Page file size

[bbearren]

It has been brought to my attention that I have made a couple (or more) typo's when discussing virtual memory; I used KB instead of MB.

So for clarification, in 32-bit Windows there is a maximum page file size (which coincidentally is almost the same as the maximum amount of memory that can be normally addressed by 32-bit Windows) of 4095 MB.

My Windows 7 32-bit says:

[attachment=90374:Max pagefile size.PNG]

and it will accept 4095 MB.

My apologies for any confusion I might have caused.

[CLiNT]

Don't forget about the importance of minimum PF sizes as well;
A set minimum of 4 GBs and a set maximum of 4 GBs= waste of space, and possibly of good RAM too.
Set your minmums low if you decide to manipulate your operating system's PF, this way you will give focus to RAM instead and PF will be more secondary.

[Dick-Y]

Clint:

I'll put my "Windows for Dummies" beanie on and ask:
What's an operating system's PF?
I think it means "page file", but I want to be sure.

Dick

[Deadeye81]

Hi Dick,

Yes, PF refers to the operating system's page file.

[bbearren]

Don't forget about the importance of minimum PF sizes as well;
A set minimum of 4 GBs and a set maximum of 4 GBs= waste of space, and possibly of good RAM too.
Set your minmums low if you decide to manipulate your operating system's PF, this way you will give focus to RAM instead and PF will be more secondary.

I started using a fixed 4GB (4095MB) page file with Win2KPro and 512MB RAM. No non-hardware related BSOD's, no virtual memory issues, no freezing. I've been using that same configuration on all my machines (including laptops) since. None have had any non-hardware related BSOD's, no virtual memory issues, no freezing. My son is a heavy gamer, and he has never had a performance issue.

I have plenty of disk space to waste. Not running Disk Cleanup as part of a regular maintenance routine is a greater waste of disk space (those files can accumulate well beyond 4GB) and source of fragmentation.

At present I have 25 open apps , one of which is Malwarebytes running a scan, and Windows Media Player playing a playlist across the network, and there is no noticable decrease in performance. My commit charge is up to 32%.

[attachment=90375:Taskbar.PNG]

While the Malwarebytes scan was running, my CPU usage was up there, but so was my performance- no noticable falloff.

[attachment=90376:CPU usage.PNG]

Memory usage was at 2.04GB of 3GB installed, so there's still plenty of headroom left. I believe I would peak out on CPU usage long before I hit any RAM issues, and I don't anticipate any virtual memory issues, ever.

A fixed page file does not fragment, does not need to be constantly resized and causes no hit on disk performance as more apps are loaded and want to start reserving virtual address space.

A fixed page file at the 32-bit Windows max of 4GB per volume (up to 16 volume limit) is a set-it-and-forget-it no-brainer, and Windows is going to maintain some available RAM regardless of how much (or how little) RAM is installed. There are no CPU or read/write cycles wasted on resizing the page file.

If there is a downside, I haven't been able to expose it in a dozen or so years on several different machines. YMMV.

Oh, and Malwarebytes completed its scan and didn't find anything.