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Author Topic: PF usage - WinXP  (Read 6355 times)

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PF usage - WinXP
« on: January 15, 2014, 11:06:16 AM »

My ancient (2004) laptop uses XP with 1GB RAM and recently PF usage soars to above 2GB with only Windows LiveMail and Chrome+Bing loaded.

If I close everything and restart the laptop then reload, PF usage returns to normal which is around 850MB

Any ideas why this is occurring ?
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HPsauce

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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #1 on: January 15, 2014, 11:37:49 AM »

No idea, but I'd use Task Manager and then Process Explorer to see in detail what is running.
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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2014, 12:13:00 PM »

Nothing that is using up CPU......that's why I'm baffled.

And once restarted Task Manager Performance tab shows exactly the same EXCEPT for the PF usage.

I've not run Process Explorer yet, that's next on the list when it happens again.

Currently with Win Live Mail+Chrome+Bing and writing this PF=865MB and CPU=22%
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HPsauce

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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2014, 01:53:02 PM »

Nothing that is using up CPU......that's why I'm baffled.
Maybe you're baffled because you should be looking at memory usage?   ;)

If you run Process Explorer you may need to add the appropriate memory column to the default display.
On many of my systems Skype is a massive memory hog even when doing nothing.
« Last Edit: January 15, 2014, 02:02:32 PM by HPsauce »
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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2014, 04:17:58 PM »

Maybe you're baffled because you should be looking at memory usage?   ;)

Sorry forgot to report that.....which explains my bafflement !!....even when the above data is showing, memory stays normal eg around 300KB available out of the 1048MB.

I know 1GB of memory isn't a lot for the 21st century but this phenomenon has only recently started and not having made any changes it's adding to my bafflement.

Perhaps I need to read up on how,when and why page file is used !
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HPsauce

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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2014, 05:48:08 PM »

Is this a real or just perceived (worried well) problem? How/where are you getting your PF Usage numbers?

1GB RAM is a bit tight for a fully-patched XP, depending what antivirus you're using, but is usually OK for simple use. 2GB is better.
The page/swap file is usually "system-managed" and will typically be around the same size as your real RAM giving a total virtual memory about double the actual RAM; have you checked the settings?
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Re: PF usage - WinXP
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2014, 07:22:49 PM »

I believe it's a real problem, let me explain.

Recently, the laptop has occasionally slowed right up when browsing or saving documents so I set off in search of the cause.

I noticed that the slowness coincided with page file usage increasing to over 1.5GB and several times as high as 2.3GB but both CPU and memory usage were not overly stressed nor was the machine doing anything intensive.

Initially I viewed the data in Task Manager then Process Explorer to verify what I was seeing in TM.

As I've said, the machine has been running perfectly and I've not recently added any applications so I'm not sure why it has suddenly slowed AND is using at least twice as much page file intermittently.

The page file setting is set to System Managed.

I'm now monitoring using Process Explorer and will investigate further if/when the problem re-occurs.
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