How To: Move the Page File to a Different Disk Partition in Windows XP
The Page File (by default) is loaded on to the boot partition of your hard drive as are all of the Windows system files. Windows uses this page file as a sort of Random Access Memory. It is not necessary for the Page File to be on the boot partition, so if you would like to move it to a different partition in a different disk drive, you can Increase Windows XP Performance along with free up some space on your boot partition. Here’s how to do this tweak:
- Be sure that you are logged in Windows XP as Administrator, then go to Start>> Control Panel>> Performance and Maintenance>> System.
- Select the Advanced tab.
- Under Performance, click the Settings button.
- Select the Advanced tab.
- Under Virtual Memory, click the Change button.
- In the Drive [Volume Label] list, select a drive other than the one the Windows Operating System is installed on (usually Windows is installed on the C: drive).
- Under the Virtual Memory category, make a note of the “Total paging file size for all drives” recommended value. Click the Change button.
- Tick the Custom size radio button, then enter the recommended value in the “Initial size (MB):” text box.
- Enter in the “Maximum size (MB) that you would like. Usually this setting is double the initial size.
- Click the Set button.
- Next, back in the Drive [Volume Label] box, select the drive that Windows is installed on (usually C:).
Follow ether steps below that would apply:
If you DO NOT want a page file on this drive, tick the No paging file radio button and then click the Set button. The following message should now appear:
If the paging file on volume C: has an initial value of less than 126 megabytes, then the system may not be able to create a debugging information file if a STOP error occurs. Continue Anyway?
Select Yes.
If you DO want to keep the page file on this drive, select the Custom size button, then enter a size of equal or greater value of the amount of RAM (Random Access Memory) that you currently have installed on your system in to the “Initial size (MB)” text box. Enter the same value for your maximum size, then click the Set button.The following message should now appear:
The changes you have made require you to restart your computer before they can take effect.
Click OK (OK your way out of all open windows).When given a prompt to restart your system, click Yes.
Useful Information:
Myth : “Moving the Paging File to a different partition on the same drive improves performance.”
Reality:Simply moving the page file to a different partition on the same hard drive doesn’t increase the system’s performance. Using a different partition on the same drive will result in a lot more seeking by the head, as the drive juggles between the page file and the windows partitions. Even though moving the pagefile like this can have a positive effect of defragmenting it, losing the Input/Output (I/O) performance outweighs any and all gains. You can, however, increase performance by moving the page file to a seperate partition, on a seperate hard disk drive. This way, Windows can deal with many I/O requests quicker. When the page file is on the boot disk, Windows has to perform disk reading and writing on the pagefile and the system folder at the same time. As the pagefile is moved to a seperate partition and a seperate hard drive, there is much less competing between reading and writing operations.
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Written by Tony on July 10th, 2008 with
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