What size for XP Pagefile?

[swab]

Hi,

Although my PC has 1Gb of RAM, I'm having probs with multi-tasking of a few progs I use eg if I'm d'loading a file and I also use, say, a photo prog, the mouse pointer jerks about the screen instead of smoothly moving. Is this anything to do with pagefile size or is it something else?

Any ideas would be welcome:confused

[thetarget]

you should let windows manage the page file mate if you have a GB of RAM
you should not be having problems


hit ctrl + alt + del the click the performance tab while your having this problem
and check your cpu usage and pf usage

also click the processes tab and see how many you have running ( says in the bottom corner ) from here you can also see what program are using the most memory

:ok

[Dave Mak]

i manually set the pagefile to 1024 for min and max, preferably on a different hard drive to the windows, also if your gonna change the size of the pagefile do it in this order

1. disable the pagefile on all drives
2. reboot your pc
3. defrag the drive were your pagefile will go
4. enable the pagefile
5. reboot your pc.

tho with 1gb or more of ram you shouldn't need to use a pagefile (except for certain programs). try leaving it disabled and doing your normal stuff on your pc.

[thetarget]

as far as i new dave when you do move the pf file you should leave part of it on the c drive and it should always be 3 times the size of the ram installed

but then i never do it myself

[Dave Mak]

there are lots of different opinions about pagefile sizes, but i'm right coz i said so :biggrin

you have a gig of memory, disable it and see.

also your pagefile/Virtual memory is "extra" memory for your pc using a part of your hard drive. now in speed comparisons, access times for ram is about a billion times faster (maybe a slight exageration) than a 7200rpm HDD. so it would make sense that if your pc has enough memory then using virtual memory would and does slow your pc down :ok

[thetarget]

there are lots of different opinions about pagefile sizes, but i'm right coz i said so :biggrin :lol :biggrin

[swab]

Now ears a funny thing: I have used Dave Mak's last idea and disabled the pagefile (which seems to have improved things) BUT Task Manager reports "PF Usage" of around 190M......... is there a ghost in my machine?:rolleyes2

[jakeuk]

watching this 1 with interest:confused