Do I need pagefile with 4GB of RAM

[Sonic]

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I have Windows Vista installed on my computer with 4GB of RAM. My question is that do I require pagefile? Can I disable it? Will I gain any performance difference?

[Dutta]

Don't do that because a lot of programs and even Windows itself is programmed to use the pagefile and will not work properly if it is disabled.

However you can try and see it. You can reverse the process at any point of time.

[Rkhon]

If you have issues with pagefile, just select the System Managed option and let Windows to manage the size of the paging file.

[Tankan]

I'm running 4Gb of RAM and I disabled the pagefile with no dire consequences, the rig also shuts down much faster even with the default timeout. That's with Vista Ultimate x64, Vista Enterprise x86, different rigs, and XP Pro SP3 x86, and XP Pro SP2 x64 Dual Boot.

[Sonic]

@ Tankan

Didn't you faced any problem? Since when did you disabled that feature? If that was not necessary in Windows then why does Windows include this feature?

[Tankan]

Hi Sonic, I never had any problem whatsoever on any OS with the pagefile disabled. Bear in mind it's not something you can do to systems with minimal memory, but with 4Gb or more on tap, (with x86(32-bit) this can only address(see) 3.25Gb) it's no problem. With Vista, I also disable Windows Defender, User Control, System Restore, DEP, Visual Effects, Aero, anything that eats system resources, and, in addition a variety of Registery Tweaks aimed at improving the system speed in many ways. It would take many pages to discuss the possibilities in detail.