Is it necessary to have Page File in Windows

[Kiran25]

I want to know that is page file necessary for Windows. If yes then why. I had seen in my Task Manage page file going higher when I run some games. I was thinking better to add more ram, instead of relying on this. But till yet games are working. Does upgrading ram will improve performance. My friend told to use more page file instead of ram upgrade which might work well and without any cost also. I do not understand how this works and what can be the causes of the same if I disable it.

[Wali]

A page file or also called as swap file is an kind of lifeblood for Windows. Whenever you ram does not have much space or it is busy in another process, the page file acts as an temporary support to application to execute properly. This can be caused by many complex applications simultaneously. So disabling it is just destroying your system performance. If you are not aware just do not play with the same. As per your default settings the page file is adjusted as per the system needs. The primary hardware which is affected is your hard drive. As page file settings are directly related space of your hard disk. A poorly configured swap file slow down the system with unnecessary.

If you want to check the settings of your page file settings right then right mouse on My Computer and then Properties. In the current windows go to Advanced > System Performance > Settings > Advanced > Change. This is the place from where you can modify the page file settings. But this is not recommended for novice. Surely upgrading ram will improve your systems performance.

[Unequaled]

Page file is very important to support the application boosting. It is an necessary part of windows. So you better leave the default settings as it is.

[SalVatore]

That is correct. You must not play with the settings of page file if you are not. The page file manages many applications and games. If you disable or if there is low page file support many of your applications will not properly.

[Deep123]

I had some better info on the same. I can provide something which can give you the location of page file location and the default amount you can configure to use page files. Many users have more than 1 hard drive on their system. So at that time you must configure the most fastest drive for page file settings. Or else your system might freeze unnecessarily. Second important thing, many time you would have noticed that when a system is busy the page file does not increases. There are two reasons for that. First either the page files settings are disabled and second the hard drive is bad. It does not spin enough fast to meet the system requirement. So you must have a proper look for both. Many times Windows already chooses an settings for itself.

I had some options which can help you to optimize the page file. You can configure from 400mb to 1024mb as per your needed. Once they have changed the values according to their profile they have to click on OK and restart your computer. You will notice, depending on their type of work a hefty performance boost.

[mv]

You cannot run your system without page file support. That is because some applications like game if launched and they do not get enough ram, then the system will freeze.

[Enriqueta]

Additional ram are also an better choice to improve your system performance. You can add those sticks to get higher output from the system. But with that also upgrade your operating system. Because if you are using an old operating system, you cannot derive out maximum performance from it.

[kraal]

It is simple, page file uses the empty space of your hard drive and convert the same to temporary ram. So settings do related to direct performance of your system.

[Ernesto4]

Page file is nothing but an additional RAM to your system. Ram is an temporary storage which holds many current processing. Page file helps the processor to execute more functions. Many of us do not own enough system memory which make our work slower. So at that time page file is used to run some complex programs. It protects the system from getting freezes because of current executed process. Also the speed of hard drive plays a very vital role in performance of your system. The page file is one which directly belongs to the current hard drive speed.

The fact that the speed of the hard drive and it read \ load the data back and find them there, much lower than the speed of RAM, and therefore Fail swap can only be used as an aid but can not be a substitute for memory because less bandwidth ability. Some applications needs more ram to load and that time the ram is engaged in many current processors. So page file helps to execute the function without crash and failure.