For a speed boost put a second hdd in your comp and format a 4gig partition on it then format the rest of the drive. that 4gig partition will be right at the center of the drive and will give a pf boost. you are better off just adding more ram then worrying about the pf though.
Good point on the RAM... but, now onto the pagefile.sys stuff!
On that? WELL, agreed, for the most part... with some reservations BECAUSE HE ONLY HAS A SINGLE HARDDISK DRIVE!
(& especially about formatting, he MAY not have to do that, there is always tools like PQMagic & ones like it)!
See, the "middle of the disk placement of pagefile.sys" is a "hot topic" too, because theoretically ON A SINGLE DISKDRIVE SYSTEM?
Since it is the middle area of your single HDD, it is the 'optimal area' the disk head should sweep over equally fast from, even if coming from the extreme far end of the disk, to the other!
(Good point to debate in & of itself on THAT note: I get into it @ thru to the end of this post, do read on, offer your thoughts please)!
Well, middisk pagefile.sys placement is MUCH like a "Binary Search" pattern!
Which uses cutting sets to search in 1/2, speed up seeks, & this is HOW NTFS performs fileseeks, VERY FAST, as opposed to FAT/FAT32.
On a single diskdrive, that houses your OS/Programs/Data all? You'll need a partition resizing tool like Partition Magic... to do a "non-destructive" partition resize, AND keep your current setup too, and yet have the middle of disk pagefile.sys benny you can see theoretically @ least, on a single drive box!
That's IF you want to keep your current data & setup, in place preserved w/ out losing it via a new OS install etc. & reformatting as well!
(THAT is if you don't to GHOST type images etc. &/or backups that is)
So, IF you want to place a tiny partition in the midpoint of your diskdrive to get the "bennies" of middisk placed pagefiles, which are GOOD on singledisk systems for an overall balance between pagefile.sys performance, & OS + Programs performance... (w/out destroying existing data & setups, which take TIME to get right, imo @ least)?
AND, get better overall performance outta a single drive system?
That'd be a "way"...
HOWEVER... I would put the pagefile.sys @ the outermost FIRST partition though, of 2nd disk to use as a pagefile mechanism!
It should perform more than just potentially even better if on its own partition (avoiding fragging up other files present on said partition) & the FIRST partition of another diskdrive.
WHY? Logic, & PHYSICS!
Read on:
Faster tracks are @ the outermost areas of a disk (larger circumference & all that) & you get FASTER paging performance that way... & yes, guys, you are ALWAYS paging... proofs are in the URL below you can try for yourselves.
(Since it is a SEPARATE DISKDRIVE, an entirely diff. set of heads is doing the seeking... not the same disk (where mid disk placement of pagefile.sys makes sense, because other files are present & being used)).
You get the 2nd HDD doing nearly nothing else but paging & from its OUTERMOST fastest tracks & even better if you say, store your data on it (not your OS & programs) in a 2nd later partition, & keep the pagefile.sys on the first partition on those outermost faster HDD tracks!
um doesnt make a difference. u need two drives for this to have any effect as fragmentation isnt an issue. the pf section of a hard drive is a uninterupted patch of hard drive so it doesnt frag.
Man, it's not true... sorry to say that! Pagefiles do frag... first of all. And, they're NOT always "contiguous" either (@ OS setup, yes, but they do NOT stay that way), unfortunately - especially if you hit "BIG DATA" that is larger than your RAM in chips + your pagefile.sys current size!
Especially if placed out of a separate partition from the OS & programs files especially (yes, data files too to an extent, perhaps moreso - these grow typically) & set as dynamically resizing/OS controlled.
(Why else would disk defraggers like Diskeeper, O&O Defrag, &/or PerfectDisk have boottime options for pagefile.sys defragmentation then?)
It happens, if you use a dynamically resizing pagefile.sys... even if you "wipe it @ shutdown" for security purposes, it will reform, & into spaces it needs to make it the size you wish (or the OS governs, this depends on if you set it yourself, or let the OS size it for you).
If the space it forms in, IF you wipe it, or reset it, is NOT "contiguous"...? You'll get a fragged up pagefile.sys, nearly guaranteed, if there isn't enough "contiguous" (fancy word for unfragged/continuous) space to form it unfragged.
Now, if you use a STATIC, unresizing pagefile.sys, & formed it right off when you did your OS & put it @ a size your OS' kernel memory mgt. subsystem won't demand more of (when pressured by app demands & such), as stealthfighter is out to do (max 4gb 32-bit addressable size)?
You SHOULD technically be set, & NOT ever see a fragged up pagefile.sys!
Pagefile.sys also frags IF you make demands on it, that even IT cannot satisfy + your system RAM in chips... it will grow & frag itself if the space used is not "contiguous", & possibly other files forming at the same time or afterwards as well. Especially if NOT set "static/unresizing" in nature, & are not @ the "max" 4gb size.
(Still, even IF you go static & NOT set @ max 4gb size? Well, from what I recall? IF you make TOO huge of a demand on the memory you don't have in RAM chips & your pagefile.sys is TOO small...? It will grow, anyhow! The OS does this, to protect itself from what I recall... & if you run outta diskspace? It may "yell" it does not have enough RAM to run the program etc.)
APK
P.S.=> StealthFighter: I think you saw my discussion w/ Trog100, here on these forums, in this thread!
(I have had this 'argument' with tons of folks online before over a decade now, as well as about sizings & such, since minimizing pagefiles years ago when disks weren't that big & cheap was important):
http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=15577
My explanations/proofs used there, MUST have made some sense to you... after all, why attempt to implement them, right? Assuming you saw them there that is... & here on these forums!
By the way, in case ANY of you need this? Well - YOU CAN USE MULTIPLE PAGEFILES, on multiple disks, and it will use them ALL as needed... apk
