Desktop

Ask something
Discussion Locked

XP Pro Page File error

0 helpful
9 replies

by simon.graham

Closed to new repliesThis discussion is closed. It stays readable, but it takes no new replies.

I am currently upgrading two Dell Optiplex GX240's to Windows XP Pro. The machines are brand new, straight out the box - but were shipped with the wrong O/S (Win2K Pro).

My problem is this, once I had upgraded both of the machines to XP, upon 1ststartup I am prompted with a message stating that there is no page file set, and am given instructions to access Control Panel, then System,etc to set a value. This I have done, so that the minimum is 364 and the Maximum is around about 700.

Maybe I have forgotten something somewhere, but from where I am sitting it is all looking correctly configured?

- As stated the machines are brand new with 256Mb of RAM so I don't think this is too much of a critical problem (or is it?) - more an annoyance each time you start up XP.

Any clues as to the remedy?

Thanks,
Simon

9 replies

by srespd

well your question can have two answers. #1: If you already set the values (which windows should have done automatically) and you don't get the messages anymore, it will be fine. #2: The values you entered aren't entirely wrong but they are not exactly the correct ones. While this won't really harm anything, it may make your pc seem slower. The general rule is the minimum value should be 1.5 x RAM (in this case 256) thats the value you enter in as min. The max is usually 3 x RAM (in this case 256). Then that would be what windows inserts by default.

by timwalsh

From your wording, I'm a little unsure of exactly what your problem is.

Did you only get the error message upon the 1st restart after upgrading to XP?
If this is the case, you shouldn't have any more problems.

Does this happen every time you start XP?
If this is the case, is it possible your are not clicking the "set" button after entering values for min/max pagefile size? If you enter a value and don't click "set," the values you enter will not be registered.

by seeker2000

Your problem is not exactly clear, but in this case it does'nt matter. You can reset your page file. MS suggests 2 times the ram as a figure. I like to lock mine so the pagefile doesn't fragment the drive(ie min=512max=512)and make sure you use the set tab.
a better way if you are having pagefile problems is to delete it and shutdown your machine.
Windows will build another at bootup usually clearing any problems you had with it earlier. After that i would still lock it for better performanceat 512X512

by simon.graham

Thanks for your help folks, have managed to suss this one. Basically, I tried each of the above suggestions in sequence, but to no avail. The problem occurred at every reboot. Having scrutinised microsoft support, the problem is now sorted. According to Microsoft this behavior occurs with certain Intel chipsets (including the D845WN that we have here) so to fix, it's just a patch to download & install from Intel.

Cheers for your suggestions though,
Simon

This discussion is closed to new replies.