Re: Disabling the page file doesn't really disable it. A bug?

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nivtwig wrote:
I tried disabling the pagefile using the "No paging file" option on
the advanced tab of "My computer" properties . I restarted the
computer, the file pagefile.sys is missing (as it should be), but I
still see that windows is paging a lot of memory to a pagefile when
I look at the "VM usage" column of most processes on Task Manager.
The "page faults" column also shows many page faults for certain
applications that I am using. The total memory of all my processes
never reaches 1GB, which is half the memory I have (2GB), so there
is no reason for windows to swap to a page file. Therefore I tried
disabling it, although I know several articles advised not to do so
( Giving not good enough or even wrong reasons in my opinion)

I have more than enough RAM (2GB) for all my applications memory
needs, but I still see that Windows by default swaps about 1/2 of
the application memory usage to the page file on the disk. This
happens with almost all applications.
For example the total memory usage of firefox with 60 tabs open is
~600MB, and windows swaps ~300MB to the page file on disk according
to the Task manager (the "VM usage" column)

I am using Windows XP SP3.

Shenan Stanley wrote:
In my opinion - one should not turn off the usage of the pagefile. It
doesn't make sense. Most things that get put in the pagefile
are put there because they are currently unused. Realistically -
given your own example - with 60 tabs open in firefox, how many can
you see at once (the answer is one. ;-) )

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )

Example, if you searched for "optimize pagefile usage in Windows XP" you
might come across:
http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

Enjoy!

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html


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