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Thread ID: 28212 2002-12-13 09:03:00 Page File dilemma seanl (2378) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
105705 2002-12-13 09:03:00 Yesterday, on reboot, my PC told me that my page file was too small or missing. I tried to reset it, then the whole system fell over (Funny start up noises) This morning it started just fine, but the same page file business. I am getting out of memory errors all over the place. System restore has just packed in. I have done a full virus check, run ad aware to look for spyware.

I thinking about calling in an exorcist.

Win XP, 256 Mb ram. Does anyone have any idea's
seanl (2378)
105706 2002-12-13 09:11:00 get your answer here (www.nthelp.com) godfather (25)
105707 2002-12-13 09:12:00 your page file is win386.swp
which is in the root directory of the drive windows is installed on.

To delete it you need to goto dos and type
attrib -h -r win386.swp
then type
del win386.swp
restart your computer and it will reset the file and everything will be fine.

However this file stuffing out will not cause your computer to make funny noises.
If your hard-drive is making funny noises it is probably about to die!
Do a thorough scandisk to help find out, if you start getting bad sectors during the scan-disk then your in trouble.

out of memmory errors also are unlikely to be caused by a stuffed up page file, those messages relate to system resources, which is something kinda different, and not really related

???? is your hard-drive full to the brim? this would stop system restore, and could have been the demise of your page file
roofus (483)
105708 2002-12-13 09:13:00 sorry ignore my comments on the page file, and refer to godfathers link.
i didn't realise you had WinXP.
however take note of my other comments
roofus (483)
105709 2002-12-13 09:50:00 Thank god I'm back

It got worse. I followed the instructions on the page. (By populated did it mean that there was an entry there?)

Well I deleted it, rebooted, and it hung at the blue welcome screen. Gave a little startup type beep and just hung. Maybe 8 or ten times. The last time, I was back to my pagefile missing or too small, and here I am.

I have switched around RAM simms to see if its a problem, but all combinations seem to have the same problem.

Thanks for your help.... anymore ideas
seanl (2378)
105710 2002-12-13 09:52:00 My system disk has around 1.2 gb free, I have a second physical disk with around 20Gb free

Is that OK
seanl (2378)
105711 2002-12-13 10:08:00 ok have you installed any tweaking progs lately?
i dunno about WinXP
but on earlier versions you could set the size of the page file. I'd imagine this is possible in XP.
Check out the control panel for a device manager and search for the swapfile/pagefile settings. and change the settings to "let windows manage the swapfile"
if its already on this then change it and set the swap file with a min of 150MB and a max of 300MB
roofus (483)
105712 2002-12-13 10:13:00 oh ****. I installed something called tweak UI a little while ago.

I have tried to manually change the page file size, and let windows manage it, but its the same deal each time
seanl (2378)
105713 2002-12-13 10:15:00 well if its the unofficial microsoft UI, then it won't be the problem, but if its some thrid party tweakUI then its possible that it could be causing the problem.
Question? Does it load up fine in safe mode?
roofus (483)
105714 2002-12-13 10:45:00 third party, bugger.

will try safe mode and let you know

Thanks for your help
seanl (2378)
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