Win XP Pro page file prob

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dookie1

Novice
hey guys,
i just upgraded my comp a month back, and i have been havin some probs with it. i keep my comp on for days together downloading stuff. after using it for a day or more, it automatically restarts. also when i check the task manager, the page file usage shows me at 1.5GB or more. on initial startup its at 250MB, but keeps increasing till the system becomes unstable and either restarts with a blue screen stop error, or just reboots. cant seem to figure out the prob. please advise me what to do. i am using win xp pro with nod32 a/v and system config as given below. in the event viewer i get a few errors such as:
1) The Computer Browser service terminated with service-specific error 2550 (0x9F6). Event id: 7024
2) Application popup: Windows - Virtual Memory Minimum Too Low : Your system is low on virtual memory. Windows is increasing the size of your virtual memory paging file. During this process, memory requests for some applications may be denied. For more information, see Help. Event id:26
3) The computer has rebooted from a bugcheck. The bugcheck was: 0x100000d1 (0x000000de, 0x00000002, 0x00000000, 0x0048d2e7). A dump was saved in: C:\WINDOWS\Minidump\Mini062105-02.dmp. Event id 1001
4) Device identified. Source nvatabus Event id: 2

My Rig :

AMD 64 3200+ Winchester
Asus A8N-E MOTHERBOARD
XFX GeForce 6200 Turbo Cache 128 MB PCI- Express Graphics card.
512MB 400Mhz Hynix DDR RAM
Samsung 19" SyncMaster 913N LCD TFT Monitor
160GB SATA Seagate B'Cuda HDD
Memorex 8X DVD+/-RW
Sony 16X DVD-Rom
Creative 2.1 Inspire Speakers
I-Key Keyboard
Logitech Optical Mouse
Wipro 600 kVA UPS
Motorola Surfboard Cable Modem
Lexmark 3100 Printer / Scanner / Card Reader

any help wud be appreciated...thanks
 
do you use bittorrent for downloads ? there have been instances (especially bittornado) where it starts to use 100%cpu , maybe that could have caused a restart
check your temps using asus proble.too high temps could case restarts as well

another thing to check is your psu
 
You could manually set the min and max sizes for the page file and this may help. I seem to remember that the rule of the thumb was to keep the page file to a size 1.5 times the physical memorey.
 
KingKrool said:
Yeah, but the "max " size is automatically resized if necessary.
Click to expand...

Even if you manually select a Max size ? I thought selecting the Min and Max size as the same would lock the size. It used to with the earlier Windows but I am not sure with XP.
 
hey,
thanks guys for the quick help...i tried playing with the page file settings and it didnt help. rite now it is set at 512-1536MB. so far my comp is running ok, didnt die on me yet, but even rite now, my PF usage is up at around 850MB. and the CPU usage is at avg 15%.
@bottle...yea, i am using bitcomet for downloads, but it does not use as much cpu, maybe at avg 8% and memory at 60Mb approx. when i check cpu n sys temps in asus ai booster it shows em at 40C n 38C resp.
i set the option to 'no page file' n reeboted the sys, n then again set it to custom size as above, thinkin maybe the PF was corrupt, but dont notice much change.
also i was using the nForce 4 drivers that came on da motherboard cd, n thought they might be a prob, so i got new nForce4 drivers frm the nvidia website, n it was worse...my sys was rebooting like every 20mins with a blue stop error, cudn't read exactly wot it said, coz it rebooted very quick. so now i'm back to the old drivers on da cd, n sys seems stable, but still high PF.
any thoughts?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
If you want to restrict the usage of the page file here is something I remember from Win98SE - it seems to work for me even with XP.

To use ram memory rather than the swap file open system.ini and add this line after [386Enh] (without quotes)
"ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1"
Click to expand...
 
dookie1 said:
also i was using the nForce 4 drivers that came on da motherboard cd, n thought they might be a prob, so i got new nForce4 drivers frm the nvidia website, n it was worse...my sys was rebooting like every 20mins with a blue stop error, cudn't read exactly wot it said, coz it rebooted very quick. so now i'm back to the old drivers on da cd, n sys seems stable, but still high PF.
any thoughts?
Click to expand...

dont install the nvidia ide drivers.. maybe 512mb isnt enough for your system or something and hence the high pf use

set the virtual memory to min 1500mb and max 1500mb and see if it helps

go to my computer properties/advanced/system startup and recovery settings and uncheck "automatically restart" so next time you get a BSOD it wont restart and you can note down the error message

let us know the exact error and whether any driver name was mentioned
 
@bottle...made the changes in the 'auto restart' and set PF min/max usage to 1500MB. before that the sys rebooted with a stop error that said something like "DRIVER_IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL_TO". i didnt get to read the whole msg, but if it happens again i'll get more details.
@Chaos...i am using a 400W power supply, not sure which brand, coz i am using an I-box cabinet, n it came with a 300W PSU, so i had got it changed later to a 400W. the voltages in bios are as follows:
Vcore - 1.39V, 3.3V - 3.26V, 5V - 5.05V, 12V - 11.9V. CPU temp - 46C. M/b temp - 39C.
@Grease Monk...i am using hathway internet 256K freeway plan, if that helps :)
anyway, thanks guys for all da help. cheers!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PSU seems to be okay then. What video driver version are you using? Someone else reported BSODs which got fixed after he switch drivers. Try using the latest from nvidia's site.
 
hmmm....since the changes made in sys properties, my comp has just hung. it just freezes completely, does not restart, and even ctrl+alt+del dont work. last nite i had left the monitor off, n when i woke up this mornin, the comp didnt :( ...display remained blank with cpu lights still blinking!! i had updated the BIOS last nite from rev 1001 to rev 1005. i am using the 128MB 6200 TC PCI-E Gfx card, n am using the driver version 71.84. the latest nforce4 platform drivers i found were the ver 6.53 on da nvidia website. n i tried those too, but with no success. so i am using the ones that came on da M/B cd...
do u think i should upgrade the ram? is 512 not enuf? my nfs ug2 runs amazing quick n doom3 is also pretty ok. or do u think i shud upgrade to win xp 64 frm sp2? i had heard that still not all software/drivers r available for xp 64. wot say?
 
most probably one of your programs is leaking memory. meaning it is not giving up memory which is not needed. this might be leading to large size of ur pagefile.
identify that program and disable / stop it (from the task manager) and post back ur observation.
Edit: After flashing the bios did you reset the cmos data ???

(very important )
either by cmos jumper or battery removal method.
 
dookie1 said:
hmmm....since the changes made in sys properties, my comp has just hung. it just freezes completely, does not restart, and even ctrl+alt+del dont work. last nite i had left the monitor off, n when i woke up this mornin, the comp didnt :( ...display remained blank with cpu lights still blinking!! i had updated the BIOS last nite from rev 1001 to rev 1005. i am using the 128MB 6200 TC PCI-E Gfx card, n am using the driver version 71.84. the latest nforce4 platform drivers i found were the ver 6.53 on da nvidia website. n i tried those too, but with no success. so i am using the ones that came on da M/B cd...
do u think i should upgrade the ram? is 512 not enuf? my nfs ug2 runs amazing quick n doom3 is also pretty ok. or do u think i shud upgrade to win xp 64 frm sp2? i had heard that still not all software/drivers r available for xp 64. wot say?
Click to expand...
If you have, then try with a different stick of ram. maybe the ram is bad.
 
yea i hv nod32 a/v n my sys is clean. the ram is good, coz i tried with another stick, same prob. so me thinks its an xp sp2 issue. i want to install win x64. can i install it over sp2 with a boot cd? or do i need to format my drive first n do a clean install?
 
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