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General discussionDoes Page File shrink?(46 posts)solved(46 posts)solved
(46 posts)solved
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Posted February 01, 2016
Mine just went up from 7GB to a whopping 10.8GB, so I'm curious if it'll shrink back to 4-7GB eventually.
This question / problem has been solved by Darvondimage
Posted February 01, 2016
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Green_Hilltop: snip
Only if you throw it in the laundry with cold water. There are ways to get it back to normal size but they're tedious.
Posted February 01, 2016
It must have just come out of the pool.
Post edited February 01, 2016 by tinyE
Posted February 01, 2016
Yes, the page file shrinks, and you can allocate how much you want, but it's suggested you just let the OS do it's thing.
Posted February 01, 2016
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Darvond: Yes, the page file shrinks, and you can allocate how much you want, but it's suggested you just let the OS do it's thing.
I definitely wouldn't recommend letting the OS decide how much to use, that's a great way to get bad performance. You want to select a size that's the same min and max size so that you don't have to worry about fragmentation or the OS having to resize it.

But, if you've got plenty of space, it's not the kind of problem it used to be. Still, I'd keep it a static size so that you don't have to worry about that.
Posted February 01, 2016
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Darvond: Yes, the page file shrinks, and you can allocate how much you want, but it's suggested you just let the OS do it's thing.
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hedwards: I definitely wouldn't recommend letting the OS decide how much to use, that's a great way to get bad performance. You want to select a size that's the same min and max size so that you don't have to worry about fragmentation or the OS having to resize it.

But, if you've got plenty of space, it's not the kind of problem it used to be. Still, I'd keep it a static size so that you don't have to worry about that.
Fragmentation really isn't an issue on today's drives. Especially SSDs.
Posted February 01, 2016
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tinyE: It must have just come out of the pool.
Seinfeld?
Posted February 01, 2016
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hedwards: I definitely wouldn't recommend letting the OS decide how much to use, that's a great way to get bad performance. You want to select a size that's the same min and max size so that you don't have to worry about fragmentation or the OS having to resize it.

But, if you've got plenty of space, it's not the kind of problem it used to be. Still, I'd keep it a static size so that you don't have to worry about that.
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Darvond: Fragmentation really isn't an issue on today's drives. Especially SSDs.
The OP hasn't stated what his drive is, but I wouldn't take anybody seriously that suggests that fragmentation isn't an issue. It's only an issue if you're not doing much with your drives.
Posted February 01, 2016
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Darvond: Yes, the page file shrinks, and you can allocate how much you want, but it's suggested you just let the OS do it's thing.
I forcibly turn mine off...

The pagefile is your VirtualMemory swapspace. It might also be the file used for hibernation (which makes sense). Very likely it will only shrink after you do a reboot, since otherwise the computer happily keeps as much cached in memory as possible for files you've accessed/used, and other than a restart i can't seem to fix that.

Although it's also unlikely it will shrink, since once allocated unless you specify it to change size, the OS will probably just keep that size reserved... Just in case...

If your using a 32bit machine and have 2-4Gigs then turning off Virtual Memory will probably work fine, unless you're using HUGE games that require all your memory or more.

If you're using a 64-bit machine and have 8Gigs or more, then turning off Virtual Memory will probably work fine (Unless you're playing games that have 50Gig installs... With the exception of MMOs).
Attachments:
vm_settings.png (17 Kb)
Posted February 01, 2016
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Darvond: Yes, the page file shrinks, and you can allocate how much you want, but it's suggested you just let the OS do it's thing.
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rtcvb32: I forcibly turn mine off...

The pagefile is your VirtualMemory swapspace. It might also be the file used for hibernation (which makes sense). Very likely it will only shrink after you do a reboot, since otherwise the computer happily keeps as much cached in memory as possible for files you've accessed/used, and other than a restart i can't seem to fix that.

Although it's also unlikely it will shrink, since once allocated unless you specify it to change size, the OS will probably just keep that size reserved... Just in case...

If your using a 32bit machine and have 2-4Gigs then turning off Virtual Memory will probably work fine, unless you're using HUGE games that require all your memory or more.

If you're using a 64-bit machine and have 8Gigs or more, then turning off Virtual Memory will probably work fine (Unless you're playing games that have 50Gig installs... With the exception of MMOs).
LOL

Even when you have over 9000GB of RAM some programs will sperg at you because they need swap space.
Trying to make Windows efficiently, LOL, better to start writing a new version then.
I have 8GB of RAM on my laptop currently, and I still have a 2GB SWAP, some programs (Photoshop, AutoCAD, SolidEdge, have been reported by some guys from other departments) won't even start up without swap, they just sperg Event Viewer full of errors (like a fecking autist).

https://superuser.com/questions/810170/should-i-disable-swap-file-if-i-have-lots-of-ram-or-should-i-move-it-to-a-virtua


https://superuser.com/questions/286446/whats-wrong-with-disabling-the-windows-page-file/286476#286476

But I've already read some toher posts by you in other threads so I know you're smarter than those guys at MS who write OS's for a living, so I'm not going to try and explain nothing.

