The paging file is located on the hard disk and is used by the operating system to store data that does not fit in RAM. If paging is disabled and RAM is low, the computer may run out of memory while performing complex tasks, leading to appropriate messages. In this case, pumping should be enabled.
Instructions
Step 1
Swap is usually enabled by default and is controlled by the operating system itself. If for some reason paging on your computer is turned off, to enable it, open: "Start" - "Control Panel" - "System" - "Advanced".
Step 2
In the "Performance" section, click the "Options" button. A window will open, in it select the "Advanced" tab. In the new window you will need the "Virtual memory" section - find it and click the "Change" button.
Step 3
The "Virtual memory" window will open, check the "System size" item in it. In this case Windows itself will choose the size of the paging file (virtual memory) it needs. You can set the required size yourself, for this you should select the "Custom size" item. As a rule, the size of the paging file is chosen equal to twice the size of the RAM. So if your computer has 1024 MB of RAM, then the minimum paging file size should be 2048 MB. The maximum can be equal to three times the size of the RAM.
Step 4
Place the paging file on the wrong disk or disk partition where the OS is installed, this will increase the computer's performance. To move the pagefile.sys paging file to another drive, select System Selected Size, then select the desired drive or partition from the list of drives. Save your changes. Windows will warn you that the new settings will be entered only after a system reboot. Restart your computer, reopen the Virtual Memory window and check which disk the paging file is on.
Step 5
The paging file is hidden and in order to see it, you must enable the display of hidden files. Open any drive or folder, select: "Tools" - "Folder Options". In the "Hidden files and folders" section, check the "Show hidden files and folders" item. You should now be able to see the pagefile.sys file.
Step 6
If your computer has a few gigabytes of RAM, swap can be turned off altogether, this has a positive effect on the speed of the system. In this case, you can turn it on at any time. Vista users should not turn off pumping.
