Windows XP Memory Tweak Guide

[dipdude]

Courtesy : Techspot

For full guide with screenshot's click here

:cool2: Must read for all xp user's

It’s been a long time since we posted our initial Windows XP memory guide, and given the advancements in PC hardware and the increased system requirements of applications nowadays, it was about time the guide got an update.

There are several components to the Windows memory subsystem. For the most part this guide will be targeting the Hard Drive, CPU, and RAM, optimally configuring these along the way, and clearing up many of the placebos surrounding memory management in XP.

Preview

Configuring the Page File

Now that you’ve configured all relevant memory management options it’s time to get to grips with the final option: the Page File itself. Depending on the forums/sites you visit the question – What should I set the Page File to? - is sure to bring you a variety of responses and ensuing arguments (not to mention the usual fantasies).

The first thing to do is determine the Minimum Page File required for your system. The simplest way to do this is to open System Properties, then the Advanced tab and press the Performance Settings button, selecting the Advanced tab, finally pressing the Change button. Select the Drive which XP is installed to and set the Paging file size for selected drive to Custom size, setting the Initial size to 1000MB and Maximum to 1500MB (Lower the Initial accordingly if Hard Drive space is an issue). If you have multiple drives available ensure these are set to No paging file. Click Ok and restart as required for the changes to take effect.

Once restarted press Ctrl + Alt + Delete simultaneously and load the Task Manager, selecting the Performance tab. This tab allows use to monitor peak Virtual Memory use (The Peak value in the Commit Charge (K) section). This window can be minimized and you should then run your most resource intensive Applications in order to see just how Virtual Memory is utilised. Once you’re satisfied with your testing switch back to Task Manager.

The Peak value records maximum Virtual Memory use during the session, in K, e.g. in the image above 324548K. Dividing this amount by 1024 gives you the value in MB – 317MB in this instance. For improved stability this value should be padded, so add at least 50MB to this value, e.g. 317MB should be increased to 400MB. This provides us with a Minimum Page File size to use.

Once more open System Properties, select the Advanced tab and press the Performance Settings button, selecting the Advanced tab, finally pressing the Change button.