memorywindows
I've seen discussions go back and forth on this on several sites, so maybe we can come up with something definitive here.
I have 8 GB memory on my Vista x64 workstation. Do I need a page file (that is, System Properties > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced Virtual Memory) and is it beneficial to have one or not have one? What is the impact on stability?
Thanks
I've had success with Sysinternals Process Explorer. With this, you can search to find what process(es) have a file open, and you can use it to close the handle(s) if you want. Of course, it is safer to close the whole process. Exercise caution and judgement.
To find a specific file, use the menu option Find->Find Handle or DLL... Type in part of the path to the file. The list of processes will appear below.
If you prefer command line, Sysinternals suite includes command line tool Handle, that lists open handles.
Examples
c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "e:\" (finds all files opened from drive e:\"c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "file-or-path-in-question"
Best Answer
The pagefile is used for a few other things that may be handy. For example, it is used for crash dumps if Windows crashes. So troubleshooting errors may become a lot harder. Also, some applications depend on the existence of a pagefile.
The real question is why wouldn't you have a pagefile? Can't you afford the few GB of disk space it takes up? As long as you let Windows manage the pagefile size, performance will be the same. It simply won't use the pagefile during general use.