On shutting it off, I immediately saw a boost in performance which was unexpected. Having done a little background as to the reasoning for this, I learned that pagefile is utilized by your system even when it is not needed. By shutting it off, you are forcing the sytem to use your RAM to its full potential.
Should you elect to reduce, a common belief is that the pagefile should be 1.5 times the total amount of your ram and the minimum and maximum should both be the same if your sure no more will be required. This will prevent excessive disk activity at times when it is required for the pagefile to expand.
USER ALERT!!!! Reducing your pagefile size by too much will severely slow and cripple your system as it cannot create a large enough disk cache for the job at hand, thus resulting in a great deal more disk activity and slower system.
- Go to:Control Panel/System/Advanced System Settings/Performance Settings/Advanced/Change;
- Make note and write down the present system managed pagefile size;
- Disable the 'automatic' or 'system managed' size;
- Slowly and carefully reduce your pagefile over a period of time by creating a custom size; and
- If you find your RAM use remains on the low end of the pole after some careful monitoring, just turn it off completely and enjoy.
