Solved 16GB RAM - Acronis still using a pagefile?!

[rap33042]

Howdy All!

I just upgraded from 8GB to 16GB RAM.
I have a 1M Page File set up on a secondary drive.
I use Acronis to do daily backups of my system.
I have a desktop Gadget that monitors CPU, Memory and Page File usage.
Memory usage has yet to hit 50% with all sorts of apps open at once.
For example, I run giants like Skyrim and other applications at the same time with no Page File usage. Zero. Nada.

Here's the question:

Can anyone explain to me in plain English why Acronis is the only program that still uses that Page File?

I don't get it...

TIA,

 

[Qdos]

Acronis (TrueImage?) probably uses the page file as temporary buffer space to compress the backup, or to restore it...

 

[rap33042]

Thanks for the response, Qdos.

Makes sense to me...

 

[whs]

The program only uses the superfetch addressing mechanism. That creates false hard faults that are immediately mapped to real RAM addresses. In reality your pagefile has never been used.

 

[rap33042]

whs:

I'm not sure I understand any part of what you just said

FYI, I have SSD's installed and Superfetch disabled. Does what you said still apply?
Can I finally shut down the infamous pagefile?

TIA,

 

[whs]

It does not matter whether superfetch is active or not. It is still the same addressing mechanism. I would not completely eliminate the pagefile. Set it to 1 or 2 GBs.

Btw: it is not a good idea to disable superfetch (especially with so much RAM) - it will slow down your system.

 

[rap33042]

whs:
OK, I'll leave the pagefile alone.

Regarding SuperFetch: Everything I've read everywhere, including the manuals that came with my Intel SSDs, says to disable Defrag, Prefetch, and Superfetch. Presumably because of all the disk writes these utilities incur.

Even the Intel Toolbox and Windows itself will disable these functions by default when an SSD is detected.

Thanks for your input,

 

[whs]

There are too many sagas regarding the wear and tear from write operations on SSDs. Trust me, during the lifetime of your SSD that will play no role at all.

On the other hand, the caching that Superfetch does gives access to processes/programs directly from the cache in RAM. And that is still a LOT faster than the fastest SSD.

 

[rap33042]

OK, whs. You convinced me to at least give it a go for a few days. I'll enable SuperFetch.

You've got me curious now and I hope I see an improvement in the computer's responsiveness. That's always a plus.

If you are interested I can drop you a note with my results.

Thanks for your thoughts and help,