How big is yours.. Page/swap file

The recomended is 1 + 1/2 the amount of memory you have. If you disable the swap you'll be getting out of memory messages wihen running certain applications or many applications at once. 2GB is not as much memory as it was a few years ago... today 2GB is the standard for worstations.

  To increase the performance the best thing to do is to put your swap file on a different drive or at least on a different partition.

Another thing to do is to defrag your swap file from time to time (turn the swap off, boot up, deleted it, and turn it on again. )

I like this tutorial quite a bit.. even though it is a few years old..

http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/Swapfile_Optimization/Swapfile_Optimization_01.htm

Hi,

Hope the swap size is not a 3GB large! That's the suggest size, not real size.
In a machine with 2GB RAM, the recommended swap file size is 3GB. If the user runs only a few Internet Explorer windows and have few installed applications (Office, email), probably the swap file will be under 200MB.

So, the suggestion is to accept the recommended size for swapping and assure that real size is very below that amount. Actually, the size not necessarely impacts the overall performance. Swapping is the real problem. The more Windows swaps the more the performance is affected. To check the swapping: you will notice the HD led blinking a lot, sometimes lighted for a couple of seconds.

Jose

 Well,

  If you are running a lot of applications... it is ACTUALLY recomended that you keep the swap permanent on its maximum size (making the minimum and maximum the same size).  So it doesn't get fragmented too fast.

Doesn't get fragmented at all i think, markps_1.

The more Windows swaps the more the performance is affected
>>>i was thinking windows swaps just when it fills the RAM, JoseParrot.

Isn't it better have as much swap as possible?
https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21866316/Isn't-it-better-have-as-much-swap-as-possible.html

 You are mixing things up Visual3DMaya.

  On that other post war1 is talking about disk space and programs getting fragmented due to lack of disk space (what also doesn't make much sense) since programs get fragmentes due the write and delete cycles when the OS fills in the gaps left by deleted files spreading a bigger file through the disk.  When the swap is not permanent it tends to fragment alot since it is a big file and it contracts and expands all the time.

  Check this page... http://www.adriansrojakpot.com/Speed_Demonz/Swapfile_Optimization/Swapfile_Optimization_03.htm

  In short if you have the space.. make the swap permanent and you'll be happy. :o)

wikipedia's description is incorrect.

 On the top it says that fragmentation is not an issue... but on the bottom of the page it says..

"In the Linux and *BSD operating systems, it is common to use a whole partition of a HDD for swapping. Though it is still possible to use a file for this, it is recommended to use a separate partition, because this excludes chances of fragmentation, which would reduce performance. "


 Fragmentation IS an issue and it is one of the major optimization you can have on your swap file.

system managed is always best because windows ADJUSTS for application needs, sometimes it may be 1 GB, on rare occasion, it might grow to 4 GB, but generally anything more than 2 GB windows not manage efficiently.  Now that will change with x64 version and vista -- Vista talk of 10GB swap file -- HA!  we see if microsoft can handle that.

I have seen many systems slow to a virtual crawl because of too big a swap file, even microsoft recommends against too big a swap file.  So leave system managed size if you dont want windows strange glitches and failures.  Same advice to you too Maya !!!

Thanks for all the input on this.

I have set my Max and Min Swap file size to 3500MB, and am going to see If I benefit at all from having it on another partition or my secong HDD.

Thanks again

If your computer is doing a lot of paging, you'll see a significant improvement when the Swap file is in a different hard drive or even better on a different IDE channel...

   When you set your page to permanent on a drive that is being used for other things it may not get fragmented further but it has the original fragmentation when it has been first created. So,  the performance improvement for a separated partition is that your page file will be certainly contiguous. Many systems (unix for example) automatically put the swap partition on a place that the hard drive is faster (on the begining of the drive).

Just 1 more thing mark, does it make any difference if my computer is set to dual channel dynamic paging mode in the BIOS ?

Had a go with the swap file set at 3000MB Max and Min, and on another IDE channel/HDD. I'm now seeing an improvement in my systems overall speed.

This page provides all the info.

http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

Wish I'd found it before I gave out 100 pts :)) LOL

The "Dynamic Paging Mode" is completely transparent to the user, that is, it is handled internal on the memory controller and only refers to the sequence in which the internal banks on the memory chip are accessed.
You can make no modifications to the swap file.

 Well Orbiter that was my first answer on the top :o)

 From the page you've found... "How much swap space do you need? That depends the amount of RAM you have and the programs you use. The rule of the thumb is 1.5 times the amount of system memory, unless you have too much load on your system."