Set Static Windows Paging File to Prevent Fragmentation

Windows is very prone to disk fragmentation, which when left unchecked can severely slow your system down. See Here.

For Windows XP users, running the disk defragmenter was always a tedious task if most people ever remembered to do it at all. In Windows 7, the task is scheduled, but then the PC would have to be left on overnight for the scheduler to execute it. One easy thing to do to prevent rapid fragmentation concerns the size and type of paging file for your virtual memory.

In this pic, the two green lines are the paging file (as I have removed my hibernation file, which would also be green). A paging file is an area of your hard drive disk space that the computer can use as RAM when needed (aka Virtual Memory).

These files are unmovable which means that if your paging file is fragmented, it is slicing up your system drive and files can't be shuffled effectively. This occurs often especially when the paging file is set to be managed by the system. This means that you have a dynamically sized paging file which is constantly being changed and creating more disparate green lines.

What you need to do is allocate a specific size for your paging file size. Even if the files are spread out over the system, more space is not constantly being reallocated per the system management. Typically, the general rule of thumb is that your paging file should be 1.5x the amount of your RAM.

NOTE: The following instructions are aimed at XP users, however Windows 7 users could find the same dialog by searching for "Advanced" in their Start Menu search box.

Go to System Properties by either...


Control Panel > System
or
Holding [Windows Logo Button] + [Pause/Break]

Click on the Advanced Tab and open Settings dialog under Performance

Under Performance Options, Select the Advanced Tab

Select Change under Virtual Memory

In the Virtual Memory dialog,

Select Custom size and set initial and max to the same size.

e.g. if you have 2GB (2048 MB) of RAM you will set the page file size to 1.5x that = 3072 MB

Click Set and OK

Once you reboot your PC will have a static size memory file and will help decrease the rate at which your drive goes to pieces. But remember Windows users: defrag often. Or get Linux.