A page file, or swap file, is a so-called virtual memory needed to increase the computer's physical RAM.
When running resource-intensive applications, Windows 7 actively uses physical memory, and when it becomes insufficient, it turns to a swap file, which stores data that does not fit in physical memory. The paging file has a strictly defined name pagefile.sys and cannot be changed.
When installing and further installing Windows 7, the system itself selects the required size of the paging file, placing it on the disk with the operating system. However, the parameters set by the system do not always provide the highest performance. In addition, to improve performance, it is necessary to place pagefile.sys on a partition other than the system partition, which will increase performance.
To ensure good performance, you should set the minimum pagefile.sys size to equal the amount of physical RAM, and the maximum to twice that size. For example, if you have 4 GB of memory installed on your computer, then the optimal minimum size of the swap file will be 4 GB, and the maximum will be 8 GB.
Some users set the same size of the initial and maximum swap file, which avoids its fragmentation and, therefore, reduces the load on the system to some extent. However, you can avoid the performance degradation associated with the dynamic size of pagefile.sys by enabling the pagefile.sys cleanup feature after system shutdown.
To enable paging file cleanup when Windows shuts down, open the Local Security Policies window. To do this, go to Start - Run - secpol.msc.
In the next window, you need to find the item Shut down: clear the virtual memory swap file. Double-click on it, set the Enabled option and click the Apply button.
Windows 7 allows you to place the paging file on multiple drives at once, but this will not improve performance. The optimal option from a performance point of view is a single swap file located on any partition other than the system one.
To change the default location of pagefile.sys, you must first completely delete it and then create it in a location convenient for you. How to do this is described below.
Start - right-click on the My Computer - Properties shortcut. A window will appear, in the left section of which you should select Advanced system settings.
A new small window will appear where we need the Advanced tab.
Click on the Settings button in the Performance section. Go to the Advanced tab again.
In this tab, you need to click the Change button in the Virtual memory compartment. A dialog box will appear where you can configure the size of swap files on any partition.
If you have not changed the settings after installing Windows 7, pagefile.sys will be located on the system drive ((C:/). Select it and, having activated the No paging file option, click on the Set button. In some cases, a warning may appear. Just click the button Yes.
Return to the Visual Memory dialog box and highlight the drive where you want to place the swap file. Specify the initial and maximum size of pagefile.sys: the initial size should be equal to physical memory, the maximum should be twice as large.
If you want to make the size of pagefile.sys static, the settings in the dialog box will look like this.
If you reduce the size of the paging file, the changes will take effect immediately. Increasing pagefile.sys will require a computer restart. In any case, a window will appear in front of you requiring you to reboot the system.
Hello, friends! Today I want to tell you what a paging file is, why it is needed, and how to configure it correctly.
I will configure the paging file on a computer with an installed operating system Windows 7. But all the advice also applies to Windows XP, it’s just that the path to the settings is a little different.
Swap file – this is a file (hard disk space) that the operating system uses in case of insufficient RAM.
For example, you run a program or game that needs 2 GB of RAM, but you only have 1.5 GB; those 512 MB will be taken from the page file. The paging file is located on your hard drive or flash drive.
Of course, it is better to install more RAM so that the page file is practically not used by the system. Why? Yes, because it significantly slows down the computer. After all, the speed of access to RAM is much greater than to a hard drive or flash drive.
And when the swap file is taken from the hard drive, this creates an additional load on it and on the system as a whole, and besides, it shortens its service life. Like :).
But despite all this, there is a paging file, which means you just need to configure it correctly; below I will give some tips on setting up the paging file.
In order to change the paging file settings, or increase the paging file, right-click on the “Computer” icon (on the desktop) and click properties.
In the window that appears, on the left, click on “Advanced system settings” In chapter “Performance” click “Options”.
In the window that appears, go to the tab "Additionally" and in the section “Virtual memory” click “Change”.
Another window will open, like this.
Actually, in this window you can and should configure the paging file.
