Well, I turned off the page file to see what would happen. Start up FS and see what happens. I have 1 gig memory. Normally I let Windoze manage it and the physical memory available reported by task manager runs around 350 megs extra. With the page file off, memory slowly went down to 90 megs left. I turned the page file back on and the amount of memory rose back to about 200 megs. I wonder if I had 2 gigs whether I could leave the page file off? Would that make any difference in anything? Loading everything should make less disk access but that might be probably it.JimCYWG

Hi Jim,If you're using XP the Page File cannot be turned off. XP uses the NT Kernel, which requires that a page file be in place. If we turn if off Windows simply makes one itself.Info here: http://www.tweakhound.com/xp/virtualmemory.htmAnd here: http://www.theeldergeek.com/paging_file.htmAnd here: http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htmAnd still more regarding your idea of increasing RAM to 2Gb: http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000422.htmlHope this helps,Greg

Greg, Even the articles you reference contradict each other which just proves how controversial this topic is. The first says that the pagefile can not become fragmented and anyone who says it can does not understand the pagefile. I guess that would be me but then your second link explains how a pagefile becomes fragmented and even a section on defragmenting it. And I quote "Paging files are normally created when a drive is relatively empty and finding a large contiguous block of space is not a problem. Refer back to the screen capture above and you'll see that the initial size of the page file is 1152MB. The question becomes, since a page file is created all at once in a contiguous block, why would it ever become fragmented? The answer is because a page file is dynamic. By default, Windows XP creates a pagefile that can be expanded and contracted depending on the amount of extra virtual memory that's needed. If the initial block of drive space that was allocated at setup becomes surrounded by additional files that have been saved to the drive, a fragmented page file can occur when the operating system expands it past the initial size. This is the very reason why having a dedicated drive for the paging file is such an attractive option. It eliminates fragmented page files. Unfortunately, having a dedicated drive is not a common option. To check whether or not the page file is fragmented"And this is the very method that I utilize btw :) ... My point is that just because someone posted it on the web, it doesn't make it true.... The only way we will ever have a DEFINITIVE answer is directly from MS. One guy said it bestin the blog, the only hard evidence we have on this yet is "look ma, no paging file" LOL -Paul

Hi Paul,Yep, agree with your point about stuff put on the Web.And I disagree with the contention that a Page File can't be fragmented. I use Perfect Disc to manage my drives, and I can see the Page File become fragmented over time if I allow Windows to manage it. I set it's size to 1.5X my memory and then configure the file to have a maximum of 1Mb larger than the minimum. Defragment once a week and all is well. I also have the PF on it's own 4GB partition placed near the center of my second hard drive. Works for me (YMMV... in keeping with the point about info on the web :-) ).Cheers,Greg

Hi Greg,I think we are on the same page, no pun intended...I run pretty much exactly the same setup. I use O&O and it can also do a boot time page file defrag and I can see it fragmenting as well. I keep mine on a seperate 6 gig partition. If only MS would tell us what we really need to know, how do you optimize XP for FS... ####, they make both apps, you would think there would be an "official" optimization guide somewhere :)Cheers,-Paul