question about paging file

[nottoobright]

I have an ASUS A7n8x with an XP-2400 cpu, 120gig hd & 768mb RAM and usually don't run too many programs at once. How do I get my system to utilize the RAM instead of a paging file? I turned off the paging files for all drives but task manager still says that there is a paging file, is this normal?
Could use some suggestions on adjusting this correctly. Thanks!

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Your best bet is to have a fixed size pagefile of RAM-size x 1.5
512MB memory is the perfect amount of memory for most users, so the pagefile should then be 768MB (round it if you like).
Having no pagefile will cause problems sooner rather than later.

 

[Phantasm66]

Having a dedicated partition for your swap file is a good idea as well. It will prevent swap file fragmentation, which is a common cause of windows running like crap.

Windows intelligent use of RAM in favour of swap when more RAM is available is pretty rubbish. Whereas Linux kernel will try its very best to use every last bit of RAM before turning to swap if it can, Windows seems to use ALL your RAM, ALL your swap and then run crappy anyway. Go figure.

 

[BrownPaper]

go here. follow the instructions to disable paging the executive. there is also a registry patch file (is that the name?) if you are uncomfortable using regedit. i am assuming you are running at least win2k or win xp.

this should get windows to use more ram and less swap.

oh yeah do what phantasm says and have a dedicated swap partition. keep the swap partition near the front of the drive because that is where the hard drive is the fastest.

man windows should do what linux does and create a dedicated swap partition when installing the OS (or at least make it apparent to less knowledgeable computer users).

 

[StormBringer]

Go to the registry link in my signature, look up pagefile and Virtual memory in the registry section of that site. You'll find three or four registry keys to change/add. One of these was mentioned above, the others will keep most apps from using the pagefile until it is needed unless they are meant to use it(Photo editors would be an example of this)
Use that in conjunction with Phant's suggestion of a set pagefile on a dedicated partition near the front of the drive.
It is not a good idea to completely disable the pagefiel unless you have lots of RAM and never use apps which require you to have a pagefile, again Photo editors, some 3D apps, and some audio/video editors use the pagefile.

Also Using the Search feature will yield several results from many past discussions on this topic.