OT: Re: Pagefile.sys

dennis wrote:

VanguardLH wrote:

There must always be a pagefile in the same
partition
as from where Windows was loaded. This is to
ensure
there is a pagefile for Windows to use. What
would
happen if you unpowered the 2nd hard disk?
What would
happen if you unmounted the 2nd hard disk?
What would
happen if you replaced the 2nd hard disk?
There would
be no pagefile (and Windows requires one).

It is not really a requirement until one runs
out of
physical memory.

Some of Windows' exec is always paged out to
virtual
memory. There are some programs that ask for a
minimal
working set for memory but also ask for gobs of
max
memory (hundreds of megabytes), so luckily they
get
pushed into the pagefile. Even if you set the
pagefile
to zero for the Windows partition, on startup
Windows
will create a 20MB temporary pagefile named
temppf.sys in
the %systemroot%\system32 folder. A pagefile is
ALWAYS
required by Windows.

I have 2GB physical memory. Typically the peak
usage
doesn't go over
1.2GB so I have free physical memory. However,
I don't
do video or graphics editing or run
high-precision
statistics programs. I find it hard to press
against the
2GB real RAM boundary without also causing an
undue lag
in responsiveness of my host. Free memory is
unused
memory so it is wasted memory, but unused free
memory is
better than not having enough memory.

Once a user finds they really need to enlarge
the
pagefile, the best recommendation is for them to
get more
memory up to the max that the OS can handle. If
that's
still not enough, get another version of Windows
or a
different OS that can handle more physical RAM
and then
get more physical RAM. Virtual memory is an
excuse for
not having enough real memory, and a poor choice
as an
alternative for real memory.

IMO your inflexible comments on the way to use
things are better aimed at professionals where
such thnigs might matter in some way for but
newbies and the inexperienced, it's a much simpler
and more lax case where the nuances aren't
necessary nor do they add to the requested
assistance. Your assistance might be a lot more
appreciated on professional groups where greater
background details going well beyond the OP's
question are more the norm.
Also, if you'd like to carry on a side
conversation that appears to be going off topic
quickly, you may wish to start your own thread
rather than hijack this one.

Twayne


.

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