Move pagefile to start of disk? (recreating pagefile doesn't do this)

[SchoolDaGeek]

I am not well versed in how MyDefrag determines "Zones" but my question is that if Zone 1 is determined to be where most of your startup/boot activity is taken from, say greater than 60% or so, would it make sense to create a script for MyDefrag to place the pagefile.sys in between zone 1 and zone 2 for example?  Or a script that says pagefile.sys is the first file of zone 2?  Is anyone doing this already or could write a fast script and post it here or in the scripts section? 

I have an old laptop with only a 4GB hard drive that I plan on upgrading to a 44pin to Compact Flash adapter and put in an 8GB Compact Flash, but right now with the pagefile smack dead center in the middle of the disk the laptop feels very slow.  It only has 64mb of memory right now but I also plan on upgrading to 288mb, so I am trying to squeeze out some extra performance from the pagefile location.

[jeroen]

Wauw, your computer must be really old. Take a look at the free Microsoft PageDefrag utility to defragment your pagefile. MyDefrag cannot move the pagefile on a system disk on a running computer.

[antikythera]

if the notebook has a cd drive (or can boot from an external one) you could boot from a bartPE disc and run Mydefrag to move all the files on the hard drive that way. if you use the sortbyname script it would then be able to move the pagefile to the beginning of the drive.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Ah, OK, I had read that somewhere now I understand.  Yes the CD Rom works.  So does the BartPE disk come with MyDefrag or do I have to add it into the .iso?  (and yes JK, a very old laptop but it has a working floppy, serial port, and a PRISM 2.5 Pcmcia card for internet so it is a good 'field' computer for diagnostics)

[antikythera]

Ah, OK, I had read that somewhere now I understand.  Yes the CD Rom works.  So does the BartPE disk come with MyDefrag or do I have to add it into the .iso?  (and yes JK, a very old laptop but it has a working floppy, serial port, and a PRISM 2.5 Pcmcia card for internet so it is a good 'field' computer for diagnostics)

no it isn't included within the standard BartPE setup. you would need to copy the contents of the MyDefrag program folder to the ISO image using the PEBuilder. when you boot from the CD open command prompt and navigate to the MyDefrag directory you created and use the command:

MyDefrag -r <scriptfilename>

e.g. "MyDefrag -r D:\MyDefrag\Example Scripts\SortByName.Myd"

[jeroen]

So does the BartPE disk come with MyDefrag or do I have to add it into the .iso?

BartPE does not come with MyDefrag. You can add MyDefrag into the iso, but it's a bit complicated, for more information see How to use MyDefrag from a bootable CD-ROM or memory stick?. It's easier to boot a standard BartPE CD-ROM and then run the MyDefrag that you have already installed on your harddisk. Still easier is to run MyDefrag in Windows "safe" mode, press F8 while booting.

[SchoolDaGeek]

Well I tried in safemode but it did not move the pagefile so I tried the BartPE disc and navigated to the Program Files section, etc. and viola!  Along with the nice script that was presented in this thread:

http://www.mydefrag.com/forum/index.php?topic=2336.0

Everything worked exactly as I wanted it to, so I can report great success.  Thanks JK and everyone for helping out!

[poutnik]

........How can you determine which files are frequently used?

By elimination of most of files that are not frequently used, accessed long time ago ?

E.g.
(....) and LastAccess(3 day ago,) selects both frequently and just recently accessed files.
(....) and not (LastAccess(,3 day ago)) eliminates files not accessed recently, and therefore not accessed frequently.

[fxm]

I don't know how exactly Windows allocates the pagefile, but I would expect it to use the largest gaps available. Not the first gap and then upward from there.

It seems to be some kind of mixture.  I needed to allocate 2G on a drive with several ~1G gaps followed by 40G empty.

Windows XP chose one of the gaps and completed the file in a higher one.  Lower ~400M gaps weren't used and the 40G area wasn't touched.

[fxm]

run your windows WITHOUT swapfile.

Without a swap file at least as large as the real memory Windows (at least XP) won't generate memory.dmp when a crash occurs.

AFAIK that's all you lose, so if you don't have crashes or don't need dumps for debugging or reporting, you should be all set.

BTW:  even with paging disabled, XP still has a small swap file that can't be disabled.

[BloodySword]

Without a swap file at least as large as the real memory Windows (at least XP) won't generate memory.dmp when a crash occurs.

AFAIK that's all you lose, so if you don't have crashes or don't need dumps for debugging or reporting, you should be all set.

BTW:  even with paging disabled, XP still has a small swap file that can't be disabled.

'Cause it is not possible to manage memory without a swap file.

[fxm]

it is not possible to manage memory without a swap file.

At risk of starting an OT and pointless discussion:  just because Windows doesn't do it, doesn't mean that it can't be done.

[TEMHOTA]

SO, I'll ask again... If we run MyDefrag from UBCD4Win, or BartPE, and tell it to put "pagefile.sys" near the start of the disk, will it work?  (I plan to try this as soon as I get some time, unless you say it won't work.)

Boot from your favotite boot cd, and use this script - it's works for me.

Code:

Title('pagefile.sys')
Description("Optimize pagefile.sys")

VolumeSelect
  CommandlineVolumes()
  and Removable(no)
  and Writable(yes)
  and Mounted(yes)
VolumeActions

  MakeGap(0)

  FileSelect
    FileName("pagefile.sys")
  FileActions
   MoveDownFill()
  FileEnd

VolumeEnd