Posted by Unknown | Posted in Windows | Posted on 12:17 PM
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Moving The Paging File To The Outer Tracks
Moving the paging file to the outer tracks is a powerful way of increasing paging file performance. In fact, it will give the paging file a bigger boost in performance than just making it contiguous. Why is that?
Check out this transfer rate graph of a hard disk :-
It shows pretty clearly the transfer rate of a hard disk is highest on the outer tracks and lowest on the inner tracks. In this case, the transfer rate of the inner tracks is only about half the transfer rate of the outer tracks.
The areal density of a hard disk's platters and its spin rate are constant. But the linear velocity at each point of the platter isn't constant. Therefore, the performance of the paging file depends on where it is located on the hard disk.
The time taken for the hard disk head to read from point A to point B is exactly the same as the time taken for the head to read from C to D. But because the areal density of the platter is constant, a lot more data can be read from the outer tracks than from the inner tracks, in the same amount of time.
Now that the outer tracks have been proven to be the fastest area on a hard disk, we can use that to our advantage. By moving the paging file to the outer tracks, we give the paging file a major boost in performance.
As you can see from the example above, the transfer rate at the outer tracks are about 59MB/s while the central and inner tracks have transfer rates of about 49MB/s and 30MB/s respectively. Moving the paging file from the inner tracks to the outer tracks will almost double its performance! Even moving the paging file from the central tracks to the outer tracks will give the paging file a transfer rate boost of 20%.
But please note that this method must be used in conjunction with a permanent paging file. This is because the paging file cannot be moved to the outer tracks of the hard disk unless it is a permanent paging file.
How Do We Move The Paging File To The Outer Tracks?
Before you can move the paging file to the outer tracks, you must first make the paging file permanent. Follow the steps outlined in the previous pages. Once you have a permanent paging file, you can use your favourite hard disk defragmentation utility to move the paging file to the outer tracks.
Unfortunately, Windows XP's Defrag utility does not have the ability to move paging file to the outer tracks. You will have to use a third-party defragmentation utility to move the paging file to the outer tracks. I will use Diskeeper as an example.
Windows NT, 2000 and XP does not allow the paging file to be moved while it is in used. Therefore, you must set Diskeeper to move the paging file during the next reboot.
Run Diskeeper and click on Change your settings to expand its menu. You will see the screen below.
Look for and click on Set a boot-time defragmentation. That will display this screen.
Now, select the partition where the paging file resides and tick the checkbox of Defragment the paging file option. The option will be grayed out if there is no paging file in that partition.
Then click OK and reboot the computer. Diskeeper will load up during the boot process and defragment the paging file. It will also move the paging file to the outer tracks.
Once Diskeeper has completed its operation, Windows XP will boot up and start using the newly optimized paging file that is not only contiguous but also located in the outer tracks of the hard disk! Your paging file will now show a marked boost in performance.
Please note that you cannot actually force Diskeeper to move the paging file right up to the outermost tracks. Diskeeper has an internal algorithm that determines which files are best placed in the outermost tracks for optimal performance.
In addition, Diskeeper requires a certain amount of free space to defragment and move the paging file. If you do not have the necessary amount of free space in that partition, then Diskeeper may not defragment the paging file or move it to the outer tracks.
Creating A Huge Paging File
Because games and applications often list a minimum paging file size, many people equate the size of the paging file with performance, just like they would with anatomy. But at least in the first case, that's not true.
What does a bigger paging file get you? Well, it gives you the ability to run more memory-intensive programs concurrently. But does a larger paging file make virtual memory faster or better? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Why Not?
First of all, creating a large amount of virtual memory doesn't mean the operating system will use it all. Although Windows will pre-emptively page out parts of idle applications, there are limits to how much it can page out for each application. Therefore, creating an excessively large paging file will just waste hard disk space.
Second, if you ever move the paging file to the outer tracks of the hard disk, an excessively large paging file will take up outer track space that could have been used to store system or application files. Look at these two pictures :-
You can easily do this for free. Just download a trial copy of Diskeeper!
