The undecided conclusion to whether you need or disable your Swap File is an ongoing conundrum. People suggest disabling it cause you don't need it at all and others will argue the toss that you do for reasons I will explain below. But I'm not here to decide for you, any logical person can figure that out themselves. All I'm going to do is help you understand what it does and how to use it, whether you need it or not is entirely up to. Operating systems are configurable to what you want, so you get to decide as the user what you want disabled and enabled.
The Swap File - commonly known as the Page File - is a file that is stored on the hard drive and is used as a temporary location to store information that isn't being used by the system memory(RAM). By using a Swap File your computer is able to use more memory than what is physically installed in your machine. For example; your computer has 2GB of memory and has used all of it, your computer will then unload all the unused data into the Swap File to free up space for data being used by the memory, such as active portions of open programs.
Your computer will set up your Page File automatically, usually by default to the same size as the amount of memory your computer runs.
Older machines used to encounter the warning “Virtual memory too low”, anybody remember that?
Anyway the Page File can be changed or disabled if you want to free up that extra hard drive space.
Having a Page File is recommended though. I have my Page File disabled, but that's because I have enough system memory to cater for everything I do on my PC. Albeit a bit over kill having 16GB of RAM :P
Configuring The Page File.
So we will direct you to the Page File settings in a Windows 7 machine.
Click on your Start Menu and then right-click on computer.
Then click Properties, this will open a window with some of your computers details, such as your product key, the amount of RAM installed, what CPU your using and what version of windows currently installed.
Once on this page click on Advanced System Settings. This will open the System Properties window with the Advanced tab selected already.
An alternative route to the same Properties Window would be: Start>Control Panel>System and Security>System>Advanced System Settings.
Once on this window you'll see 3 categories; Performance, User Profiles and Startup and Recovery. You want to click on the Settings button for Performance, then a new window opens. On this window you want to click the Advanced tab then click on Change for the Virtual Memory category.
This opens another window with a few settings;
Automatically manage Paging File for all drives; ticking this enables a Page File for all drives installed, it also manages its size dynamically allowing for more space if needed when being used.
If you want just one Page File on one drive, then click the drive you want the Page File on an then check Custom Size and set the size. By default after Windows is installed the Swap File is set by the amount of RAM you have physically, so best practice is to set it by this amount.
Setting a single drive to System Managed Size gives the drive a dynamic Page File.
The last setting is No Paging File, which disables the Paging File. Disabling the Paging File gives you back the space you may want, the downside is that if an error occurs, the data that would be stored in the Paging File - leading to what caused the error and aiding in a successful troubleshoot - will be lost.
Once you have made all the adjustments you want with your Paging File you will need to click the Set button and for extra good measure in setting it in stone just give your PC a reboot. Then go check your changes have stuck.
The Page File is a useful feature and can help out when running low on Physical Memory, your Virtual Memory provides a good back up. Of course the easiest way to avoid using your Page File will be to upgrade your Memory, if you find that your using too much Memory and relying on the Virtual Memory a lot then you really should consider the Upgrade. Although the Swap File is a great feature for backing you up when you need it, it doesn't help the performance of your machine.
If you have loads of memory like way more than your PC actually need then you may want to consider disabling you Swap File to create more space on your Hard Disk.
Hi. I’m Designer of Blog Magic. I’m CEO/Founder of ThemeXpose. I’m Creative Art Director, Web Designer, UI/UX Designer, Interaction Designer, Industrial Designer, Web Developer, Business Enthusiast, StartUp Enthusiast, Speaker, Writer and Photographer. Inspired to make things looks better.
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