be enough for a PC with 2GB RAM or more and a limit of 1024 will do for 1GB RAM. When getting lower than 1GB i recommend 1536 MB(just 1024+512) or more, just be sure to set it to a set value, this way Windows won't have to change it some times. It probably never will, so you don't need the setting anyway, but when it does, it will most likely cause a fragmentation.

[spasserfan]

Making it an expandable value(so 1000-2000) will only cause windows to change it all the time, and this way it might even get fragmented! It's much better to set it to a set limit, like 768 MB(or less, but if anyone wants to know, i'll explain why not) will be enough for a PC with 2GB RAM or more and a limit of 1024 will do for 1GB RAM. When getting lower than 1GB i recommend 1536 MB(just 1024+512) or more, just be sure to set it to a set value, this way Windows won't have to change it some times. It probably never will, so you don't need the setting anyway, but when it does, it will most likely cause a fragmentation.

[shought]

another tip: if you are using multiple hard disks (physical disks not partitions) you should split the page file between the disks, that way windows is able to read on both disks at the same time.

but the less you use the virtual RAM the more performance you get, because the hard disks is way slower than the RAM, so the pagefile should only be used when there is no more free RAM to use, except for idle processes, they can be paged to the disk to free up RAM.

Totally true about the 2 HD's, but talking about the virtual RAM, how can i make Windows not use the paging file for running processes, but only for idle ones? Is there some kind of utility, registry entry or secret option to do so? Or will it do so already? Thanks in advantage!

[nsane]

personally, i use an old 4GB drive and dedicate it to my pagefile. plus, windows goes by the fastest drive at the moment it needs the extra space. which might not always be the fastest when it comes time to READ the data (ie. when running games) :unsure:

[spasserfan]

another tip: if you are using multiple hard disks (physical disks not partitions) you should split the page file between the disks, that way windows is able to read on both disks at the same time.

but the less you use the virtual RAM the more performance you get, because the hard disks is way slower than the RAM, so the pagefile should only be used when there is no more free RAM to use, except for idle processes, they can be paged to the disk to free up RAM.

Totally true about the 2 HD's, but talking about the virtual RAM, how can i make Windows not use the paging file for running processes, but only for idle ones? Is there some kind of utility, registry entry or secret option to do so? Or will it do so already? Thanks in advantage!

Well if you have enough RAM you can disable the page file to improve performance :)

SystemboosterXP precaches files in the RAM, and makes the stay there, so I guess you can say it will help somehow in that way. But it is not preventing paging from any other files (read my upcoming guide ;) .. getting close to release :P).

I do not know much about the windows memory managing, but many tweak sites tells you to disable pagefile if you have enough RAM, so I guess this means that windows just might page non-idle files, but again it depends on how you define idle ;). If idle, beside being processes that only starts when there is 0 % CPU usage, is processes that has not been using the CPU for xx minutes, then I guess windows would page the process.

One thing I do know is this: Windows empties its cache on a oldest file used basis.

I guess this applies to paging in a similar way.

I know that there is a registry tweak to prevent windows from paging executables, but cannot remember it right now. I is implemented along with other tweaks in memturbo, I could just before I reinstall next time install memturbo and monitor the changes, and then post the tweaks afterwards.

Edit: I do not know of a program to prevent paging from any process except the idle ones, but if you find one please let me know ;)

[Sonar]

Optimising Page File.

If you give your pagefile a fixed size it saves the operating system from needing to resize the page file.

1. Right click on My Computer and select Properties

2. Select the Advanced tab

3. Under Performance choose the Settings button

4. Select the Advanced tab again and under Virtual Memory select Change

5. Highlight the drive containing your page file and make the initial Size of the file the same as the Maximum Size of the file.

6. Then Hit Set

So going by this guide is wrong?

Before I changed it was Recommended [1534]

Max size [3072]

so am I in the wrong changing my initial size to 3072? "as I have done"

edit

I have 1 gig ram.

[demonon]

I have 3 gig ram and 3 gig virtual too.

Is it really better to have even more virtual ram?

I think I won't need a total of 9 gig of ram as I won't even exceed around 4 gig even if I play games.

[shought]

I have 3 gig ram and 3 gig virtual too.

Is it really better to have even more virtual ram?

I think I won't need a total of 9 gig of ram as I won't even exceed around 4 gig even if I play games.

Lol, you probably won't even use 1 gig of the pagefile(virtual ram) when you have 3GB of ram, assuming your on Vista, in XP it would be even less.

[Sonar]

I have 3 gig ram and 3 gig virtual too.

Is it really better to have even more virtual ram?

I think I won't need a total of 9 gig of ram as I won't even exceed around 4 gig even if I play games.

Lol, you probably won't even use 1 gig of the pagefile(virtual ram) when you have 3GB of ram, assuming your on Vista, in XP it would be even less.

so just to be sure, there's no harm in changing it?

[shought]

I have 3 gig ram and 3 gig virtual too.

Is it really better to have even more virtual ram?

I think I won't need a total of 9 gig of ram as I won't even exceed around 4 gig even if I play games.

Lol, you probably won't even use 1 gig of the pagefile(virtual ram) when you have 3GB of ram, assuming your on Vista, in XP it would be even less.

so just to be sure, there's no harm in changing it?

Nope, i've got 2 GB of RAM and just use 512MB paging file(set value, so not 512 - 1024). You should always pick a set value, to increase performance. If you haven't got enough memory, Windows will give you an 'out of memory' fault. I never had one on this PC, but did on my laptop.

[demonon]

Lol, you probably won't even use 1 gig of the pagefile(virtual ram) when you have 3GB of ram, assuming your on Vista, in XP it would be even less.

I though that too. Then it's probably 3 gig dedicated to the pagefile.

