Page file defrag - Vista

Tinky · 25-06-2011, 20:11

Is there a way to defrag the page file in Vista? Apparently the built-in defragger in Vista does not have this ability. Help!

Stuart · 25-06-2011, 22:15

It's a bit long winded, but you can move your pagefile to another drive, reboot, defrag the original drive, move the pagefile back and reboot..

http://www.techmetica.com/howto/how-...file-in-vista/

Tinky · 26-06-2011, 09:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stuart

It's a bit long winded, but you can move your pagefile to another drive, reboot, defrag the original drive, move the pagefile back and reboot..

http://www.techmetica.com/howto/how-...file-in-vista/

Stuart thanks everso for these destructions, as you say a bit long winded. Will have to mull this one over, cos I'd be worried in case something went wrong. Maybe I should let well alone.

downquark1 · 26-06-2011, 09:57

Are you sure the page file is even fragmented?

Tinky · 26-06-2011, 10:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by downquark1

Are you sure the page file is even fragmented?

No I am not sure, but considering the computer is now 4 years old, I would assume there is a high likelihood. I've been reading an article that says defragging the pagefile could help to improve the performance. But if this is not necessary, or the resulting defrag doesn't make any significant difference. I will let well alone.

qasdfdsaq · 26-06-2011, 17:51

Just turn off the pagefile, reboot, and turn it back on again. Done.

Dai · 26-06-2011, 19:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by qasdfdsaq

Just turn off the pagefile, reboot, and turn it back on again. Done.

But surely if the disk partition contains other files and is fragmented then the newly-created page file will still be in chunks?

downquark1 · 26-06-2011, 20:04

Yes the page file tends to be a fixed size and thus tends not to frag. But a better solution is turn it off reboot, defrag and then turn it back on. You could also use a program like defraggler to tell you how fragmented the file is.

Hom3r · 26-06-2011, 20:13

I was told many years ago if you PC has two Hard Drives (Not 2 partitions) was to put the page file on the other drive (I.E. move from C: to D:, and that would speed up your system a bit)

Welshchris · 26-06-2011, 20:28

Theres a program called Perfect Disk that gives u this option.

Dai · 26-06-2011, 21:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hom3r

I was told many years ago if you PC has two Hard Drives (Not 2 partitions) was to put the page file on the other drive (I.E. move from C: to D:, and that would speed up your system a bit)

Yes, I've done this on this system. I create a fixed size pagefile as the first file on an empty second drive. This makes sure it's one contiguous file and always remains that way as the size does not vary.

I've not noticed any dramatic increase in performance but I guess every little bit helps.

downquark1 · 26-06-2011, 21:16

Well if you have lots of ram the page file won't see much use, but that is the best way to do it.

Matth · 27-06-2011, 00:42

It's a capability that is creeping in to a few freeware defrags, the availability of boot-time defrag which can defrag pagefile and other locked system files.

http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html

http://www.piriform.com/docs/defragg...ot-time-defrag
http://www.piriform.com/docs/defragg...ot-time-defrag - the files Defraggler does in boot time mode

Tinky · 27-06-2011, 10:15

Update for anyone who may have similar question.

A friend recommended I assign a fixed size to the page file. As I understand it this should do away with the need to degrag. According to the article I was reading, the figures for PC which has 2GB of ram (which mine has) the page file size should be between 3072 and 4096. So I have set both the initial size and the Maximum size to 3072.

Just for good measure I downloaded and ran Perfect Disk, which took all night to defrag. This morning I also did the boot defrag, and can't honestly see any significant difference in performance/speed. Was it worth it?

Many thanks to all for your help!

downquark1 · 27-06-2011, 10:19

I really don't think it's necessary, even when windows is managing it the page file it isn't that THAT dynamic. I have a windows managed page file and it is a giant 6GB block sitting in the middle of my boot partition, the same size and same place it always is. You can install defraggler and look at it.