Windows memory use...

[Martin Zugec]

2Nazgul: You forget to mention the most important app Exchange is written to support this switch and it is great advantage using him. However you shouldnt use it on workstation, just on servers with properly written apps.

[prathapml]

Is there a way to make Windows XP/2003 to use all available RAM and only when it's full to start using pagefile.sys?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi, the solution you are looking for is the ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 value in SYSTEM.INI trick.

Details are here - http://www.mdgx.com/98-4.htm

FYI, it does not make much of a difference from Win2k onwards, but you try it and THEN decide if its worth using or not.

[Win2k3EE]

prathapml...

Forbidden

You don't have permission to access /98-4.htm on this server.

Additionally, a 403 Forbidden error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.

Anyway I moved pagefile.sys to another HDD and had the same performace as when it was on the same HDD where Windows was installed.

[Aegis]

Is there a way to make Windows XP/2003 to use all available RAM and only when it's full to start using pagefile.sys?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi, the solution you are looking for is the ConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 value in SYSTEM.INI trick.

Details are here - http://www.mdgx.com/98-4.htm

FYI, it does not make much of a difference from Win2k onwards, but you try it and THEN decide if its worth using or not.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That switch works only on Windows 9x. I don't think XP/2003 even needs the system.ini file.

[mau-yong]

-this registry setting will prevent the paging of the kernel to the pagefile.sys or make use of RAM before going to the disk

-you must have at least 256mb memory

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

"DisablePagingExecutive"=dword:00000001

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

[SngBrdb]

Haft'disagree... I also would like to be able to tweak this. Why? Two reasons:

(1) I have 2 GB of RAM; 1.4 Gigs are currently free. Yet 20% of the page file (51 of 256 megs) is in use (peaked at 30), and I'm averaging 256 pages faults/sec to the pagefile (peaked at 4,687). How can anyone say this is good memory management???

(2) I have the pagefile set to a fixed size 256 megs in an effort to force windows to use more ram. From time to time windows will tell me that I don't have enough virtual memory, and that it is increasing the pagefile (it doesn't, but the message is still annoying)

Muh??

I do use the DisablePagingExecutive tweak, and this helps, but still... Windows shouldn't be using *any* pagefile in this scenario (imo).

Whatever algorithm Microsoft is using wasn't developed with high-RAM systems in mind. Unless there are tweaking capabilities somewhere buried in the system.

I want them!!

.

Edited August 14, 2005 by SngBrdb