Paging File error

[Anubi00]

Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File Is Too Small

I am having problems with configuring my paging files for windows XP. I kept receiving the error message when i log on to my computer. I have found a link which is spot on to the error messages i receive (

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q315270)

and made sense why i when i changed the page file settings there was no effect.
I followed the instructions on that website to the dot to change my users security permissions however i still have the same page file problem.

With this problem all my programs run slower and if i try to run a game it gives me an error message saying it cannot allocate enough memory to run.

Useful info:
I have 256mb of RAM
more than enough space on my hard drive for a page file.
I started getting this error message yesterday when i have installed a couple of programs, i have already uninstalled them.

Thanks, any help on how i can change my page file settings is appreciated.

 

[Bobg1]

"more than enough space on my hard drive for a page file"
It needs to be contiguous space. Do a good defrag of the drive and see if it helps.

 

[Anubi00]

I did a defrag, but still the same thing
The total page file size for all drives still reads 0 MB

 

[wolluf]

So if you view security for drive with paging file, it now shows both Administrator & System with full control?

You change page file settings - and what happens (do you get told you need to restart to apply new settings?). Have you tried setting page file size to 0 then setting it to what you want?

 

[Anubi00]

i went insane and changed all user settings to full control.

Yes, when i select a new page file setting it usually asks me to restart. But the changes dont take effect.

"Windows created a temporary paging file on your computer because of a problem that occurred with your paging file configuration when you started your computer."
I get this message when i go into the page file settings bit.

 

[Bobg1]

Have you tried specifying how large a file you want or do you have it set to let windows manage it?

 

[wolluf]

So the 'Everyone' group has full control of the C: drive (and all child object... - did you include that extension when you changed permissions - otherwise existing objects (like pagefile.sys) will retain their previous settings, I believe).

 

[Anubi00]

Bobg1, i've tried both.

Wolluf, yep everyone group has full control as well. In the User Rights bit administrators and anubi have permision to create a page file. The anubi account is an administrator account. should i include "everyone" in that list as well?

 

[wolluf]

You're talking about gpedit.msc on 'permission to create a pagefile?

You didn't answer - did you give everyone rights to child objects too (you need to click on Advanced button - there's a check box - when adding new permissions).

 

[Anubi00]

i'm not too sure, sorry a bit of a newbie here. I clicked advanced but i didnt see a checkbox for child objects.

 

[Anubi00]

more info i just found
in the direct x diagnostic it says that 203mb is used and 31mb is free of my page file.
in the windows xp performance monitor console it says i am using 153 mb of my page file (with only this web page open).
in my registry the page file value is set to what i tried to set 500mb initial and 1000mb max. I couldnt find the pagefile.sys file tho.

what do you make of this? doesnt make much sense to me but i THINK that the problem isnt really to with security settings.

 

[wolluf]

What's the actual size of your page file? (its pagefile.sys in the root of system drive - you'll need to set view tab properties of folder options appropriately to see it).

Is it as big as current initial size?

Does the size change?

Have you had another look at security tab, advanced?

'Replace permission entries on all child objects with entries that apply here to child objects' is the text by the checkbox.

 

[Anubi00]

The pagefile.sys file isnt there in the drive. I set settings in view to show hidden files and to show operating system files.

I still dont see the checkbox for child objects. Am i in the right place? i am in the local security settings section in the control panel and am looking under "Create a page file" advanced settings in the properties.

 

[wolluf]

I was referring to the security settings for the C: (or wherever page file is supposed to be) drive - as was concerned about what you had done when changing security settings (from your initial post). My concern was that although you have given Everyone full permissions to the drive, you had not checked the 'child objects' box (which is on advanced page) - so change will only apply to new objects, not existing ones (ie, they'll still be the same - which might mean you couldn't update or delete the existing page file as per new size).

However, if you have no page file...

Couple of things - do you have system restore enabled? If so, do you have a restore point from beforethis problem started? You could try a repair reinstall (leaves data, apps settings intacts, loses windows update) - not saying it would 'work', but...

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

PS. Is this a standalone machine? Do you have more than one partition/hard drive?

 

[Anubi00]

I've found the child objects checkbox now but i still got the same problem. I tried to restore to a point before this but there was a problem with the restore point and i hadnt created anymore.
I'm on a standalone machine with 4 partitions, with my windows installation on C.

I'm going to try a repair install after backing up. I'll let you know if this fixes the problem.
Thanks for the replies.

 

[Anubi00]

I just did a repair installation. No luck still the same error

 

[wolluf]

How about moving the pagefile to another partition? (you can put it on any fat/fat32/ntfs partition(s) - just wondering if it would make a difference - ie, system would actually create it. Might be worth trying).

 

[jonlog]

>>Error Message: Your System Has No Paging File, or the Paging File Is Too Small <<<

How much free space is on your hard drive? If you do not have enough free HD space for the size page file you designated you will get an error message.

Plus try making your page file size 500 megs hi and low. That is the same size. That way your page file will not become fragmented very bad as it stays the same size all the time.

I have my PageFile set at 500 megs x 500 megs and I have zero problems. I have many gigs free space on the partition the PageFile is on.

 

[Anubi00]

I cant create pagefiles on other partitions either.

And yep i got tons of freespace on all drives and have already set the pagefiles to 512 both min and max.