Vista 64 is reporting strange things about memory.

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iJeff

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 1, 2004
Messages
297
First of all, see this image for reference:



Info: 4gb of memory, Vista 64 bit. I haven't changed any settings as far as page file/memory configuration since I installed it.

1) Under the Task Manager, Physical Memory reports 4093 total MB, 2981 MB cached, and 22 MB free.

- Shouldn't it say 1112 MB free? (4093mb - 2981mb = 1112mb)
- Furthermore, the bar graph above that in the Task Manager shows 1.75GB used which is completely different from the 2981 MB cached number below. I'm not understanding where it's getting these numbers from.

2) Under System in the Task manager, the last line says Page File: 1665M / 4022M.

- First of all, Windows didn't set up a page file (see Virtual Memory dialog box I have open). Why does it say I have a page file of 4022mb?
- Okay, so I'll assume it's just putting numbers about my RAM in the area where it says Page File, since I don't have one. But if that's the case, the 1665mb number is completely different from the other two numbers discussed above in point (1).
- Or is it really a page file? Everest says I have 4093mb RAM, 4022mb "Swap Space", and those combine for 8116mb "Total Virtual Memory". If it's really a page file then why is it there when there's no page file set under the Virtual Memory box?
 
Task manager is showing memory used for SuperFetch in addition to the memory used by the system - the 2981 is Superfetch memory, the 1090 is being used by the system, and you have 22 free. I'm not sure about your other questions.
 
No worries, I got vista 64 too and it says Total 4094mb, Cached 2908mb and free 61mb
when you need the RAM, windows will give it to you.

all you really need to look at is that only 1.75GB is being used.
 
Um, why did you disable the paging file? You do realize it's a vital component. Now when you run a memory intensive application, the system can not page unused files to the disk, so you're actually hurting yourself because that program can't have access to memory it needs. :eek: :(
 
bigdogchris said:
Um, why did you disable the paging file? You do realize it's a vital component. Now when you run a memory intensive application, the system can not page unused files to the disk, so you're actually hurting yourself because that program can't have access to memory it needs. :eek: :(
Click to expand...

I did not. As I stated in my post, I changed no settings with the Virtual Memory -- Vista installed itself configured with the page file disabled.

Some argue that if you have enough RAM, disabling the page file is an advantage because Windows will not even try to touch the high-latency storage that is your hard disk. However, the efficacy of this is debatable and is probably for a different thread. Do you have any insights into my questions posted above?
 
In that picture, the "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives" is not checked. Therefore Vista did not disable the page file. You disabled the page file.

By the way, Forceman is right.
 
metril said:
You disabled the page file.
Click to expand...

I did not. I reiterate for the THIRD time in this thread, I did not touch ANY virtual memory settings, EVER, since this computer was built -- which was two weeks ago. It's not checked because Windows has deemed that I don't need a page file, therefore there is no page file to automatically manage. I don't appreciate being called a liar in my own thread, especially when you have no other useful input relating to the original topic.

This is a moot point though, because it answers none of my questions.
 
iJeff said:
I did not. I reiterate for the THIRD time in this thread, I did not touch ANY virtual memory settings, EVER, since this computer was built -- which was two weeks ago. It's not checked because Windows has deemed that I don't need a page file, therefore there is no page file to automatically manage. I don't appreciate being called a liar in my own thread, especially when you have no other useful input relating to the original topic.

This is a moot point though, because it answers none of my questions.
Click to expand...

I can't see your screenshot since I'm at work, but I don't think Windows can install without a page file. That's why everyone assumes you turned it off at some point. It should be set to system managed size by default. There are programs that will turn it off when they install (the latest version of Truecrypt comes to mind), but if task manager says there's a pagefile then I would assume there's a pagefile.
 
DeathFromBelow said:
There are programs that will turn it off when they install (the latest version of Truecrypt comes to mind)
Click to expand...

Aha! Truecrypt is installed on my machine and it's a fairly recent version. I researched a bit in the Truecrypt docs and it does disable the paging file -- my bad for not looking more closely at the install process.

That explains why the page file seems to be turned off under Virtual Memory, but why do Everest and Task Manager say there's a page file? Strangeness.
 
iJeff said:
Aha! Truecrypt is installed on my machine and it's a fairly recent version. I researched a bit in the Truecrypt docs and it does disable the paging file -- my bad for not looking more closely at the install process.

That explains why the page file seems to be turned off under Virtual Memory, but why do Everest and Task Manager say there's a page file? Strangeness.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Truecrypt 6.0 added a checkbox to disable the pagefile in the installer. The pagefile is a security risk unless you fully encrypt the hard drive/partition where Windows is installed.

I don't know why it would appear to be turned off and still show up. I left the pagefile on since I'm using full disk encryption.
 
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