Ian Hoare wrote:


1. If you do this, you need to keep at least a small portion of
the page file on C:.

Why?

Simple reason is because Windows just seems to be happier when there
is one. Windows uses the page file for a variety of different
functions, including the "system failure memory dump". For that item
specifically the swap file must be on the boot drive because what
Windows does is to dump the RAM content to the page file and then
rename it. Much faster than creating a new file.



use the page file. Many people running Windows XP these days have
enough RAM to hardly ever use the page file, and the actual
benefit of making this change is very slight.

I have 512Mb RAM, and often have 4-5 different applications open at the same
time. Apart from the obvious method of messing about with the swap file to
see what happens, is there any simple way of checking any system parameters
to see whether changing the settings would be likely to benefit me? I know
that I often had memory problems when running Win 98 on the same machine.


Get the free Page File usage utility written by MVP Bill James from
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_pagefilemon.htm or from
http://billsway.com/notes_public/WinXP_Tweaks/ and use it to see how
much actual usage is being made of the page file.

This is also the best way to assess the potential benefits from adding
more RAM. Generally an actual page file usage of 40 mb or more on a
regular basis is an indicator that more RAM would have a beneficial
effect on overall performance.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."