How to reduce page file usage in XP Pro?

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zhopudey

zhopudey

Galvanizer
I only recently discovered the Virtual Memory tab in task manager :ashamed: And was quite shocked to see a very high PF uasge! :@ e.g., when I render a 3ds max scene, it uses about 1GB of ram, and 1GB of virtual memory :S And all this while cacheman reports about 600mb of ram is free! Even now, I'm burning a couple of dvds; both instances of nero are using about 300mb of ram and VM each. While I have almost 900mb of free ram!

Why does this happen? I always used to think that PF is only used after windows runs out of physical ram. But now I found that each and every process in the task manager is eating almost as much VM as its using RAM. How do I stop this?
 
Somewhat OT, but I have done away with VM for last 3 years. (ever since I bought 2GB)
Of course I do not use any memory hungry application like you, but even when writing a DVD using Nero 7, nearly 1.4 GB remains free.
 
I did try disabling VM once. My system didn't like it much :P Anyway, its not a solution for me, as 3ds Max needs more memory sometimes.
 
I think you have to tune vCache settings. Windows will always use virtual(hard disk) memory no matter what amount of RAM you have.

You can disable it but in the event that you exceed 2GB or whatever of RAM, Windows cannot function properly.

I had a link on vCache. Will post it here if I find it.
 
Improve usage of Physical RAM and caches to significantly improve system performance
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
DisablePagingExecutive=1 Will load your core WinXP files into system RAM and keep them there. Use this tweak if you have
512MB RAM or more.
LargeSystemCache=0 For 512MB RAM or more set to 1 for potential performance improvement.
IOPageLockLimit=226492416 Enter value (bytes) in Decimal view. Default of 0 = 512KB. I personally use the Cachemandetermined
setting of "Large IO page lock limit" (for 512MB RAM it's 226492416) for optimal performance. See Cacheman section.
SecondLevelDataCache=256 Enter your CPU's L2 cache size in Decimal view. Microsoft suggest the default setting of 0 will
automatically detect your L2 Cache size, however entering it manually in this way won't harm performance.
Click to expand...
Don't remember the source of the above. Got it from some tweaks site on the net. You can try it if u don't want to disable vm totally. I used the above settings on my earlier rig. Not much of a performance increase that I could make out.
 
hey.. first of all... whatever amount of ram you may have, windows always requires VM and removing it WILL slow down your computer :)

and nice tips provided above^^...though i use a software to do them which makes it easier
DH TuneXP 1.5 FINAL - DriverHeaven.net

and btw... where do you see your page file usage from?
if its the bottom right corner of the task manager, then it includes the ram usage+VM
as i type this with gtalk,media player and firefox, cacheman says page file is 30mb and ram usage is 450mb :D
 
TheIndian said:
what the heck is "virtual memory" or VM?
Click to expand...

Simply put, it is that part of hard disk space that is used as system memory when your physical memoy (RAM) runs out. For windows its pagefile.sys or Win386.swp and for linux its the swap partition.
 
r2d2 said:
Simply put, it is that part of hard disk space that is used as system memory when your physical memoy (RAM) runs out.
Click to expand...

SAdly, that isn't happening. :(

Any more bright suggestions?
 
In modern operating systems, including Windows, application programs and many system processes always reference memory using virtual memory addresses which are automatically translated to real (RAM) addresses by the hardware. Only core parts of the operating system kernel bypass this address translation and use real memory addresses directly.
Virtual Memory is always in use, even when the memory required by all running processes does not exceed the amount of RAM installed on the system.
An expanded version of this article is available at General Windows Information.
Click to expand...

RAM, Virtual Memory, Pagefile and all that stuff
 
r2d2 said:
Simply put, it is that part of hard disk space that is used as system memory when your physical memoy (RAM) runs out. For windows its pagefile.sys or Win386.swp and for linux its the swap partition.
Click to expand...

That is what I thought and yet in the Task Manager Window, under the process column why do I have VM size when my pagefile size has been set to zero and I user only Physical Ram?

Any answers?
 
TheIndian said:
That is what I thought and yet in the Task Manager Window, under the process column why do I have VM size when my pagefile size has been set to zero and I user only Physical Ram?

Any answers?
Click to expand...
I also have been wondering why there is always virtual memory memory shown in the task manager (from about 250 to 350) though page file has always been set to zero.
 
OK - there are two things.

1. Virtual memory

2. Paging

Paging requires virtual memory (actually, that is not strictly true, but just accept it), but virtual memory does not require paging.

In any modern OS, you will always use virtual memory (except in certain portions of the kernel/drivers), but paging is purely optional.
 
KingKrool said:
OK - there are two things.
1. Virtual memory
2. Paging

Paging requires virtual memory (actually, that is not strictly true, but just accept it), but virtual memory does not require paging.
In any modern OS, you will always use virtual memory (except in certain portions of the kernel/drivers), but paging is purely optional.
Click to expand...
Then what exactly is VM ? (if its not HDD being used as RAM) I have 4 GB( system sees 3.2) my max usage of memory tops out around 2.5 Max ever - normally its 1.5G MAx - well it firgures I got the real thing and don't need anything virtual - so what is VM ?
 
Now I'm not sure exactly what windows is reporting as virtual memory to you, but basically it is an elegant solution which I will not go into except to state an old Computer Science Mantra - any problem can be solved with an extra degree of indirection.

If you want to know more, I would suggest any undergraduate text on OS, or even wikipedia. I don't have the ability to draw (on this media) the diagrams necessary to provide a good example.
 
KingKrool said:
Now I'm not sure exactly what windows is reporting as virtual memory to you, but basically it is an elegant solution which I will not go into except to state an old Computer Science Mantra - any problem can be solved with an extra degree of indirection.
If you want to know more, I would suggest any undergraduate text on OS, or even wikipedia. I don't have the ability to draw (on this media) the diagrams necessary to provide a good example.
Click to expand...

Heck even I dont want the drawings - I am just trying to figure out if Windows is still using HDD as memory - or why the hell does it call the real stuff "virtual" . But thanks :)
 
No. It shouldn't be. However, that doesn't mean that the disk is not used at all. There still will be some usage, just not the pagefile. Executables, for example _might_ be paged in and out from their on disk representations.
 
Try this and see if it helps

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\

DisablePagingExecutive = 0 by default - change to 1
 
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