using second drive as page file in Windows 10

[Shinnen]

Hi,
I'm using a partition on my second drive for my page file, in order to extend the life of my first drive, an SSD.
I'm wondering if I should designate the minim and maximum size of the page file or let let windows decide how to manage it? The other question I have is wrt to the size of the page file. I only have 2 gigs of ram, so what should be the maximum size of the page file? And, one other question. Will Windows use this drive if I disable it in the bios? I suspect not.
Thanks,
...... john

 

[johnb35]

Page file should be between 1.5x to 4x the amount of physical ram so 3gb to 8gb. If you disable a drive, windows can't see it to use it.

 

[Shinnen]

Hi John,
Thanks. Do you think it's advisable to set the minimum and maximum pagefile size to the same value?
...... john

 

[beers]

Honestly just use Automatic.

If you make a larger one you'll swap more, one that is too small will give you out of memory errors. Your system is pretty light on RAM (my router literally has twice as much), so performance will tank as you're swappin, and be much worse on the mechanical drive.

 

[aldan]

i havent used a paging file in forever.what for?

 

[Shinnen]

Thanks beers
Aldan ... I pretty much have to use paging, because I have only 2gigs of ram. Things move at a snails pace if I don't.
...... john

 

[aldan]

Thanks beers
Aldan ... I pretty much have to use paging, because I have only 2gigs of ram. Things move at a snails pace if I don't.
...... john

i see your point.even with paging file its not gonna get much better.what are your specs and do you have the option to add more ram?

 

[Shinnen]

Hi Aldan,
I have a desktop, Dell Dimension 3100. It's pretty much at the low end of the computer spectrum. It will only take 2x1 gig of ram. Some people say that they've been able to add 2 more gig (total 4) but I haven't tried it yet. It has a low end built in Intel 915GV and I have not been able to find a graphics card that will fit it, so I'm stuck with the Intel. I'm running Windows 10, which is a little slower than Windows 7, but seems to provide more versatility. As I mentioned, I added the second drive as a swap file, in order to extend the life of my primary SSD. It's ok, for what I used it .... emails, light surfing, some photo editing ...... but not much more. I've been through my options with other members of this forum and the general consensus is that I should upgrade, which is probably what I'll do eventually.
Thanks for your interest.
....... john

 

[aldan]

agree on upgrading for sure.