John W. Colby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Wed Jan 12 11:02:01 CST 2005
If you defragged the drive and the rebuilt the page file, set both numbers to the same number then the issue of fragmentation would probably go away as well since it wouldn't be changing any more. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause: http://folding.stanford.edu/ -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Jon Tydda Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 11:29 AM To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] wXP virtual memory question When I did my course, they said anything between 1.5 times and 2.5 times the amount of RAM you have installed is correct, which is what windows allocates automatically - 1.5 times as the lower limit and 2.5 times as the upper. We were told that if we kept both numbers the same, then performance wouldn't degrade when more of the page file was used, as you wouldn't have to wait for the page file to resize itself. This was a couple of years ago... maybe with the advent of SATA or the 10,000 rpm drives it's not so much of an issue. Sometimes I get messages saying that I've run out of memory, even wiuth 1gb of ram and 2gb pagefile on my pc at work, which concerns me slightly, especially when I'm only using Excel, and not in a hardcore way... Jon -----Original Message----- From: John W. Colby [mailto:jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com] Sent: 12 January 2005 14:18 To: 'Discussion of Hardware and Software issues' Subject: RE: [dba-Tech] wXP virtual memory question >I have heard or read that the pagefile.sys setting should be twice the >RAM available. I tend to build a dedicated partition which is 1.5 times the max size my memory could possibly be (biggest the machine can handle), then place the swap file on that drive and never store anything else on it. I then allow the system to manipulate the page file as it sees fit. One big issue with the page file is fragmentation on a normal drive, if it is used at all (and it may not be if you have enough memory) then the page file gets fragmented just like any other file if it is out on a regular partition. Having to hit the page file at all is enough of a drag on the system without the additional slow down of a fragmented page file. By placing it on it's own partition, then it expands and contracts linearly with no fragmentation. I have also heard however that if you use the dedicated partition trick, just set the page file to the size of the partition. It then will build the page file one time and never "take time" later to expand or contract the file. Or I guess just do as Jon mentioned and set the two numbers to the same size. The hiberfile can be killed since once you are loaded it is not in use. When it hibernates, it will create a new one. AFAICT you can't determine where that file is created. The file is a literal "memory dump" of the state at the time the computer is closed. The idea is to read memory as if it were a big PROM, load this big PROM into ram as the system comes up and then execute out of the "PROM". The PROM of course is all of the programs that you had loaded at the time you shut down. It works just fine on my laptop, though I must admit that I do perform a normal close / open cycle occasionally just for drill so to speak. John W. Colby www.ColbyConsulting.com Contribute your unused CPU cycles to a good cause: http://folding.stanford.edu/ -----Original Message----- From: dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-tech-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Arthur Fuller Sent: Wednesday, January 12, 2005 8:31 AM To: Discussion of Hardware and Software issues Subject: [dba-Tech] wXP virtual memory question Actually, three related questions: 1. The interface is quite quite confusing (or alternatively, my senior moments are becoming more frequent). I want to move the Windows pagefile.sys from drive e: to drive f:. It's not readily apparent how to do this. 2. I have heard or read that the pagefile.sys setting should be twice the RAM available. Is this just old-folks' tales or is there sense behind this alleged maxim? 3. I just noticed another file 260MB large called hiberfil.sys. What is this? Can I kill it? Can I move it? TIA, Arthur > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. 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