Page File Speed Tweak?

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by drhu22, Jul 27, 2014.

Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. drhu22

    drhu22 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2010
    Posts:
    585
    RE:
    10. Use FAT32 for the Paging File

    Finally, if you have a second physical disk in your machine, you can boost performance by moving your paging file (pagefile.sys) onto your second drive. To make this work best, do the following:
    Create a volume on your second drive, making sure the volume is big enough to hold your paging file. (Three times your RAM amount will be more than enough.)Format the new volume using FAT32 instead of NTFS, since FAT32 gives slightly better read performance on smaller volumes.Don't create any additional volumes on your second drive--that is, leave this drive for exclusive use by the paging file.
    So in other words, our final NTFS tweak is to not use NTFS for your paging volume.
    http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/windows/2005/02/08/NTFS_Hacks.html

    If this would get better performance from faster page file read/writes, then would a dedicated usb drive help even more? Im not that knowledgeable, but my understanding is that usb drives are faster than hdd.
     
  2. Brian K

    Brian K Imaging Specialist

    Joined:
    Jan 28, 2005
    Posts:
    12,113
    Location:
    NSW, Australia
    So I'd need 48 GB. But I only use a 1 GB pagefile in the OS partition. Large enough for a memory dump. I think your info is outdated. It was written in 2005, even before Vista was released. Now, Win8 doesn't create large pagefiles related to RAM amount.
     
  3. J_L

    J_L Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    Posts:
    8,738
    USB 3.0 maybe, but usb drives are generally slower than internal HDD.
     
  4. Pliskin

    Pliskin Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 8, 2009
    Posts:
    439
    I have 512 MB RAM and I don't use page file at all on my XP. You just need to have good drivers and there are no problems. IMO this is the best performance boost, especially on slower hard disks (no more freezing after some time when you try to bring back apps from the taskbar, ... everything is instant).
     
  5. TairikuOkami

    TairikuOkami Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2005
    Posts:
    3,418
    Location:
    Slovakia
    Indeed, pagefile or readyboost were created to boost performance, when people had a few MB of RAM, not when we have a few GB. The only problem cause old style applications, that refuse to let go and still prefer to store files in the pagefile only. I wold not be surprised to see something like a cloudpagefile soon.
     
  6. trott3r

    trott3r Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2010
    Posts:
    1,283
    Location:
    UK
    I think e-sata has a better throughput on external drives than USB3 something to with translation from usb protocol to the more native sata.
     
  7. NGRhodes

    NGRhodes Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jun 23, 2003
    Posts:
    2,381
    Location:
    West Yorkshire, UK
    Storage backed virtual addressable memory was created to increase addressable memory to prevent applications crashing due to running out of memory, not for performance.
    No application access to store files in pagefile, only Windows itself has access to the pagefile, applications must request memory pages using the memory manager, Windows chooses where to locate the pages (in physical or storage).

    Without benchmarks its all just unverified/speculation if NTFS or FAT32 is faster for page file acces.
     
  8. drhu22

    drhu22 Registered Member

    Joined:
    Aug 21, 2010
    Posts:
    585
    Thanks for the replies....
    So the consensus is W8 doesnt need any help?
    I guess ssd (which I think is my next upgrade) will make it moot for me.
    I wonder how long till they make that small and cheap like usb.

    PS: I did apply tweak 1 & 8 with a percieved (not bm'd) gain in speed in opening folders, apps and possibly internet.
     
  9. xxJackxx

    xxJackxx Registered Member

    Joined:
    Oct 23, 2008
    Posts:
    8,625
    Location:
    USA
    This article is almost a decade old and was written for Windows 2000. There is probably little to no benefit to any of this that is worth it. If you really want to speed up the page file, put it on an SSD. Better yet, put the whole system on a SSD and it makes all of this pointless.
     
Thread Status:
Not open for further replies.
  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.