Re: Pagefile.sys problems

Tech-Archive recommends: Speed Up your PC by fixing your registry

Hello Gerry,
I checked Task Manager and before making any other changes it was :
Total - 287760, Limit - 2994576, Peak - 356596.
I then downloaded the pagefile monitor from Doug KNox and on first
time use it was 32/42/1535 (and told me that the pagefile.sys was on the
D drive).
I then went in and changed the pagefile (again) to a custom
setting - as you suggested - on the C drive with 500/1500 for min/max.
Restarted the computer and ran the monitor with results of 18/18/1519.
Just for grins I went back in and looked and the pagefile setting looks
correct -- I mean that when you look it says that it is a custom setting
for the C drive with 500/1500 set. However when I run the monitor it
tells me that the pagefile is on the D drive and I cannot find one on
the C drive.
I then opened Photoshop Elements 5 and upon opening my usage was
27/27/1519; opened a picture and did an edit and it was 89/92/1519,
closed the program and checked again and it was 22/119/1519. So it
looks like that program at least does release upon closing.
I just looked at the Task Manager monitor and it read 323940 /
2978192/ 560288.
The only thing I am getting from all this is that it seems as though
the pagefile seems to be working correctly -- but is very stubborn and
has decided to remain on the D partition no matter what I do.
Question - will this cause me problems? Since it is determined to be on
D, should I go back in and set it that way?
M

"Gerry Cornell" <gcjc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:OE7fKKxSHHA.192@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
M

I have not suggested you convert from two partition to one and quite
honesty I am not sure what it would achieve.

Using Diskkeeper will cause no problems but Registry Mechanic is a
utility which many MVP's will tell you not to use.

I am surprised you were not able to remove old System Restore points,
hoever, perhaps we can leave that for now.

Let's try another approach. Try Ctrl+Alt+Delete to select Task Manager
and click the Performance Tab. Under Commit Charge what is the Total,
the Limit and the Peak?

You may find it helpful to know exactly how much of your pagefile is
being used. Use page file monitor to observe what is the peak usage.
Start it to run immediately after start-up and look at the log at the
end of the session.The log is Pagefile log.txt. If you right click on
the file in Windows Explorer and select Send to, Desktop (Create
Shortcut). The same applies to XP_PageFileMon.exe.

A small utility to monitor pagefile usage:
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm

Note programs using undo features particularly those associated with
graphics and photo editing require large amounts of memory so if you
use this type of programme check these first observing how the page
usage increases when they start and whether the usage decreases when
you close the programme.

Let's try again to set a pagefile on C. Right click on the My Computer
icon on your Desktop and select Properties, Advanced, Performance
Sttings, Advanced, Change. On the advanced tab select the C drive,
check the box before Custom and enter 500 in the min, enter 1,500 in
the max, click on Set, OK and OK again and exit. Restart the computer.
Has the new setting stuck?

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




ssnazzy9 wrote:
Gerry, thank you so much for your complete response -- I went
through all your suggestions and they didn't make a great deal of
difference in the numbers. Remember, a month ago I added an
external drive and moved the majority of my non-system files over
to it - so my C drive got a lot of space back.
I don't use Norton or Rollback or Ghost -- I do use Diskkeeper and
Registry Mechanic. Most of the setting recommendations you made
I had already done. The only item I couldn't seem to accomplish
was getting rid of earlier system restore points -- your
directions didn't work for me.
As I said in a reply to Jerry M's notes, I am not inclined to get
rid of the D partition -- afraid I would be asking for trouble
and get myself into a really big mess. In researching this all
over the internet, I've read about lots of issues in this area --
and not too many good outcomes -- reinstalling seemed to be the
fix in the end. So, I think I will be very committed to doing my
backups and cross my fingers -- maybe I can hold off the
inevitable to a more convenient time for a reinstall. I do
appreciate all your time and effort to help me -- people like you
are Jerry and wonderful to find. Thanks again.
M

"Gerry Cornell" <gcjc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:O9xgeWiSHHA.4276@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
M

Something is not right somewhere and I think you need to find out
what it is. If you try to live with it eventually you will get
bitten.

The first thing is you need to be certain you really have 53 gb
free space on your C partition. Where are you getting these
figures from? Some sources are unreliable.

If you are using the Norton Protected Recycle Bin or Rollback RX
Pro these can create significant free disk space issues. The
programmes create hidden folders, which can grow to colossal
sizes. I would also be interested to know if you are using Ghost?

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk
CleanUp to Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet
Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk
CleanUp, More Options, System Restore and remove all but the
latest System Restore point.

Have you changed the three default settings for System Restore,
Temporary Internet Files and the Recycle Bin? If not then I am
even more suspicious of your 53 gb free space. Otherwise you may
benefit from reducing the space allocations.

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% of your C
partition which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb.
Right click your My Computer icon on the Desktop and select
System Restore. Place the cursor on your C drive select Settings
but this time find the slider and drag it to the left until it
reads 700 mb and exit. When you get
to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and exit.

Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for
temporary internet files, especially if you do not store offline
copies on disk. The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending
on your attitude to offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or
2%. In Internet Explorer select Tools, Internet Options, General,
Temporary Internet Files, Settings to make the change. At the
same time look at the number of days history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive.
Change to 5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer
place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it
get too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it
will bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

When you have made these changes restart your computer and run
Disk Defragmenter.

Go to Start, Control Panel, Folder Options, View, Advanced
Settings
and verify that the box before "Show hidden files and folders" is
checked and "Hide protected operating system files " is
unchecked. You may need to scroll down to see the second item.
You should also make certain that the box before "Hide extensions
for known file types" is notchecked. Next in Windows Explorer
make sure View, Details is selected and then select View, Choose
Details and check before Name, Type, Total Size, and Free Space.

Folder Size -a useful tool for use with Windows Explorer when
investigating how disk space is being used.
http://foldersize.sourceforge.net/


ssnazzy9 wrote:
I have 1.5 gb RAM, and the C drive is 70GB with 53GB free - last
month I bought an external drive and moved all my photos over to
it which freed up the C drive - it used to have about 25GB free.
This problem didn't happen until about a month after I added the
external drive and freed up all that space on C.

The internal drive is C: 70 total, with 53 free, D: is 5.2 total
with
3.7 free. The D drive was totally full and I started getting the
warning messages which is what alerted me to the problem. I
moved all the HP Recovery files off of D and onto the external
(G) drive since I couldn't seem to get the pagefile off of this
drive - I was afraid the system would crash and burn if it
totally ran out of room on D. I checked the event logs and
didn't see anything helpful there either.

I guess I can keep operating this way -- except if I ever really
need those HP recovery files I'm not sure that they will
understand they are now on a G drive and operate successfully
from there. Otherwise the system seems to be fine as long as the
5.2 size of the D is enough for the pagefile. Is it?
M


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