Can I physically reallocate pagefile on disk to improve performance

[SaNdMaN82]

Hello, thanks for reading the topic.

I've noticed that my page file , which is configured to 8gb, it's fragmented into 2 sectors of the HDD... That would not be bad, since I would believe the 4gb space for each fragment is not random...
But, the thing is that both those fragments are located towards the physical end of the drive, where the reading speeds are quite lower than on the middle or even beginning of the drive surface...

So, my question is: can I physically move the page file from that location 'at the back' of the drive, to one that has better performance?
If so, how?

Thank you.

 

[DavidE]

Puran Defrag has a Boot Time defrag and optimization.
Run a Boot Time defrag and see if it helps.
Puran Defrag - Automatically Defrag your Hard Disk Drives
Let us know how it works for you.

 

[SaNdMaN82]

Thank you, I will look into that once I'm back from the office.
On the other hand, do you know by experience that soft also moves the page file?. I've read the product's description and it is quite general...

 

[DavidE]

Gregrocker recommends this program and he has a lot more knowledge and experience than me.
I have SSDs, and physical location really doesn't matter.
I just use built in Windows defrag, trim, optimize now.

There's a lot more that can be discussed about pagefile, partitioning, etc.
But that could complicate and confuse your OP question...

Anyway here's a pic from the Puran info:

Source: Puran Defrag - Automatically Defrag your Hard Disk Drives

 

[LMiller7]

The location of the pagefile on the disk isn't going to make any noticeable or measurable difference in performance. This would matter for large files that are read serially but that rarely happens with the pagefile. Typical usage is relatively small reads or writes mixed with other file access where access time is the dominant factor in performance. With reasonable RAM size for your workload pagefile performance matters little. Having 2 pagefile fragments won't mater either.

 

[SaNdMaN82]

Gregrocker recommends this program and he has a lot more knowledge and experience than me.
I have SSDs, and physical location really doesn't matter.
I just use built in Windows defrag, trim, optimize now.

There's a lot more that can be discussed about pagefile, partitioning, etc.
But that could complicate and confuse your OP question...

Anyway here's a pic from the Puran info:
View attachment 350816
Source: Puran Defrag - Automatically Defrag your Hard Disk Drives

I'll try that method, but my page file is not fragmented (well, it's split in half, but it's 8gb, so that's ok)
My concern is in reference to the physical location on the disk surface

I'll post on the results once I do that...

Thanks.

 

[SaNdMaN82]

I did run the complete defrag thing... Nothing changed:

Page file is allocated at the worst performance sector of the drive...

 

[Berton]

I usually put a second HDD [D:] in my computers then put the majority of the paging file/Virtual Memory on that drive first, before anything else. I set 2GB on my C: drive as that's where some programs look for it. By setting the Max and Min the same it doesn't become fragmented. I do see a noticeable improvement in the computers.

 

[DavidE]

I don't know if there are any other utility programs that can move the pagefile.
When i had everything on a single spinner i had a "small" partition as the 1st partition for the OS + programs.
I had a "large" data partition as the 2nd partition.
That kept the OS + programs + pagefile in the outer tracks of the HD.
If you store everything in one partition, you might consider moving user data to a separate partition.

 

[SaNdMaN82]

I'm now considering using a 2nd SATA device as paging... I don't need much space for that...
I do agree it's best to have it separated if you use a 'normal' hdd as myself... It's not a WD black, just a blue one...
But I also agree it's best to have the page file right in the middle of the device... Not at the start, nor end... It's the 'second half' of the page file that actually "bothers" me...

Thank you.

 

[LMiller7]

From a theoretical standpoint the best location for the pagefile isn't the outer tracks of the drive but the center. The outer tracks do provide faster transfer rate but as mentioned before this really doesn't matter much. With typical usage the drive heads will spend far more time moving to the pagefile that reading from it. To optimize the pagefile you need to minimize seek time. To do that the pagefile should be in the center tracks where the average time to reach it will be lowest.

Not that pagefile performance matters much anyway.

I know little of Puran but I assume that when it defrags the pagefile it means just that. As there were only 2 fragments this may have been skipped as it is of little consequence and would consume much time. Relocating it to the outer tracks is another matter entirely. Doing so would likely require relocating the MFT and consume a great deal of time.

It seems to me that all of this is a lot of concern over something that just doesn't matter much. It would be a difficult task to create a benchmark where the difference was measurable.

 

[Layback Bear]

Years ago we messed with pagefile when using XP but to me it means absolutely nothing with Windows 7.

I recommend just leaving pagefile alone and just let Window 7 take care of such things. Your not going to out smart Windows 7 when it comes to memory.

I also recommend if you are using a hard drive just use the built in Windows 7 defrag. It put things where Window 7 wants them and in the order Windows 7 wants them. Using a 3rd party defgag put things where the 3rd party programs wants them which might not be where Windows 7 want them.

After all the purpose of such things is to keep Windows 7 happy not some 3rd party program happy.

Windows 7 built in defrag was design by Diskepper on request of Microsoft to be used by Windows 7. If Diskepper and Microsoft don't know how to defrag Windows 7 who else would.

One should take off their XP hat and put on the Windows 7 hat.

 

[cjkuhlenbeck]

You can move it to another drive using the Advanced System Settings, but you can't move it's physical location on a disk short of maybe partitioning before an install, and then merging after, though I think Windows would move it back. I use a secondary SSD as index for windows and plex, as well as for the pagefile. Works for me.



And before anyone says anything, I know its bad for an SSD. That's why it's a cheap, small sized SSD. So it's easily replaced.