[pizzaisgood14]

as far as i know your pf usage is like telling you how much ram you have left. today i got my pf usage about 90 percent of the way. my question is what happens when you max this pf usage out. does your computer crash?? ive been wondering about this for a long time now.

[jbking]

If by PF you mean page file then you will likely receive a message about virtual memory being low and the need to increase the page file. If you let Windows manage the size of the page file then you may not receive this as it'll take up more room without issuing a warning I think though if you run out of drive space then you may have issues.

Your PF usage is telling you how much memory outside of RAM you are using. You can think of it like this: From the O/S there is the RAM + PF that it sees and thinks it can use. As for what is in memory, this is generally what has been requested by various programs and if most of your physical memory is in use, then the O/S will swap a page into the PF so that it can bring in some other page to the physical memory. This is how you can have some machines that are fairly sluggish with XP on say 256 MB of RAM while others with 1-2 GB seem to not have this problem.

Regards,
JB

[rgreen4]

JB - that is probably the most concise yet complete explanation of page file I have ever seen. Congrats.

[mphenterprises]

I agree. Pizza, please do us a favor a convert this Discussion into a Document so that others who have questions about Page File Usage can easily access this information. Click on the link that says "Convert Thread to Document in the right side of the page. I would only include your question and JBKing's response.

If you need any assistance with that, please ask.

[Eyes]

Additionally, Windows treats the Page File system just like other files it handles and by default there is a minimum size smaller than the maximum size for the Page File. One problem is though that Windows is unable to defragment the paging file because it is a protected system file and is actually in use during a defragment operation.

The best work-around for this Windows issue is to set the minimum and maximum size of the paging file to be the same. This can be done by right clicking your My Computer icon and chosing properties, click the performance tab, then click the advanced tab. You should see a button for the paging file in XP and Vista. For Win2k, there is no performance tab and you go straight to the advanced tab.

The best thing to put in both fields is the recommended amount.

Ex: if you have 500Mb of memory, then you will put 768Mb for the paging file in the minimum and maximum fields. As ageneral rule, the paging file is 1.5x the amount of actual memory.

This method will keep the Paging File from becoming fragmented as quickly. Then in the future, if your machine begins to run a little sluggish, you can use the same method and just change what you put in the first time by 4 bytes... so if you have 500mb physical memory and put in 768mb paging file, then change the 768 to 764 or 772 for both the minimum and maximum and then reboot.

After you change the Paging File settings, you will be asked to reboot your computer. The OS will rebuild your new paging file on reboot.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Pizza. If I remember correctly, you do not have immediate access to your own computer, correct? Since that is the case, I have converted this Discussion for you. Once Kellie approves, it will be posted.



Thank you for asking this question. Also, very good responses from Eyes and JBKing.