Windows 2000 Administration in a Nutshell

Name

pagefile

Synopsis

Manage the size and location of the pagefile.

Procedures

Before modifying the pagefile, make sure your computer has a sufficient amount of physical memory (RAM) to support the operating system and applications you plan to run. To check this:

Start → Settings → Control Panel → System → General → read RAM value

Compare this displayed value with the recommended value listed in the article install. Adding more RAM is preferable to increasing the size of the pagefile and produces better performance.

To change the size and location of the pagefile, use the System utility in the Control Panel as follows:

Start → Settings → Control Panel → System → Advanced → Performance Options → Change

If you change the size of an existing pagefile, click Set to make the change take effect. To spread a pagefile across several partitions, select a partition on which there is no pagefile, enter an initial and maximum size for the pagefile, and click Set.

Notes

• You must be a member of the Administrators group for the computer to modify the pagefile settings.

• Decreasing a pagefile minimum or maximum size requires a reboot to take effect.

• Make sure the initial size is set to at least the Recommended size as displayed on the Virtual Memory property page.

• You can also specify the maximum size that the registry can occupy on the hard disk.

• To delete a pagefile on a partition, set its initial and minimum size to zero.

• When you modify the pagefile size settings, you must click Set before you click OK to ...