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Hey guys, in my quest to forget everything I thought I knew about tweaking my PC (got to admit my teacher was wrong, and now I seek to relearn a lot of stuff) I ran across an article about page files in XP. Now I had been putting it on a seperate PARTITION instead of a seperate PHYSICAL DRIVE, like the article said to.

I have a 8.4 gig drive that is only 5400 RPM (all others are 7200 IDE) that I was thinking of using for just putting a page file on.

Will I experience any issues with this drive being slower on RPM or am I thinking too much into this?

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 6:40 am Post subject:

It will certainly be slower than if it was on a 7200 rpm drive, but there are other factors to take into account. Things like page file fragmentation and where and what other drive it has been on. Generally speaking, you're better off with it on the non-system drive, a separate drive by itself is best, but it can be used for other things like file storage and what not.
Your milage will vary, so I can't say one way or another, but try it out and see if things run faster.

EEps · Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 7:09 am Post subject:

This article from Tech Republic sez it won't really matter...

Quote:

To improve system performance by adjusting virtual memory settings, you can increase the size of the paging file, or you can move, or spread out, the paging to other physical hard disks.

Increasing the size of the paging file is easy: Simply enter a larger number in the Initial Size text box. Then, double that figure and enter it into the Maximum Size text box. To enable the new paging file, just click the Set button.

The best performance increase will come from moving the paging file from the C drive to another hard disk. Of course, this requires more than one hard disk in the system. Keep in mind that you won’t boost performance by placing the paging file on another drive partition on the same hard disk.

The performance boost from moving the paging file to another hard disk comes from the fact that while one hard disk is handling operating system functions, the other hard disk can simultaneously handle paging file requests. To move the paging file, select the C drive in the Drive list. Then, select the No Paging File option and click Set. Next, select the other hard disk in the Drive list. Then, select the Custom Size option, type the appropriate values in the Initial and Maximum size text boxes, and click Set. When you click OK, you’ll be prompted to restart your system.

Use an old hard disk for your paging file
Finally, if you’re like most IT folks, you probably have a bunch of old hard disks sitting in a box in the back room. These old hard disks aren’t viable for today’s operating system and software disk requirements, but they’re perfect for a paging file. Just add the hard disk to your system as a slave, format it, and configure Windows XP to use it for the paging file.

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:26 am Post subject:

That is good to know thanks Bam, *me goes through my old shit and finds an old HDD Laughing

*

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 8:50 am Post subject:

1) How often do your apps hit the page file?

2) Why not just add more RAM?

3) Virtual memory sucks, any way you slice, no matter what drive you have the page file on.

Posted: Fri Feb 25, 2005 9:46 am Post subject:

If you have enough RAM in the computer, you will most likely not notice any difference in preformance no matter where you put your pagefile. The only time pagefile placement will be a noticeable factor to system performance is if you are low on memory. If you don't have enough RAM, pagefile placement will never make enough of a difference that buying more RAM isn't the better option.

Bottom line, if moving your pagefile around / changing the size of your pagefile actually makes a big difference in the performance of your system - buy more RAM.

EEps · Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:26 am Post subject:

crazycanuk wrote:
thanks Bam

Did someone call? Big Smile

I find neat stuff at TechRepublic all the time... Wink Smile

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 3:23 pm Post subject:

Lycander wrote:
1) How often do your apps hit the page file?

Constantly. Windows uses it wether you like it or not. Increasing ram helps keep unnecessary data out of the page file, but can't eliminate it.