First of all, you need to remove the paging file from the system partition (usually from drive C), as you can see, my paging file is located on drive D. The disk partition with the installed operating system is already loaded, and then there’s the swap file :). Ideally, the paging file should be placed on a different hard drive altogether, so if you have one installed, then this is very good. Install virtual memory on it.
Do not install a page file on multiple partitions, this will only put more stress on the hard drive.
As for the size, everything is simple here. The less RAM, the larger the page file. It is recommended to install 2-3 times more than the installed RAM. For example, with 1.5 GB of RAM, I have a 2 GB swap file.
Make the minimum and maximum virtual memory sizes the same.
You can completely disable the paging file, and by the way, this can significantly increase the performance of your computer. But only if you have enough RAM installed, something like this:
Windows XP – 3-4 GB RAM
Windows Vista – 6 GB RAM
Windows 7 – 6 GB RAM
Here you need to experiment. If you do not want to do this, then you can leave the operating system the ability to control the paging file itself. Space tick “Automatically select paging file size”. Well, in any case, do not forget to change the changes you made by clicking “OK” and “Apply”.
A page file, or swag file, is a software addition to RAM that helps the system run faster when the main RAM is occupied by more important processes. RAM, as we understand, can be installed differently on different devices, which is why the question arises, what should be the optimal size of the paging file, in our case, for Windows 10.
Correctly setting the size of the swag file should be based on the formula “the larger the amount of RAM, the correspondingly smaller the swap file should be.” This rule will allow .
Some experts insist that for a RAM volume of 8 GB, the optimal FP size should be zero, in other words, completely removed. But this is not entirely correct advice; do not forget that some work applications will require you to have a swap file.
Below we will take a look at a small table where approximate values will be indicated for calculating what size to install and at what volume. Why exemplary? When answering the question “how to correctly set the paging file on Windows 10,” additional factors must be taken into account, such as the purpose for which the device is used. The maximum FP size for a gaming computer and a simple workhorse will be slightly different - RAM is used differently in these cases.
Have you thought about it? Detailed instructions are available on our website.
This method will help in optimizing the system for gaming, for example, calculating the size of the paging file for Windows 10 with 4 GB of RAM for games.
If you are not a supporter of all these calculations, you need a ready-made solution on how to choose the size of the paging file, then consider the average data (if you are an average PC user):
Let’s make a reservation once again – the data is approximate and depends on the circumstances. You can read about how here.
If, after the previous instructions, we have already decided what the FP should be on our computer (how many sizes to set), then it’s time to move on to how to set them correctly.
Here's how to correctly set the desired FP size based on the original one:
There is a way, if you are interested, go to the corresponding article.
For some reason it doesn’t work, but in general changing the size of the paging file will somehow affect the performance of the computer, your site was suggested on the forum, I read it here, I understand that the question is most likely uninteresting for you, but I still ask you to help
.Why is Sergei uninteresting, but very interesting? I will give you the maximum information about the paging file, and you can choose what you need. INWindows 7 increase page filein some cases it is necessary, and also transfer it from the system disk to another.
Swap file or virtual memory, as well as a swap file, is created to increase the amount of available RAM. During operation, Windows 7 actively uses physical RAM; when it becomes insufficient, the operating system refers to the paging file it created on the hard drive, which always has the format pagefile.sys , using it as missing virtual memory. And if necessary, it always refers to this file, storing in it data that does not fit into the RAM.
For your computer, the minimum size of the paging file or virtual memory should be equal to the amount of your physical RAM, and the maximum should be twice as large. For example, my computer has 2 GB of RAM, which means the minimum size of the paging file will be 2 GB, and the maximum 4 GB, exactly as in the screenshot.
In Windows 7, you can create a paging file on several disks at once, butincrease productivityit won't lead. Is the sop file susceptible to fragmentation? And they ask this, the answer is not affected if its size is static and does not change, that is, you specified a certain size of the paging file, screenshots are given below.
