[COMP] Re: An opinion..tweaking the virtual memory!
- To: computers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 13 Apr 2000 21:25:58 -0500
> John...could you repeat all that in english please? <BG> Remember..I'm not
> a techie. I have 128mgs of Ram tho..so...does this mean, in your opinion I
> SHOULD try it? :)
Sorry... Sure, go ahead and try it, it can't hurt, right? :) But Your
Mileage May Vary (tm), so if it doesn't work, you can always switch it
back. I commend Microsoft on actually putting something useful in a
user-editable configuration file, for once.
Ok, so you need that repeated in English? :)
In short, cache and buffer space in Ram is the stuff that makes your
programs startup faster. Cache is like keeping that program that you
just ran in memory, in case it's needed later on. Notice how Word
starts up a lot faster the second time than the first (heh, maybe not)?
That's due to caching.
Cache and buffer are marked as being "used" memory spaces, but they can
be flushed out and freed up for other programs to jump in and use
actively. "Free" memory is that which has "absolutely nothing" in it,
and can be picked up at will for new programs, or as running programs
need more memory. This Free number is typically somewhat low, as it's
more efficient to just use it all up with caches that can be flushed as
needed, and since caches increase performance by a lot, the time used in
saying "ok, we need to cut some cache back here" is acceptable.
Now let's say for some reason you turn off virtual memory altogether.
Well at first, you may notice an increase in performance, because
windows can't sit there and do it's voluntary swapping thing. But after
time, you may notice a *decrease,* because you eventually run out of
cache and buffer space as it's discarded for the "used" memory spaces.
Having lots of cache is a good thing, having no cache cuts down on
performance.
So in general, if you can put "old cache stuff that we might want to
keep around, but we're not sure" out in the swapfile, that may be a good
idea. That may be what this whole win98 paging at will thing is about.
Everyone feel free to drop in and correct/add to this, I'm no memory
expert...
John
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