Windows Pagefile – Enable or Disable
Everyone knows what the windows pagefile is used for:
This is system memory that is simulated by the hard drive. When all the RAM is being used (for example if there are many programs open at the same time) the computer will swap data to the hard drive and back to give the impression that there is slightly more memory.
Obviously using a page file will be slow, a Hard Drive cannot even compare to RAM in performance. Thus making your system slower if you use virtual memory.
If you have enough RAM, or you think you have enough; then just disable your page file in Windows XP or Vista. This will prevent windows from using the slower page file and will thus prevent virtual memory in total.
Some people will then say; “but you can’t do that as some apps have to use virtual memory to run you n00b!”
True… As wiki puts it:
Note that “virtual memory” is not just “using disk space to extend physical memory size”. Extending memory is a normal consequence of using virtual memory techniques, but can be done by other means such as overlays or swapping programs and their data completely out to disk while they are inactive. The definition of “virtual memory” is based on tricking programs into thinking they are using large blocks of contiguous addresses.
Sooo, disable your pagefile and if you ever get a problem with an application or game crashing due to lack of virtual memory, *then* just enable it again.
I’ve always disabled my pagefile in XP with 2GB of RAM and have never had a problem *touch wood*. (Although I’ve never developed on my home PC and I don’t run Crysis, cod4 and 3dmark06 on the same time.)
The performance increase is incredibly unnoticeable (but better), if you ever wondered about it.
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Did a quick test last weekend on my XP 32bit 2GB DDR800 System
Ran 3DMark06 with a pagefile and again without a pagefile.
The difference: 0.003% score increase without a pagefile….
3Dmark test mainly graphical subsystem, HDD performance does not really matter here…
Disabling the pagefile may give the perception of improved performance under certain conditions. But generally this will not be the case and is thus not recommended. Disabling the pagefile will most ceratinly NOT disable virtual memory. The pagefile is an important part of the virtual memory syatem but it is only a part.
Disabling the pagefile, or restricting it’s size, will not prevent paging, it may actually increase it. Paging of program code, DLL’s etc will continue as they do not touch the pagefile. The lack of a pagefile can lead to large amounts of modified data sitting unused for long period of time. Paging this data to the pagefile releases this memory for more useful purposes, thus improving performance.
The pagefile should only be disabled by someone thoroughly familiar with the principles of virtual memory and how it is used on his system. This decision should not be based on a short article such as this.
Larry Miller
Microsoft MCSA
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20,000 hits « Welcome to the Fallout said this on April 15, 2009 at 11:44 pm |