Paging file problems - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Prince · 03-18-2004, 08:44 PM

I'm having a problem with Windows' paging file. I stumbled on the paging file properties page, and while I made no changes to it whatsoever, when I navigated away from the page it complained something, I don't remember what precisely. So I tried to adjust the settings so that Windows would be happy, and have tried so repeatedly, with no luck. It wants me to reboot, and I do, but once it starts Windows again it complains something about there not being a sufficient page file.

My partitions are as follows:
C is a small 800 mb partition that contains FreeDOS.
D is the Windows Server 2003 system partition, 18 GB total, 15 free.
E is a data partition, 30 GB.
F is another data partition, small.

Any advice at all would be great, I usually don't mess with these settings at all. I've selected to allow Windows to determine the settings for all drives but it still isn't happy. It's almost as if it just won't take the settings.

Someone suggested that I set only the E drive (data drive) to have a paging file, of the fixed size of 2.5 times the amount of my physical memory. And disable paging for all other drives. This did not help either. I've tried different combos. Whenever I reboot the system, the paging file's size is zero.

Any help at all would be appreciated.

Holo · 03-18-2004, 08:55 PM

What I've done is make a partition of 1GB just for the pagefile and remove all others. It's worked evey time for me.

Prince · 03-19-2004, 10:07 AM

I might consider that, but I don't see how it would help in this case. That is, I don't see how a new partition would help instead of the ones that already exist.

Does anyone know of any software that could recreate/verify the page file settings, or something? This is unbearable, the computer's slow as fuck. And I just reinstalled the OS three days ago. I really don't want to do it all over again now.

guthmund · 03-19-2004, 12:21 PM

Okay. I've did a little reading.

As for the system not recognizing the page file at all, I found this here:
http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

Quote:

Move the pagefile off the disk that holds your system and boot partitions to another fast and dedicated hard disk. If you do put the file elsewhere, you should leave a small amount on C: - an initial size of 2MB with a Maximum of 50 is suitable - so it can be used in emergency. Without this, the system is inclined to ignore the settings and either have no page file at all (and complain) or make a very large one indeed on the C: drive.

The way I understand it. If there are seperate drives then the page file should be on a different drive than the OS. It should be 2.5 times the size of the physical amount of RAM. If there are multiple non-system file drives you can split the page file to increase performance even further.

Since you don't mention more than one drive just partitions, I would either create a seperate partition for the page file by itself and defrag it or slap the pagefile on E: at 2.5 times the physical RAM solely to avoid fragmentation. I don't think you'll notice any significant performance change since it's still on the same physical drive. Taking the article into consideration, I would leave a small page file on the system partition.

If the system still won't retain the right settings, this is at the end of the article....

Quote:

The page file has become corrupt, possibly at a bad shutdown. In the Virtual Memory settings, set to “No page file,” then exit System Properties, shut down the machine, and reboot. Delete PAGEFILE.SYS (on each drive, if more than just C: ), set the page file up again and reboot to bring it into use.

along with this, but it's messing with the registry....

Quote:

Registry Values:
Even when you set the values properly, some systems don't retain your settings. If this happens, perform the following steps:

Start regedt32.exe (not regedit.exe)

Go to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\ControlSession Manager\Memory Management

Double-click PagingFiles. The entry will appear as

D:\pagefile.sys 700 700

The first value is the location; the second is the minimum size; and the third is the maximum size.

Ensure the values are correct and click OK.

Reboot the machine.

If you're looking to monitor the page file, the windows task manager will do it for XP. perfmon.msc in the command box will bring up the system monitor where you can add the page file snap-in.

Here's a link explaining that: http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/e...s/03june16.asp

Good luck.

Prince · 03-19-2004, 12:59 PM

Thanks for your suggestions and help, both of you.

After much Googl'ing it turned out that the Intel Application Accelerator I was using can cause this - since the version I was using was 1.x, and this problem has been experienced when using anything below version 2.1.

Uninstalled Intel Application Accelerator, rebooted....and now it works just fine. Weird.

guthmund · 03-19-2004, 06:10 PM

Crap!

I was just discussing the problem with a friend who knows a lot more about this stuff than me. He mentioned this and led me here (for those interested)

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;316528

What an odd problem....I would've never have guessed that.

Oh well. Just more useless accumulation.

03-18-2004, 08:44 PM	#1 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	Paging file problems I'm having a problem with Windows' paging file. I stumbled on the paging file properties page, and while I made no changes to it whatsoever, when I navigated away from the page it complained something, I don't remember what precisely. So I tried to adjust the settings so that Windows would be happy, and have tried so repeatedly, with no luck. It wants me to reboot, and I do, but once it starts Windows again it complains something about there not being a sufficient page file. My partitions are as follows: C is a small 800 mb partition that contains FreeDOS. D is the Windows Server 2003 system partition, 18 GB total, 15 free. E is a data partition, 30 GB. F is another data partition, small. Any advice at all would be great, I usually don't mess with these settings at all. I've selected to allow Windows to determine the settings for all drives but it still isn't happy. It's almost as if it just won't take the settings. Someone suggested that I set only the E drive (data drive) to have a paging file, of the fixed size of 2.5 times the amount of my physical memory. And disable paging for all other drives. This did not help either. I've tried different combos. Whenever I reboot the system, the paging file's size is zero. Any help at all would be appreciated. __________________ Who is John Galt?

03-18-2004, 08:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
Holo A Real American	What I've done is make a partition of 1GB just for the pagefile and remove all others. It's worked evey time for me. __________________ I happen to like the words "fuck", "cock", "pussy", "tits", "cunt", "twat", "shit" and even "bitch". As long as I am not using them to describe you, don't go telling me whether or not I can/should use them...that is, if you want me to continue refraining from using them to describe you. ~Prince

03-19-2004, 10:07 AM	#3 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	I might consider that, but I don't see how it would help in this case. That is, I don't see how a new partition would help instead of the ones that already exist. Does anyone know of any software that could recreate/verify the page file settings, or something? This is unbearable, the computer's slow as fuck. And I just reinstalled the OS three days ago. I really don't want to do it all over again now. __________________ Who is John Galt?

03-19-2004, 12:59 PM	#5 (permalink)
Prince /nɑndəsˈkrɪpt/ Location: LV-426	Thanks for your suggestions and help, both of you. After much Googl'ing it turned out that the Intel Application Accelerator I was using can cause this - since the version I was using was 1.x, and this problem has been experienced when using anything below version 2.1. Uninstalled Intel Application Accelerator, rebooted....and now it works just fine. Weird. __________________ Who is John Galt?

03-19-2004, 06:10 PM	#6 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	Crap! I was just discussing the problem with a friend who knows a lot more about this stuff than me. He mentioned this and led me here (for those interested) http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;316528 What an odd problem....I would've never have guessed that. Oh well. Just more useless accumulation. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.