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#1
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before -
If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
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#2
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
The swap file (pagefile.sys) can be on any partition on any internal hard
drive. Whether it really speeds up the PC yto have it on a second hard drive depends on how much you use the swap file. If you have enough RAM, the is almost no need for a swap file, and even the slowest RAM is a lot faster than than any hard drive. However, if you want to "move" it, do NOT use copy&past; that will not work. Instead, use MyComputer, properties, advanced, performance, settings, advanced, virtual memory, change. Then set the amount of swap space on each partition. To "remove" it from C:, highlight C: and then click "no paging file" near the bottom of the window. Click "set" to apply that change. To add it to some other partition, highlight that partition and set a finite min and max size. Click "set" to aplly the change. I suggest that you set the min and max to the same number, as this prevent fragmentation of the pagefile. Then, close the windows, and reboot. "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
#3
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Yes, if it is indeed a separate physical drive.
No, if it is a different partition on the same physical drive. In any case, the improvement will be quite negligible unless your actual RAM is very low for how you are using the computer. -- Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE Please respond in Newsgroup. Do not send email http://www.fjsmjs.com Protect your PC http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/ "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Bob, Frank, thank you. I have 256MB + 512MB chip added (512 chip in first
slot) and no problem. Take your point that "sufficient" RAM avoids extensive swap-file usage, so I guess there's little or no benefit for me. However, for those poor souls who are trying to use XP with only 256MB, this seems to be a short-term work-around while they save up the pennies to get another RAM chip! Thanks again, Len. "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
#5
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Hi, Len.
Bob Harris told you how to "move" the swap file. My only quibble would be that I like to check the System Managed Size. But this is one of those "religious" questions on which expert opinions vary, so I don't want to start an argument about it. ;^} Each physical hard drive has a stack of platters that spin on a single spindle. Do you remember jukeboxes? A typical jukebox has lots of discs but only a single head with a needle to track the grooves in a record. The analogy is not perfect, because a computer hard drive has multiple read/write heads and can access the top and bottom of multiple platters at the same time. But the multiple heads are all on a single arm assembly and they all move as a unit. They all must access the same cylinder (same track number on all platters) at any one time. If you have multiple HDs, then you have multiple spindles and multiple gangs of heads that can move independently of the other spindle(s). If your swap file is on the same spindle as your working program, the heads must move to the swap file and then back to the program. This is true whether the swap file is in the same partition or in a different partition on a different platter, so long as it is on the same spindle using the same heads. But if the swap file is on the other spindle, those heads can be writing simultaneously while the main working heads are reading. As Bob and Frank said, today's HD speeds and RAM sizes make the question academic for most of us, most of the time. If it's easy to arrange in your case, do it. If it's a hassle for you, don't bother. RC -- R. C. White, CPA San Marcos, TX Microsoft Windows MVP "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
#6
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
If the two drives are IDE drives on the same controller you will not see
much advantagle. If they are on different controllers or are SATA drives then there would be an occasional gain. With more than 512mb of ram I would leave the swap file alone and let the system manage it. -- Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine] (Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested) "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len |
#7
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
In ,
Yabbadoo typed: Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? You've already been told how. Let me address the "whether." The slowest part of using the page file (or of using any file) is moving the drive heads to and from it. So with a single drive, you want the page file close to the other frequently-used files on the drive, and that should be the partition with Windows on it. For the same reason, if you have more than one drive, it's best to put the page file on the least frequently used drive (normally, *not* C, and on the most-frequently-used partition on it. Two points, though: 1. If you do this, you need to keep at least a small portion of the page file on C:. 2. How much this will help performance depends on how much you 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. -- Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User Please reply to the newsgroup |
#8
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Salut/Hi Ken Blake,
le/on Sat, 19 Feb 2005 16:05:10 -0700, tu disais/you said:- The slowest part of using the page file (or of using any file) is moving the drive heads to and from it. So with a single drive, you want the page file close to the other frequently-used files on the drive, and that should be the partition with Windows on it. That makes eminent good sense. For the same reason, if you have more than one drive, it's best to put the page file on the least frequently used drive (normally, *not* C, and on the most-frequently-used partition on it. Yup, again, that makes excellent sense. 1. If you do this, you need to keep at least a small portion of the page file on C:. Why? 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. -- All the Best Ian Hoare http://www.souvigne.com mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website |
#9
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
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." |
#10
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Salut/Hi Ron Martell,
le/on Sun, 20 Feb 2005 01:57:56 GMT, tu disais/you said:- 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. [snip] Windows does is to dump the RAM content to the page file and then rename it. Much faster than creating a new file. Thanks for the explanation, Ron. 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 [snip] and use it to see how much actual usage is being made of the page file. Excellent information. Thanks very much indeed. -- All the Best Ian Hoare http://www.souvigne.com mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website |
#11
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
"Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len To transfer or change the swap file. Open system properties- advanced-performance options- advanced- virtual memory and change location or sizes of page files. I have not noticed any performance benefits in terms of speed. However as I have the Windows page file on the second hard drive in it's own partition I have never had to de-fragment this volume and the main drive hardly ever needs defragmenting. In addition I have set up separate "Scratch files" to take care of the huge working files that can be generated when using Adobe Photoshop. Richard. |
#12
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Yabbadoo wrote:
Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? See www.aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.htm Unless you are decidedly short on RAM, it is unlikely that moving it will make much difference in practice -- Alex Nichol MS MVP (Windows Technologies) Bournemouth, U.K. (remove the D8 bit) |
#13
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
It's also a good place to put the print spooler, if you use it. You will
not get any benefit from the second drive for the page file if both drives are IDE using the same IDE controller. You will get some if the drives are on different controllers (different ribbon cables). -- Colin Barnhorst [MVP Windows - Virtual Machine] (Reply to the group only unless otherwise requested) "Richard" wrote in message ... "Yabbadoo" wrote in message ... Just heard an interesting suggestion I've not seen/heard before - If a pc has two physical hdd's - transfer the "swap" file from C: to the 2nd HDD - this speeds up a pc. Anyone know of this - and, does it work? If so, How does one transfer the swap file ? Len To transfer or change the swap file. Open system properties- advanced-performance options- advanced- virtual memory and change location or sizes of page files. I have not noticed any performance benefits in terms of speed. However as I have the Windows page file on the second hard drive in it's own partition I have never had to de-fragment this volume and the main drive hardly ever needs defragmenting. In addition I have set up separate "Scratch files" to take care of the huge working files that can be generated when using Adobe Photoshop. Richard. |
#14
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Swap file to 2nd physical HDD?
Salut/Hi Ron Martell,
Following up on my previous.. le/on Sun, 20 Feb 2005 01:57:56 GMT, tu disais/you said:- 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. I got the utility, and copied it to its own little subdirectory. I then ran it, and got the little window with the parameters to be filled in. However, no matter what I filled in, the program fails to recognise that it isn't being run for the first time, and doesn't show a window with or without swap file usage. Do you or does anyone else know what could be causing this odd behaviour? -- All the Best Ian Hoare http://www.souvigne.com mailbox full to avoid spam. try me at website |
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