@OP

Yes it will shrink, depends on usage, easier to just use a fixed size or something. Depends on the programs you use. With 8GB of ram, best is 2GB-8GB (depends on programs again, some people like running Photoshop, Sony Vegas and Fallout 4 concurrently :)
Post edited February 01, 2016 by dewtech
Posted February 01, 2016
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dewtech: some programs (Photoshop, AutoCAD, SolidEdge, have been reported by some guys from other departments) won't even start up without swap, they just sperg Event Viewer full of errors (like a fecking autist).
Yeah, those things use a ton of memory. Sorta depends on what you're working on, although a huge amount of the memory it needs usually is for undoing the last x actions, plus the sheer resolution sizes you might be working with (I've heard some artists work at 8000x12000 pixels or larger, big enough to make any 32bit program barf, and even 64bit programs unless you have the ram/VM on). I've also seen a photoshop-like program hang for over an hour before it decided it was good enough to save a file, if this was based on VM specific issues I don't know.

You might call me an idiot with how you're putting your post, but honestly I've found for my own needs that I usually don't need the VM. And the few cases where the OS complains about running out of memory or failing to allocate memory is quickly rectified (or in the case of a ramdrive it just crashes the system for some odd reason... an imdisk bug no doubt).

Now if the swapspace in windows had an option like zram, then I'd take that (allocate a block of memory and compress 'pages' you swap out, they take up less space so you almost get free memory, minus the compress/decompress times).
Post edited February 01, 2016 by rtcvb32
Posted February 01, 2016
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dewtech: some programs (Photoshop, AutoCAD, SolidEdge, have been reported by some guys from other departments) won't even start up without swap, they just sperg Event Viewer full of errors (like a fecking autist).
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rtcvb32: Yeah, those things use a ton of memory. Sorta depends on what you're working on, although a huge amount of the memory it needs usually is for undoing the last x actions, plus the sheer resolution sizes you might be working with (I've heard some artists work at 8000x12000 pixels or larger, big enough to make any 32bit program barf, and even 64bit programs unless you have the ram/VM on). I've also seen a photoshop-like program hang for over an hour before it decided it was good enough to save a file, if this was based on VM specific issues I don't know.

You might call me an idiot with how you're putting your post, but honestly I've found for my own needs that I usually don't need the VM. And the few cases where the OS complains about running out of memory or failing to allocate memory is quickly rectified (or in the case of a ramdrive it just crashes the system for some odd reason... an imdisk bug no doubt).

Now if the swapspace in windows had an option like zram, then I'd take that (allocate a block of memory and compress 'pages' you swap out, they take up less space so you almost get free memory, minus the compress/decompress times).
I'm not calling anyone idiot, I guess you haven't been to Estonia. We don't have flattering words and pointless sayings here. We just say what we think the most blatant way there is.

I like Linux's approach to swap a lot more than Windows's, but I also understand MS, they can't fucking change anything without some backwards compatibility setting/old program sperg out and autists whinging that something has changed.
Posted February 01, 2016
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dewtech: I'm not calling anyone idiot
It felt implied...

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dewtech: I like Linux's approach to swap a lot more than Windows's
Ditto. Use a fixed partition (or multiple) and away you go! zram naturally is a separate and more recent addition.
Posted February 01, 2016
A big swap file raises a few questions. Generally it's an indication that you need more RAM (or that you're wasting RAM; would be good to check what programs are taking it).

I'd say that unless you're short on disk space the swap file size by itself isn't an issue (and if you are short on disk space, it's not your number one problem).

A big swap file tends to go hand in hand with performance problems, and if you can't get more RAM for practical reasons you can use a flash drive or SD card with Readyboost to get some extra speed, or upgrade to Windows 10, which uses a RAM based compressed page file (kind of like zram in Linux).
Posted February 01, 2016
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ET3D: A big swap file raises a few questions. Generally it's an indication that you need more RAM (or that you're wasting RAM; would be good to check what programs are taking it).

I'd say that unless you're short on disk space the swap file size by itself isn't an issue (and if you are short on disk space, it's not your number one problem).

A big swap file tends to go hand in hand with performance problems, and if you can't get more RAM for practical reasons you can use a flash drive or SD card with Readyboost to get some extra speed, or upgrade to Windows 10, which uses a RAM based compressed page file (kind of like zram in Linux).
Didn't they start compressing other system files in 10 aswell? Can't remember that well anymore.
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General discussionDoes Page File shrink?(46 posts)solved(46 posts)solved
(46 posts)solved