JSI Tip 4465. How do I change the location of the Windows XP paging file?

NOTE: The procedure is slightly different depending on whether you use the native or classic desktop.

The default location for virtual memory in Windows XP is the same partition as the the Windows system files, the boot partition.

You can increase performance and free space from the boot partition if you have multiple physical disk drives.

To move the paging file:

01. Log on as a member of the local Administrators group.

02. Control Panel / Performance and Maintenance / System or Start / Run / System.cpl / OK.

03. Select the Advanced tab.

04. Press Settings under Performance.

05. On the Advanced tab, press Change under Virtual memory.

06. In the Drive [Volume Label] list, select a drive other than the one on which Windows is installed.

07. Note the Recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives.

08. Press Custom size and type the recommended value or larger into the Initial size (MB) box and the Maximum size (MB) box. This avoids fragmentation of the paging space as the fileshrinks and grows.

09. Press Set.

10. In the Drive [Volume Label] list, select the drive on which Windows is installed. If you wish to remove the paging file from this drive, select No paging file and press Set. You will receive a message similar to:

    If the pagefile on volume C: has an initial size of less than nnn megabytes,    then the system may not be able to create a debugging information file if a STOP error occurs.    Continue anyway?    Press Yes.        If you want to keep the minimum size required to create a full dump, select Custom size    and set Initial size (MB) and Maximum size (MB) to the amount of RAM you have.

11. You will be prompted with:

    The changes you have made require you to restart your computer before they can take effect.

12. Press OK, OK, and OK.

13. Press Yes.