Page File Auto Adjust or Custom + Fragmentation

[Cosmos2]

I have an HD video editing HP i7 work station and work with very large video files. Which is better here, setting the page file to Auto Adjust or Custom? If it is the Custom setting, which is better, a fragmented page file or a non-fragmented page file? I have noticed that in the Custom mode, if you set the page file with both the Initial Size and the Maximum Size to the recommended size this causes the page file to be fragmented. But if you put in a smaller size than the recommended size by trying different smaller sizes, you can find one that produces a non-fragmented, though smaller page file. Also which are the best programs to defrag the page file? Sometimes selecting No Page File helps create a fresh non-fragmented page file but not always. What is the best balance for my situation?

[cafed00d]

Are you asking this because of your video editing? The video editing apps I use don't load the full video into memory (you could verify this by monitoring the memory usage of the app). Instead they do their own cache management (aka temp working directory) - mine recommends the drive with the largest available free space to use for the temporary working directory.

I'll let others comment on sizing the paging file - I have tried various different schemes and not noticed a difference in the performance, though having it on a physical drive other than the drive the oS is installed on does appear to work better.

[Roderunner]

Hi Dale, welcome to The Lounge.
To set the page file:-

[attachment=90898.JPG]

1 click no page file, click set, ok your way out then reboot.
2 set as image using your recommended size for max & min reboot again. Page file will never get fragmented now.
___

defragmenter

[CLiNT]

I think if you were to periodically delete or remove the pagefile then defrag the drive it resides on before rebuilding it again you could achieve the same result, if not better, from
any installed program that "defragments" the PF. This would require multiple booting as every time the PF is altered an os re-initialization is required.

Depending upon your system specs and memory usage you could set the pagefile to a minimum of 400MB and a maximum to your total memory amount.
This would ensure that the PF growns to only that which you need with minimal fragmentation. Rely on your RAM, not PF. If your system's memory specs are weak
ensures the PF for is used on an as needed basis and not as a general rule, like Roadrunner's frozen set size.
You would then make fine adjustments based on your specific memory & software application usage until you got to the "your sweet spot" in terms of performance.

[Roderunner]

I think if you were to periodically delete or remove the pagefile then defrag the drive it resides on before rebuilding it again you could achieve the same result, if not better, from
any installed program that "defragments" the PF. This would require multiple booting as every time the PF is altered an os re-initialization is required.

Depending upon your system specs and memory usage you could set the pagefile to a minimum of 400MB and a maximum to your total memory amount.
This would ensure that the PF growns to only that which you need with minimal fragmentation. Rely on your RAM, not PF. If your system's memory specs are weak
ensures the PF for is used on an as needed basis and not as a general rule, like Roadrunner's frozen set size.
You would then make fine adjustments based on your specific memory & software application usage until you got to the "your sweet spot" in terms of performance.

Clint, are you aware, that if the page file is set to your recommended size as in my image, boot time is faster. Check yours before and after by looking in event viewer, windows logs > applications and service logs > microsoft > windows > diagnostics - performance > operational. read event id 100

[bbearren]

Here's a link. There are more.