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Thread ID: 53916 2005-01-31 03:36:00 Swapfile in different partition JimboJones (1680) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
319639 2005-01-31 03:36:00 I've got about 5 gigs free space between C and D drive. C is just windows and D is where I install apps and games. I'm thinking about allocating the free space for D drive and move the Swapfile from C drive to D drive because I have all my games and apps install on D drive. The reason for this is because I noticed that when you move files within the same partition, its a lot faster than moving into another partition. I think this will decrease loading times for games like BF1942 which uses a lot of Swapfile.

But I heard that having the Swapfile in its own dedicated partition also gives performance boosts? What do you think I should do?

Heres a screenshot of my partition layout:
img166.exs.cx
JimboJones (1680)
319640 2005-01-31 03:46:00 If you want to realy boost the swap file you need a second HD not just a partition. Rob99 (151)
319641 2005-01-31 03:47:00 Files are moved quicker inside a partition than between partitions because the files aren't moved inside a partition. Just the directory entries are changed. That's very fast.

You probably won't gain by putting the swap on a different partition.
Graham L (2)
319642 2005-01-31 04:00:00 My son has my old backup computer with a 4Gb drive, running XP Home . He was running out of space, so I installed another spare 4Gb drive, and shifted his data over to that . Then I put SP2 on the original drive, and it is now worse of than before I started! Only 395Mb left! :badpc:

I notice the paging file on my computer (presumably another name for swap file?) is min 768Mb max 1536Mb, so presumably my son's swap file is also a substantial size, and shifting that to the data HD would give a bit more elbow room . Could I shift the swap file to the second HD?

Are there any downsides to doing this? I am totally ignorant of how to shift it - could anyone enlighten me (not wanting to take over this thread of course . . . ) . Thank you .

John
John H (8)
319643 2005-01-31 04:13:00 Oh, oh. Laziness comes with being a member of such a responsive group...

I thought I should check with the Dark Side of the Force, and there it is, after some convoluted searching. Support article 307886 "How to move the Paging File in Windows XP".

Duh. :blush:
John H (8)
319644 2005-01-31 04:15:00 Putting the swap/paging file on a different drive might be faster, depending on which drive is active most . There should be no problems . . . (famous last words ;)) .

Putting a swap file on a different partition of the same drive can slow things down because the heads have to move a considerable distance between partitions . The ideal for performance is a swap file on its own drive, on a non-shared controller .
Graham L (2)
319645 2005-01-31 06:40:00 to add to graham.....

you will notice that one partion is often faster than the other. haveing the swapfile on the fastest will increase perfomance. usually the faster partitoin is the first one.
tweak'e (69)
319646 2005-01-31 09:04:00 Interesting, Graham and tweak'e. I can't believe I am quoting Microsoft as an authority on anything other than price gouging, but in their How to, they say this:
"You can increase the performance of Windows, and increase free space on the boot partition, by moving this file to a different partition."

There are no qualifiers - just the above.

John
John H (8)
319647 2005-01-31 09:20:00 well MS is correct....provided the different partition is faster than the old one ;-) tweak'e (69)
319648 2005-02-01 01:30:00 Hi,
I have my pagefile(swapfile) on a different drive, and on a different IDE controller from my main drive. But honestly, I don't notice any performance increase. Perhaps I would if I benchmarked it...

Although keeping your pagefile a fixed size is a good idea to prevent it from getting fragmented as it expands.
saikou (7056)
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