LOL! I can be such a purist when I write sometimes. Seriously, if you need memory dumps, then create a paging file in the boot drive. It's just that I don't need one, so I don't see the need to create a paging file in the boot drive.
I'm so proud of myself... I just went through your Virtual Memory Optimization Guide and discovered that I had already done exactly as you suggested, intuitively!!!
Good to see people actually read guides. I go by the rule of 1.5 x the amount of ram you have unless you have something huge like 2 gigs. So then: 512MB ram = virtual memory set to 768MB 1024MB ram = 1536MB Thats mainly what I go by but anyone is still unsure read the guide and hey it never hurts to have a large swap setup.
what well I read the title hehe....he I guess it wouldn't hurt. Fulle of knowledge my brain will be. OK I jsut took a glance and wow I know A little more now. Moving the page file to the outer edge. I gotta try this.
Hi, thanks this great guide. really helped alot in clearing some doubts. just want to ask I have 2 SATA drves hooked on my PC currently OS Drive : 36GB Raptor Data Drive : 250GB Hitachi Would it be better to put the page on the raptor (since it is faster) or create an extra partition on the outermost of the Hitachi? The Hitachi drive is also the default drive for all my downloads and stuff(bittorrent, etc), so will putting the page file on this drive actually negate the benefits? thanks =]
I'm no expert, but I assume that most swapping is done as a response to OS calls, so you'd want the pagefile on the drive that DOESN'T hold your OS. (If this is wrong, I'm happy to be corrected). --Mike
That's generally correct, although if the second drive is too slow, that might impact the swapfile's performance too much. For peace of mind, just create a paging file on BOTH hard disks. Windows XP will then use the paging file that it thinks is the fastest at that time.
thanks for the advice. =] do i have to create a separate partition for the pagefile on the OS drive? How big should it be? I am setting the page file on my hitachi to 512MB. Using 1GB RAM too. PS: Slight OT here - When I used Partition Magic to partition my Hitachi, I noticed my Raptor having some unallocated space at the end of the drive? Is this normal? I can't seem to merge it back with my partition on the Raptor either. Thanks
No real need to do that. Check the guide on separate partitions. OT : That's normal. Don't worry about it.
thanks for the reply. =] guess i'll monitor how it goes on just one HDD before putting another pagefile on my boot drive. =] thanks again.
Hi, I've got two hard drives, a DiamondMax+ 9 80 GB S-ATA and a DiamondMax 10 200 GB S-ATA. On which should I install Windows XP and on which should I put the virtual memory on in order to achieve optimal performance? Thanks in advance.
Hi and welcome to the ARP. ^^ In common you should place the VM on a different drive (not partition) than your system if you've got the chance to. Imo you won't gain much or any performance in your case, 'cause this "rule" is most effective on P-ATA; on S-ATA, SCSI or RAID-volumes it's different (like already stated in the guide).
Thanks, but my main question is that if OS should be on the faster drive or if virtual memory should?
OS should be placed on the faster drive, of course. There's no use having the VM placed on an ultra-fast and then "waiting" for the OS to finish its job, right? ^^ But the very small difference between both of yours is not really worth the thought at all.
Allright, thanks. I just thought that the system would overall benefit more with virtual memory on the faster drive.
