Paging file too small in XP

[RyFish]

Hello there,

I have recently been having a problem in XP Pro as soon as I log in. An error message comes up saying that the virtual memory paging file is too small. The OS then becomes unstable. I have set the pagefile to nothing, set it to twice my physical memory, defragged it but nothing seems to makes any difference at all - it still says it is too small even though it is still set to ~250mb when I check. I am running on a FAT32 partition so it is not to do with permissions. Any ideas would be extremely gratefully accepted!

Many thanks in advance

 

[drumdip]

Sometimes the GUI will not re-set pagefile sizes correctly and you need to access the registry to correct.

REMEMBER: Always backup the registry before editing!!!!

Take a look at the text below....I had one question though? Did you partition your drive into two segements? One for the OS and one for anything else? (C:\ and D:\)

If so...how small is the C:\ partition? It is possible that there was not sufficient physical space.

Page File

How to force Windows XP to clear the pagefile on shutdown. Start/Run/Regedit

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

"ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

Pagefile too small or Missing

Start/Run/Regedit: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement

There you will find these entries: PagingFiles:Reg_Multi_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys. TempPageFile:Reg_Dword:0x1

If the PagingFiles: entry is populated, delete the entire TempPageFile entry then reboot. Or...

Check your settings here:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement

PagingFiles
Reg_Multi_SZ type
Value for System Managed on C: is C:\Pagefile.sys 0 0

To change the minimum and maximum values, change the 0's to the Min and Max values you want. Example: C:\Pagefile.sys 766 1024

You will also need to make this change in the
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\ControlSet001, ControlSet002 and ControlSet003 branches, if they exist.

Note:

This behavior may occur with certain Intel chipsets -- for example, the Intel D845WN motherboard or the Intel 815 graphics chipset.

To resolve this issue, download and then install the Intel Application Accelerator (IAA) for Windows XP. For more information about how to do this, contact Intel or browse to the following Intel Web site:

http://support.intel.com/support/chipsets/iaa.

For more information about the Intel D845WN motherboard, browse to the following Intel Web site:

http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/wn/index.htm.

For more information about the Intel 815 chipset, browse to the following Intel Web site:

http://support.intel.com/design/chipsets/815.

 

[RyFish]

Thanks for the help, but I still have the same problem. I have checked the registry entries and they agree with the GUI version. Also, setting the page file to clear on shutdown hasn't helped either. I have approx 18Gb of free space on my C drive, so that isn't an issue either. I can't seem to find anyone who has already suffered this problem.

 

[AndrewBillits]

welcome to XP

 

[hodgesj]

try setting to 1 gig, helped me

 

[linney]

Some things to check out.

You Receive a "System Has Recovered from a Serious Error" Message After Every Restart(Q317277)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q317/2/77.asp

The bottom paragraph refers to the paging file.


Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q316528

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q316/5/28.asp

Mentions when you start your computer after you upgrade to Windows XP, the performance may be slow and you may receive an error message similar to the following:

Limited Virtual Memory.
Your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small.




This worked for somebody on this forum with a similar problem.
HOW TO: Verify Unsigned Device Drivers in Windows XP (Q308514)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q308/5/14.asp

http://groups.google.com/groups?sou...aging+file+or+the+paging+file+is+too+small%94

http://www.google.com/search?source...aging+file+or+the+paging+file+is+too+small%94

thread779-275590

 

[RyFish]

Unfortunately, none of these solutions have worked either. XP seems to have a problem that it won't let anything resolve!

 

[linney]

If that doesn't work you could try repairing windows itself by running it over itself. You will lose all your windows updates but your files will be untouched.




REPAIR WINDOWS

Boot from XP CD
(Windows will now load some temporary files)


Options after booting

*To Set Up Windows XP now press ENTER

*To Repair a Windows XP installation using Recovery Console, press R

*To Quit Setup without installing Windows XP, press F3


Press ENTER for first option (don't select Recovery Console)
(Accept Eula agreement)

Follow onscreen instructions to repair windows installation




How to Perform an In-Place Upgrade (Reinstallation) of Windows XP (Q315341)

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q315/3/41.asp

 

[rwise2112]

Norton Internet Security can cause this type of error as well. A Symantec knowledgebase article at

http://service2.symantec.com/SUPPOR...7f4761e776f63f3488256b82006dee3b?OpenDocument

talks about it.

I'm not sure if this is the exact error you are having, but it sounds similar.

 

[Shaith]

I saw this once before with a corrupt swap file. Set your swap file to 0. Ok out, but don't allow it to restart yet. Instead, run

chkdsk c: /r

When it reboots, it'll do some thorough checking on that drive. There's a chance that something's amiss in the area inhabited by the swap file, and this will usually correct that.

Once it's done, and boots up, set the swap file to somewhere between 1.5 and 2x the memory in the machine - this works for about 95% of the people out there, unless your machine has very little memory, in which case 3x is more appropriate.

Hope this helps.

 

[RyFish]

Well, I found out what was causing it. I run a program called DigiGuide and its data files had become corrupted, causing the paging file error. Why this resulted in my problem, I have no idea, but many, many thanks to all of you who took the time to help me out!

 

[Guest_imported]

Thanx linney!!!

I had the same prob with page file. I performed "Finding unsigned devices" action and found out that the prob was with some unknown hidden device, actually some .dll. It's been installed during some progie installation and took IRQ 6, which was assigned for floppy drive. So after none of them could work properly. It caused bug with pagefile. I uninstalled that "hidden device" and bang, XP booted normally. Thanx again for help!