Moving The Paging File To The Outer Tracks
Moving the paging file to the outer tracks is a powerful way of increasing paging file performance. In fact, it will give the paging file a bigger boost in performance than just making it contiguous. Why is that?
Check out this transfer rate graph of a hard disk :-
It shows pretty clearly the transfer rate of a hard disk is highest on the outer tracks and lowest on the inner tracks. In this case, the transfer rate of the inner tracks is only about half the transfer rate of the outer tracks.
The areal density of a hard disk's platters and its spin rate are constant. But the linear velocity at each point of the platter isn't constant. Therefore, the performance of the paging file depends on where it is located on the hard disk.
The time taken for the hard disk head to read from point A to point B is exactly the same as the time taken for the head to read from C to D. But because the areal density of the platter is constant, a lot more data can be read from the outer tracks than from the inner tracks, in the same amount of time.
Now that the outer tracks have been proven to be the fastest area on a hard disk, we can use that to our advantage. By moving the paging file to the outer tracks, we give the paging file a major boost in performance.
As you can see from the example above, the transfer rate at the outer tracks are about 59MB/s while the central and inner tracks have transfer rates of about 49MB/s and 30MB/s respectively. Moving the paging file from the inner tracks to the outer tracks will almost double its performance! Even moving the paging file from the central tracks to the outer tracks will give the paging file a transfer rate boost of 20%.
But please note that this method must be used in conjunction with a permanent paging file. This is because the paging file cannot be moved to the outer tracks of the hard disk unless it is a permanent paging file.
How Do We Move The Paging File To The Outer Tracks?
Before you can move the paging file to the outer tracks, you must first make the paging file permanent. Follow the steps outlined in the previous pages. Once you have a permanent paging file, you can use your favourite hard disk defragmentation utility to move the paging file to the outer tracks.
Unfortunately, Windows XP's Defrag utility does not have the ability to move paging file to the outer tracks. You will have to use a third-party defragmentation utility to move the paging file to the outer tracks. I will use Diskeeper as an example.
Windows NT, 2000 and XP does not allow the paging file to be moved while it is in used. Therefore, you must set Diskeeper to move the paging file during the next reboot.
Run Diskeeper and click on Change your settings to expand its menu. You will see the screen below.
Look for and click on Set a boot-time defragmentation. That will display this screen.
Now, select the partition where the paging file resides and tick the checkbox of Defragment the paging file option. The option will be grayed out if there is no paging file in that partition.
Then click OK and reboot the computer. Diskeeper will load up during the boot process and defragment the paging file. It will also move the paging file to the outer tracks.
Once Diskeeper has completed its operation, Windows XP will boot up and start using the newly optimized paging file that is not only contiguous but also located in the outer tracks of the hard disk! Your paging file will now show a marked boost in performance.
Please note that you cannot actually force Diskeeper to move the paging file right up to the outermost tracks. Diskeeper has an internal algorithm that determines which files are best placed in the outermost tracks for optimal performance.
In addition, Diskeeper requires a certain amount of free space to defragment and move the paging file. If you do not have the necessary amount of free space in that partition, then Diskeeper may not defragment the paging file or move it to the outer tracks.
Creating A Huge Paging File
Because games and applications often list a minimum paging file size, many people equate the size of the paging file with performance, just like they would with anatomy. But at least in the first case, that's not true.
What does a bigger paging file get you? Well, it gives you the ability to run more memory-intensive programs concurrently. But does a larger paging file make virtual memory faster or better? Unfortunately, the answer is no.
Why Not?
First of all, creating a large amount of virtual memory doesn't mean the operating system will use it all. Although Windows will pre-emptively page out parts of idle applications, there are limits to how much it can page out for each application. Therefore, creating an excessively large paging file will just waste hard disk space.
Second, if you ever move the paging file to the outer tracks of the hard disk, an excessively large paging file will take up outer track space that could have been used to store system or application files. Look at these two pictures :-
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