The 3rd post basically explained everything.

Havoc, the reason why performance improved when you set min and max the same number is that you actually prevented the page file from fragmented. A fragmented file will cause your harddisk's head to seek more. This will reduce your harddisk lifespan (theoritically) and slow down your system at same time.

One way to prevent the virtual memory from fragmented is to set min and max identical, preferably at a different harddisk other than your OS. For those with single harddisk, then put it in a different partition. This should speed up your OS performance overall.

Do remember to set a small amount of page file (32 mb or equiv) on C: if your page file is on different harddisk.

No matter how big is your RAM, windows still require a fair bit amount of virtual memory. Don't ask why, that is how Windows work.

For advance user, you can track your page file usage by using perfmon.exe. Click on "Add Counter". Under the Select Performance, select object as "Paging File". Only two counters available, "%Usage" is the current usage and "%Usage Peak" is the highest point it touches. You can save the settings in .msc for future usage. This should give you a approximate idea how much paging file should you allocate to prevent harddisk space wastage. (The recent file I attached does not work as it track my page file in E drive. Sorry.)

This post has been edited by char: Jun 23 2006, 09:38 AM