[Spdklls 2.0]

Can someone tell me why XP uses such a large page file, and why it pages part of the kernel even though there is plenty of free memory available? I have 896mb of DDR mem, and right now it's using a 172mb page file, even though I have 658mb of free memory! The highest I've ever seen it was 362mb, and I still had over 500mb free. This was while playing Dungeon Siege. Is there a way to force XP to use memory before the page file, short of disabling it all together? Like the 9x 'ConservativeSwapFileUsage' ? I heard XP was supposed to manage memory so much better, so WTF is going on?

[Zardon]

In the processor scheduling section programs is selected by default. If you multitask heavily and you are willing to sacrifice some zip in the foreground program execution in exchange for fast background processing, select the background services option. In the memory usage section, you can also shift the default settings, which are optimised for running programs. Choosing the system cache option reserves a much larger percentage of available physical memory for use in the cache. This option is most useful if you use extremely data intensive applications, such as video editing programs or large databases.
to Improve the speed of starting applications, Windows XP continually monitors files that are used when the computer starts and when you start applications. It then creates an index (in the %systemRoot%\Prefetch folder) that lists segments of frequently used programs and the order they're loaded in. This prefetching process improves performance by allowing the operating system to quickly grab program files.
The prefetching code is even more effective when used in conjunction with the built in defragmenting tool. Every three days, during idle times, this utility rearrange program code, moving it to the outside of the disk to make it more efficient when loading. To force windows to perform this optimization without having to do a full defragmentation, use the defrag.exe command with the -b switch. For instance: defrag c:-b
The command forces the command line version of defrag.exe to run, optimizing boot files and applications while leaving the rest of the drive undisturbed.

for better memory handling and some other memory related tricks I recommend you check out a little utility called Customiser XP. it can force XP to use memory before the page file and other things.

[Motoki]

Well an easy thing to do, as Zardon metioned above, is right click my computer, go to the advanced Tab, then Performance settings, then the advanced tab again and change the memory usage to system cache instead of programs. This is the same as changing the registry entry HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SYSTEM>CurrentControlSet>Contro l>Session Manager>Memory Management>LargeSystemCache from 0 to 1 and what this does is allocates all but 4 MB of RAM for the system cache and uses the rest for the disk cache meaning the windows kernel will be loaded all into RAM. I wouldn't reccomend it if you have 256 MB or below, but for 512 and over it should be fine. I have 512 and I run this way.

-MO