IN Windows 7 increase page file, and you can also transfer it to any other Volume as follows.
Start ->Right click on the icon Computer and select TV Properties, then-> Advanced System Settings.
Advanced tab ->Quick Actions and Options
and go to the Virtual Memory dialog box.
Next, we see that the paging file is located on our system drive (C:), let’s move it, for example, to drive (E):, but first remove the paging file from the drive (C:). Select the drive (C:), then check the box No swap file and click Set. This warning may appear, click Yes.
In this dialog box, select the drive (E:), check the Specify size box, The initial size should match the size of your physical RAM, The maximum size should be twice as large and click on the Set button.
In Windows 7, 8, XP and 10 systems, there is a system, hidden file pagefile.sys called the page file. It is used as virtual RAM ( RAM) supplementing the physical when it is not enough. Users are wondering how to set it up correctly and what is its optimal size? This will be discussed in this article.
It also stores unused data from programs and applications ( for example, when they are collapsed and unused). Since the file is located on the hard drive, all access to it is directly related to the disk, which is much slower than RAM. Therefore, the system only uses it in extreme cases ( that is, when there is not enough physical RAM).
There are no universal instructions for correctly setting the size of this file, since everyone’s computer resources are used differently, and the PC characteristics are also different. Therefore, you need to focus on your needs.
If you disable the page file, then if there is insufficient RAM, a corresponding error will appear and the applications you are using will unexpectedly quit. To avoid this, you need to set the optimal size of the paging file. I'll show you how to do this using Windows 7 as an example. These instructions will be relevant for other versions and bit depths ( x32 and x64).
By default, Windows automatically determines its size using its formula. This is not always effective. In some cases, changing the page file can greatly improve performance.
It is necessary to determine what maximum RAM you consume when working on a PC. Then you need to compare this data with the physical amount of RAM and, if it is insufficient, add the size of the paging file. I'll show you with an example how this can be done.
Launch all possible programs, applications, games and everything that theoretically you would use at the same time. Then launch Task Manager ( ctrl+alt+delete), and see the amount of memory used. This is the amount of RAM that must be provided to the computer.
Based on these data, you can set the optimal size. In the image above, the memory consumption is 1.60 gigabytes. At a maximum of 2. This means that the paging file is not used in this case and can be disabled. But this is just an example!
Disabling the page file is not recommended at all, but you can do this only if you are absolutely sure that you cannot use more memory than the amount of physical memory and if memory dumps are unnecessary. It should also be taken into account that some applications require this file and will not work without it.
If the value was greater than the maximum ( that is, more than 2), then it would be necessary to set the size equal to the amount of memory consumed + reserve ( 50% ). Approximately these numbers will be safe. In most cases, it is not possible to accurately determine this maximum and therefore approximate rules are used to insure against RAM shortage errors.
The less physical RAM, the more virtual memory. Below is a table that shows the values if the computer did not use more than 4 gigabytes of RAM.
It all depends on the needs of the user. For some, 16 gigabytes may not be enough, but for others, even 1 gigabyte will be enough and no errors will occur.
Please note that the maximum and minimum sizes are set to the same. This is done in order to get rid of fragmentation. This is only relevant if you have a HDD.
You can also conduct an experiment using the random method. Reduce the size of the paging file until an error about lack of memory appears and stops at the size when there was none.
After reading various forums, I came to the conclusion that with 8 gigabytes of RAM, most users never had problems with the page file, and if they did, they simply turned it on at the minimum size. In other cases ( when there is less memory) there were frequent errors. Draw your own conclusions.
For novice users I will show you how to change it. For the changes to take effect, you must restart your computer.
Go to Start menu >> Control Panel ( large icons) >> Performance counters and tools.
Go to visual effects settings.
In the “Advanced” tab, you can go to the paging file settings window. Its size or complete disabling is indicated here.
I am ready to answer questions in the comments.
How did you decide to use the page file?
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