The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Q: Size of the Page File

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Aerozolic, Mar 9, 2006.

  1. Aerozolic

    Aerozolic Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    16
    Messages:
    108
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I've read a lot of material on how big should the page file be. I don't know anymore which method is the "good" method. Can anyone suggest something about how should the page file be calculated?
     
    Aerozolic, Mar 9, 2006
    #1
  2. Unreal

    Unreal Notebook Deity NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    50
    Messages:
    734
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    l thought it was supposed to be twice whatever your ram is but i'm not sure.
     
    Unreal, Mar 9, 2006
    #2
  3. Albsterama

    Albsterama Notebook Consultant NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    189
    Messages:
    179
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Albsterama, Mar 9, 2006
    #3
  4. ttupa

    ttupa Tech Elitist NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    136
    Messages:
    1,150
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I've looked this up before. Basically the pagefile (swap file) was created when RAM prices were very high so that systems could run programs that may exceed the amount of physical memory installed. It sets aside a permanent "file" of space as "virtual memory" on your hard drive. Programs use this space to "reserve" the largest amount of memory they could possibly need. This actual figure may never be used, it is just there to ensure that the program does not encounter a deficit of memory.

    Therefore, it is adviseable to follow the guidelines in the previous link. HOWEVER, if you do have 2g of RAM, but only a 4200 RPM hard drive you could experiment with a very small pagefile. If by chance you do run out of memory with a small (or non-existent) pagefile, your computer will shoot you...
    :)
    ...a stern warning that you are out of memory...or it will perhaps BSOD on you.

    Good luck!
     
    ttupa, Mar 9, 2006
    #4
  5. mtrivs

    mtrivs Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    40
    Messages:
    458
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Well, according to tweakguides.com, if you plan on doing any gaming, you want your page file to be at least 2GB, but other wise i would go by the "twice the amount of RAM" rule.
     
    mtrivs, Mar 11, 2006
    #5
  6. dr_st

    dr_st Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    571
    Messages:
    1,437
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Default settings are 1.5xRAM at min, 3xRAM at max, I think.
     
    dr_st, Mar 11, 2006
    #6