RAM

Hi, i have a pc with 128mb RAM. I have been montitoring
the RAM performance on the 'System Monitor'. I have
noticed that about 8.5MB is in swapfile use. What does the
Swap file figure indicate? what is the swapfile? Do i need
more RAM, will it imporve my systems performance?

As a rough guide, how much should be in use in the
swapfile for a system using 128MB?

what about a system with 256MB?, 512MB etc?

Regards

Ideally, you want no swap file usage as the swap file (virtual memory) used
on a hard drive is 100s of times slower than ram. If you are the same
person who is hoping to get a new PC in a few months, don't buy ram. Cut
back on the number of programs that start at boot and run in the background
and avoid dual tasking big programs. This might preclude the use of the
swap file and be a satisfactory fix.

My personal rule of thumb is if a program is not used during every computer
session, I do not allow it to start at boot. To cut back on the number of
programs starting at boot, check the programs themselves for an option not
to load. You might have to double click an icon in the tray (others might
require a right click) and then look for preferences or options. If you
cannot find an option, look for the program in the following start up points
and remove the reference to it:

Start up folder on the start menu, the load= and run= lines in the win.ini
and these registry run keys (use regedit.exe):

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Run

2. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\Run

3. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\RunOnce

4. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curre ntVersion\RunOnce

5. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\ RunServices

6. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\
RunServicesOnce

7. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\
RunOnce\Setup

If poking around in the registry is not for you, there is a freeware program
that makes this process a lot easier to manage: Startup Manager,
http://home.ptd.net/~don5408/toolbox/startupcpl/

You can use msconfig.exe, startup tab, to disable programs; however, by
doing so, you may lessen its value as a troubleshooting tool. There might
be some double entries in msconfig--leave those for your AntiVirus program
and load power profile alone as they are required. If you disable an entry
in msconfig or remove it from the start up point and the program loads again
after a reboot, that is an indication that you missed an option on the
program itself. If you don't know what an entry is, check he
http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk/startup_index.htm

--
Regards

Ron Badour, MS MVP for W98
Tips: http://home.satx.rr.com/badour
Knowledge Base Info:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=kbinfo

wrote in message
...
Hi, i have a pc with 128mb RAM. I have been montitoring
the RAM performance on the 'System Monitor'. I have
noticed that about 8.5MB is in swapfile use. What does the
Swap file figure indicate? what is the swapfile? Do i need
more RAM, will it imporve my systems performance?

As a rough guide, how much should be in use in the
swapfile for a system using 128MB?

what about a system with 256MB?, 512MB etc?

Regards

wrote:

Hi, i have a pc with 128mb RAM. I have been montitoring
the RAM performance on the 'System Monitor'. I have
noticed that about 8.5MB is in swapfile use. What does the
Swap file figure indicate? what is the swapfile? Do i need
more RAM, will it imporve my systems performance?


It means that 8.5 mb of active memory content has been moved from RAM
to the swap file so as to allow that RAM to be used for other,
currently more important, purposes.

That value is an "in between" situation. While there is some actual
swap file usage occurring it is probably not that great so as to have
a noticeable effect on overall performance. I usually use a threshold
value of 20 mb for swap file in use when determining the potential
value of increased RAM.

As a rough guide, how much should be in use in the
swapfile for a system using 128MB?


That depends entirely on how many application programs you have open,
what those programs are, and the size of the data files being used by
those programs.


what about a system with 256MB?, 512MB etc?

There is no direct relationship between the amount of swap file usage
and the amount of RAM installed in the computer, at least not without
also considering the application program information as mentioned
above.

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."