Paged pool memory issues

[Gh0sty]

When playing games via steam I occasionally get a crash followed by the error message.

failed to lock vertex buffer in cmesh dx8

According to the FAQ on steam this is caused by a lack of paged pool memory which is reserved for apps like direct3d.

To get round this issue its recommended that you remove a line form the boot.ini which unlocks the page pool memory. The line is /3GB /Userva=2900

Does anyone know where this line is in windows 7 or how I can unlock the paged pool memory as I'm finding the crashes are starting to interfere with my enjoyment of gaming.

Any help gratefully appreciated.

 

[usasma]

Paged pool is memory that's "paged" out to the paging file on your hard drive. The easiest way would be (I think) to increase the amount of paging file allowed on your hard drive (see this article for more details on the paged pool: Mark's Blog : Pushing the Limits of Windows: Paged and Nonpaged Pool )

As for the /3gb switch, this is for programs that are aware of the 3gB switch. It won't do anything if the programs aren't specifically designed for it. What it does is allocate 3 gB of virtual memory for user level processes - leaving 1 gB for kernel level processes. And, it only applies to a 32 bit OS. Are you running 32 or 64 bit Windows 7?