Page File

[Spawn-Inc]

i'm not sure where to put this so i will post it here and let mods put it in the proper spot.

i went to install a new game and it said i didn't have enough page file

here is what it looked like after i changed it. before it was red and said 1534 i think.

http://inlinethumb13.webshots.com/3340/2769964840100511463S600x600Q85.jpg

i since then looked up page file and was told it was the second type of ram. i remember reading on a site that i should put it to 0 to get DOD:D to work better. i never did but i went back to it and changed it from 1534mb max to 2000mb as max. my question is does this mean i could change it to 10000 and have 11gbs of ram? can anyone explain a bit more on page file.

[Omega]

Mine's 8gb, and, honestly, it doesn't make as big of a difference as RAM does.

[DaveW]

The Page File is sort of like "Virtual RAM" on your hard drive.

Obviously it's very slow by comparison.

-Dave

[dgrmkrp]

by my knowledge, windows uses the "page file" to keep data that:
1.has not been used for a while (you had a program in real memory>> RAM then you left it untouched for a few minutes), then brings it back when needed (slower.. if u have more ram, there is no need to unload it and reload it) and so you feel you have more memory for running multiple applications. well, windows actually swaps RAM real estate for them, but considering that the physical speed at which the hard drive works is considerably less...
2. in case you need more memory, it will store current data there too, but this action is by far slower because the cpu must go through a much longer way to get it and process it..

so, you can usually have the 1.5x page file, but i use a different approach: use 1.5X on your win drive, and if you have other memory hungry applications like photoshop or games or whatever any one may be using that gobbles ram, just set some swap on that partition too.. i suppose here that people keep their win partition separate of course... i don't usually see the low page file warning unless i forget to set these things :)

here's a pic of what i mean:
http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6082/clipboard01vm4.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=clipboard01vm4.jpg)
hope i helped

[XcOM]

the above is corret,

I personally have a 3GB hard drive used soly for pagefile on my raid card, i did see a peformance increase using the page that way,

Normally a game never checks your page file, was it windows that error about the page file,

[progbuddy]

Virtual memory is fairly slow if you run an IDE setup. With SATA, virtual memory access times are much faster :). You can bump up the VM, but it won't make much of a difference.

[Spawn-Inc]

Normally a game never checks your page file, was it windows that error about the page file,

the game was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and i thats the first time i have seen a game check for page file.


when you guys talked about a partition i know it means to divide the hdd into certin sizes but what should you set the windows size to? when i installed windows xp home i think i set it to 8mbs but i'm not sure. if you don't set a partition then what will happen when you try to install windows?

[CanaBalistic]

the game was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and i thats the first time i have seen a game check for page file.


when you guys talked about a partition i know it means to divide the hdd into certin sizes but what should you set the windows size to? when i installed windows xp home i think i set it to 8mbs but i'm not sure. if you don't set a partition then what will happen when you try to install windows?

The pagefile works best if you set it to a diffrent physical drive than your boot drive. Having it this way speeds it up compared to having it installed on your windows partition (physical disk).

Windows can be installed on a small drive. However, you'll have space issues with installed programs rather quickly.

A hard disk is a single partition. You can split this up into smaller partitions but you'll erase everything in that sector of the disk. Its essentually tricking the computer into believeing there are more drives then there really is.

[luciusad2004]

Not really sure what I'm talking about here so take what i say with a grain of salt but i had a question. I thought i read somewhere that there was some sort of mythological number, the number being the maximum amount of memory that windows can use. (Not sure what it is.) What i heard is that, if you have this amount of ram, windows wont recognize the pagefile as memory and thus wont use it, making it futile. I was just wondering if anyone in hear knew if that was true or not.


the game was S.T.A.L.K.E.R. and i thats the first time i have seen a game check for page file.


when you guys talked about a partition i know it means to divide the hdd into certin sizes but what should you set the windows size to? when i installed windows xp home i think i set it to 8mbs but i'm not sure. if you don't set a partition then what will happen when you try to install windows?

If you don't partition your drive when installing windows will install normally. Its the like having one giant partition on your drive. In fact this is usually how most off the shelf prebuilt computers seem to work. At least the ones that i have had any contact with.

Edit: sorry if that doesnt make any sense, i can visualize what I'm thinking but i just cant seem to get in to words.

[LiTHiUM0XiD3]

lolz my buddy had the same issue..... so i had to adjust his page file lolz
crazy game eh? the graphics kick ass.. i'd have to say almost as good a game as half life 2... graphics r better than HL2.... but i dont like how many different lil missions u can do... linear game play is fun.... but i'd rather follow a story line sometimes...

[Spawn-Inc]

lolz my buddy had the same issue..... so i had to adjust his page file lolz
crazy game eh? the graphics kick ass.. i'd have to say almost as good a game as half life 2... graphics r better than HL2.... but i dont like how many different lil missions u can do... linear game play is fun.... but i'd rather follow a story line sometimes...

yes i like it for the most part but i have a couple of problems with it.
1. when your inside a room/house its dark and everything mixes together. but just typing that i remember there is a flashlight so i will try using it next time.

2. the dam thing keeps freezing on me sometimes. i am assuming its because i don't meet system specs or i just barely meet them.

those are my only problems so far.

[Spawn-Inc]

so if i understand what has been said, then for me, i have 1gb of physical ram and 5gb's of virtual ram. so if i run a game e.g. stalker then all my background programs (nortan, steam, setpoint, etc) will get sent to the virtual ram and the physical ram will be used on the game!?

[CanaBalistic]

so if i understand what has been said, then for me, i have 1gb of physical ram and 5gb's of virtual ram. so if i run a game e.g. stalker then all my background programs (nortan, steam, setpoint, etc) will get sent to the virtual ram and the physical ram will be used on the game!?

Basicaly, yeah... There is a bit more to it but thats the jist of it.