XP Paging file.

[Mac]

Is there any way of getting the start of the paging file(s) anchored to the back of the drive (or drive partition) so that they stay out of the way of other files?

[Sidewinder]

You can move it to another drive or partition but once there you can't specify it's placement. I guess you could isolate it in it's own partition.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886/

Hope this helps.  

[Computer_Commando]

While you're at it, you can redirect all Windows temporary files, IE History, etc., to the same partition.  Works for me.

[pcdoc4christ]

<---- agrees with sidewinder and commando

A second hard drive (even just an used, inexpensive, 4 GB hard drive) makes a great place to move the pagefile and all the temporary files commando mentioned.  

The only other thing you might try is setting the size of the page file to zero, rebooting to Safe Mode, doing a disk cleanup and defrag, then resetting the pagefile back to its original size and rebooting.  This may recreate the page file as one contiguous collection of clusters at the end of the defragmented data on the hard drive partition.

Regards,
Doc

[Mac]

It is probably a question for Microsoft, but what I am looking for is a means of anchoring the paging file to the back of the C: drive so that, when the System makes it bigger, when it has to, it expands towards the front of the drive so that the paging file is always at the back of the drive and its address is always the same, rather than having it move about all over the C: drive.

I have the My Documents folder on D: (Less the 'My') and the Music, Images and Video on drive E:

Drive F: is used as an Archive drive.

In every case it would still need to be anchored to the back of any of these other partitions in preference.

I leave the Temporary Internet Files on C: as I run CCLeaner before shutting down.

[pcdoc4christ]

Mac:

I hear what you're saying.  The problem is that the pagefile cannot be moved once you boot to the OS.  It may be moved when you boot to a different OS, but that won't help you.  

One good third party suite of utilities i'd recommend you try is Norton System Works, which does offer a better defrag tool with the ability to move files to the end of a partition.  The only problem is that the tool cannot do this with the pagefile because it can only be run from inside Windows.

Still, let me know if you find any other way of moving the page file than that which has been suggested (you've got me curious)!  

Regards,
Doc

[Mac]

Just a thought really Doc,

I'll probably add more RAM instead so I don't have much of a pagefile.

Someone suggested that it should run in a 2 Gb FAT16 partition to speed it up.

[pcdoc4christ]

Mac:

Yeah.  Can you ever have enough RAM?  

One other thing you may try is to set the minimum and maximum size of the paging file to exactly the same size (about two or two and a half times your total RAM should be adequate for both).  You may need to set the size as large as three times your RAM if you play a lot of games or use high-end graphics.  By keeping the paging file at a static size, Windows will not have to continuously calculate and adjust the size.  

The best suggestion, which was made by sidewinder, is to move the paging file to a different hard drive.  That way, writing to and reading from the paging file will not slow the OS down.

Regards,
Doc

[Computer_Commando]

...I'll probably add more RAM instead so I don't have much of a pagefile....

Doesn't work that way.  The more RAM you have the bigger the pagefile.  Create another partition just for the pagefile.

[pcdoc4christ]

Commando is also correct.  Having the paging file as the only file in a separate partition is the best way to keep it from becoming fragmented.  Having this separate partition on a different hard drive is the a good way to optimize performance.

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314482

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=314105#appliesto

http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/prork/prec_evl_bsaq.asp

[Mac]

Thanks to you all. These are the stock answers at this time and ones which I am well accquainted with. The URL that Doc gave gives the current MS recommendation to keep a small pagefile on the boot drive and move the bulk of it to another partition or physical drive.

That is probably the best answer,especially if the pagefile drive partition is formatted to FAT16

I was reading this article RAM, Virtual Memory, PageFile and all that stuff and am wondering if having sufficient RAM, and the computer set up as a server, would mean an absolute minimum size of pagefile.

[pcdoc4christ]

Mac:

I agree.  

Another thing you might try is to have Windows delete the pagefile every time you shut down the PC.  This way, a new, unfragmented paging file will be created every time you boot the computer.  To configure this in Windows 2000 or XP Pro, log on as an administrator and...

1. Click Start > Run...

2. Type secpol.msc /s

3. In Local Security Settings, expand Local Policies and click on Security Options; in the right pane, scroll down to "Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile" and right-click on it and choose Properties.

4. In the Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile Properties, select Enable and click Apply and OK.

5. Close Local Security Settings and restart the computer.  

Regards,
Doc