But hell, no you wouldn't complain of a slow sys with a quadcore and 3 gig of rams, would you?

[shought]

Lol, you probably won't even use 1 gig of the pagefile(virtual ram) when you have 3GB of ram, assuming your on Vista, in XP it would be even less.

I though that too. Then it's probably 3 gig dedicated to the pagefile.

But hell, no you wouldn't complain of a slow sys with a quadcore and 3 gig of rams, would you?

I know i wouldn't :P But i'm happy with my 2GB and AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ :dance2:

[spasserfan]

I have posted the registry tweaks from memturbo (as I mentioned earlier), see this post

[Noddy]

I, too prefer to have a page file with a fixed value rather than the default Windows or any other variable values.

Just a little note here, for folks who have variable values in their paging file and decide to opt for a fixed value:-

After changing to a fixed value in one's HDD, it is advisable to immediately carry out an (offline) defragmentation of the disk concerned, as the paging file gets split into two (or maybe even more segments) following a migration from variable values to a fixed value.

[shought]

I, too prefer to have a page file with a fixed value rather than the default Windows or any other variable values.

Just a little note here, for folks who have variable values in their paging file and decide to opt for a fixed value:-

After changing to a fixed value in one's HDD, it is advisable to immediately carry out an (offline) defragmentation of the disk concerned, as the paging file gets split into two (or maybe even more segments) following a migration from variable values to a fixed value.

Hmmmm, another note on that: First check if it actually is fragmented :D For that I recommend UltimateDefrag, just look at the legend, find the Pagefile and see if it is in one piece.

[Noddy]

I, too prefer to have a page file with a fixed value rather than the default Windows or any other variable values.

Just a little note here, for folks who have variable values in their paging file and decide to opt for a fixed value:-

After changing to a fixed value in one's HDD, it is advisable to immediately carry out an (offline) defragmentation of the disk concerned, as the paging file gets split into two (or maybe even more segments) following a migration from variable values to a fixed value.

Hmmmm, another note on that: First check if it actually is fragmented ;) For that I recommend UltimateDefrag, just look at the legend, find the Pagefile and see if it is in one piece.

;) It certainly becomes fragmented unless one has chosen to set a :D higher fixed page value than the maximum of one's previous variable values - you can check that. Moreover, one can confirm whether the page file is in one piece within the legends of most of the other Defragmenters - UltimateDefrag doesn't offer any particular advantage in this region.

[shought]

Yeah, that's true, but why would you pick a higher value? :D It won't make your sys faster as suggested in this post. Only thing it will do is take up more HD space and be unused. And even if it is used, it will only cause degraded performance since the HD is much slower than RAM. If you want a faster system and you have less than a GB RAM I'd recommend just throwing in 2 GB(for XP).

[Noddy]

Where have I suggested that I use a higher value?

Where have I recommended to people to use a higher value?

All that I've written is that if one changes the value of one's virtual RAM to a lower value, the page file gets fragmented which may/may not happen if one changes the virtual RAM to a higher value.

Personally, the RAM on all my systems is 1 GB each (512 MBs X 2) - my virtual RAM value is fixed at 2,800 MBs. There is no scientific calculation to this figure - I've been experimenting a lot and on a trial & error basis have settled for 2,800 MBs.

[shought]

You haven't, right again ;) But now again: Where have I suggested that you do? ;) Did no such thing, the 'you' which I used in the first sentence of my previous post was referring to you as in 'anyone'. :D Gotcha ;)

I'm just trying to make other people who read these posts understand what would be smart and what wouldn't be :D

[Noddy]

Yeah, that's true, but why would you pick a higher value?

A good way to put that is:-

Yeah, that's true, but why would one pick a higher value?

Anyways, I'm OK with your clarification (Grammatical errors can sometimes turn dramatical.)

BTW, how about kicking Marik's balls - he's the one who is preaching to innocent folks out here to set their page files upto 6,000 MBs. If we don't stop him, he'll be encouraged to write a tutorial on page files. :D

[shought]

Yeah, that's true, but why would you pick a higher value?

A good way to put that is:-

Yeah, that's true, but why would one pick a higher value?

Anyways, I'm OK with your clarification (Grammatical errors can sometimes turn dramatical.)

BTW, how about kicking Marik's balls - he's the one who is preaching to innocent folks out here to set their page files upto 6,000 MBs. If we don't stop him, he'll be encouraged to write a tutorial on page files. ;)

This post has been edited by Noddy: Right after I made this post.

Ghehehe, ok 'one' it is :D People misunderstanding each other is the cause of many conflicts... Sadly.

Well Marik you heard us(hiding behind Noddy's words :D): A lower value it is! Unless you'd be able to convince me(or us, as you wish) of the opposite, which would be a very hard job I guess ;)

If you don't it'll be :pirate: :spank: time ;)

ps I know you got this of some other site, right?

[gest]

Not to jump in on this one 6 months later but this used to be referred to as the 'Swap Brick.' It has been around since the Win95 days when RAM levels were at 8,16,32 and 64mg. This trick was really valuable for all the 3.1 machines that were being upgraded to Win95.

In almost 15 years, the general rule of thumb is to peg the page file level at 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have installed. However, given enough RAM, disable the whole thing.

[Donaldo]

In almost 15 years, the general rule of thumb is to peg the page file level at 1.5 times the amount of RAM you have installed.

Well OK, that's the default Microsoft value. There's been a lot written on the net about page file settings - a wise option I feel is to go by trial & error. ;)

[Bizarre™]

If you have +4GB of RAM and you're on XP (not Vista), you can disable the Page file.

However, if you're a troubleshooter, leave at least 25MB of Page file for Kernel Memory Dump.