The Windows XP Page File
Performance is always
an issue when dealing with computers. We tend to think of major
items such as processor speed, amount of installed RAM and the
graphics card when talking about how fast a computer performs. It's
true those components do play a large role in performance, but one
item that can substantially impact overall performance that doesn't
get nearly the amount of attention as the more well known components
is the paging file. The paging file is very closely related to the
physical RAM installed in the computer. Its purpose is to extend the
amount of physical RAM and make it available to the system. Both
services and installed applications can benefit from this 'extra'
RAM, even though it is substantially different from the sticks that
plug into the motherboard.
Not all that long ago
32 to 64 megabytes (MB) of RAM was considered a huge amount for a
personal computer. Today, amounts of 128MB to 256MB are common with
many machines sporting 512MB or even 1GB of RAM. It might seem that
with such a huge jump in installed RAM that the paging file would be
unnecessary. There must be some sort of law or correlation that I
don't know about, but operating systems and applications keep
finding ways to suck up all that memory so the page file remains
with us. There have been a number of schemes for extending the
installed amounts of RAM but basically they are all paging files.
When the load imposed by applications and services running on the
computer nears the amount of installed RAM it calls out for more.
Since there isn't any additional RAM to be found, it looks for a
substitute; in this case virtual memory which is also known as the
page file.
We now have two types
of memory; random access memory (RAM) and virtual memory, or the
page file. The page file is created during the Windows XP
installation and resides on the hard drive. Page files are measured
in megabytes. The size of the page file is based on how much RAM is
installed in the computer. By default, XP creates a page file which
is 1.5 times the amount of installed RAM and places it on the hard
drive where XP is installed. Other than plugging the RAM into the
motherboard, there is little than can be done to alter its
performance characteristics. The page file is a different story.
Because it's located on a hard drive, it's subject to a number of
factors that can hinder its performance.
[ Paging File ] [ Locating the Page File ] [ Sizing the Page File ] [ Physically Setting Page File Size ] [ Page Files and Fragmentation ] [ Defragmenting the Page File ] [ Paging File Performance Monitoring ]
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Description of What the Available Bytes in Task Manager Represents
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Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File
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