Re: OT: XP TaskManager - Physical memory vs PageFile?

"Bob Willard" <BobwBSGS@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:98idne690_Tf09nVnZ2dnUVZ_tHinZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
(PeteCresswell) wrote:

Tried posting this on the Windoze XP General NG, but no luck.

But I have an Asus motherboard... so maybe I'm technically
on-topic....


When I look at Windows Task Manager | Performance | PF Usage, I
get a consist ant half-gig (545 mb at the moment).

Yet Physical Memory (K) says I've got (at the moment) 143,742k
available.

Two questions:
-------------------------------------------------------------
1) Do the PF/Physical reflect an opportunity for more
optimization? i.e. If I've got physical memory available,
wouldn't it be better tb using that instead of the page file?

2) Is PF usage unconditionally an undesirable thing?
i.e. If I add enough memory and tweak the right
settings, could I get it down to or close to zero?
--------------------------------------------------------------

You probably don't have a problem, or anything that needs to be
improved.

Actual PF usage (meaning apps writing to the PF) is a bad thing for
performance, but what that TM display is showing is merely PF
allocation rather than PF usage. Many apps ask the OS to allocate
the max. PF they might ever need, instead of waiting until the need
arises and then coping with inadequate PF space; the result is that
lots more PF gets allocated then ever gets used.
--
Cheers, Bob

I'd only add to Bob's response that a half gig is on the high side of
actual memory in use (although definitely not uncommon for XP, it
obviously depends on what you're running, or need to run).

The point is, for optimization purposes you should focus on limiting/
eliminating services, processes, third-party drivers, utils, apps etc
that you don't actually use or need, rather than worry about how
these things (and XP) are allocating physical vs. PF memory.


.

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