I don't know.  The Microsoft articles which I have read deal only with the "master/slave" situation.  You have raised an interesting question.  When I have the time, I'll see if I can put a pagefile on one of my two external hard drives.  If I can, and it does not interfere with function, I can see advantages, since then the pagefile would be recreated at every boot (I think), which it is supposed to be anyway, but isn't.

XP will recognize the page file on a drive running an add in card. This actually the best setup for the page file. I've been running this setup on a Photoshop work station since XP came out. I have a 200MB pagefile on the XP partition for the Kernel memory dump. If you want to use the full memory dump, you need a page file on the XP partition at least the size of your memory. The first partition of the second drive(ATA controller card) is used for the page file, and the first partition on the third drive is use for the Photoshop scratch disk. This way XP can read all three drives simultaneosly. You only need a 4.5G partition for the pagefile. The max is 4G but XP acts funny unless it has a little extra room. A fixed page file size is best on the XP partition because it takes longer to become fragmented. I not sure this is a problem on a dedicated partition but I run a fixed size anyway.

Message Edited by fredha on 03-13-2004 05:59 PM

Bill,

Will the 1st HD use the page files on the 1st partition of the 2nd HD when they are both independent drives on a controller card and not configured as master-slave?

Thanks,

Jane

No, you need only one pagefile; and it is best to let Windows handle the size (assuming you do not have extremely limited space).  Also, the most efficient location for a single page file is in the first partition on the slave drive, preferably devoted to nothing but the pagefile (that is according to Microsoft).  If you have two pagefiles, one on each hard disk, the system will NOT use the one on the primary drive for primary drive stuff and the one on the secondary for secondary stuf.  The system doesn't care about such stuff.  It will use whichever is easiest to reach (in your case, I would guess the one on the slave drive).

Thanks for the info, Fred.  I will have time to play next week (being retired there is always time for that).  Drive Image and then experiment!

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314482

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307886&Product=winxp

 

Thanks for all the info.  Eventhough I was unable to keep the custom size pagefile on my Boot Drive C,  I was able to keep a page file of 766MB on C, if I let Windows set it to System Managed Size.  I feel more comfortable having the 766 on C and 768 (Custom size) on the slave drive.  From what I read, you need one on C for a memory dump.

Dimension 8100 Powerleap 2.4
512MB RDRam PC800, non-ECC
WD 120 GB and WD 40 GB Hard drives
64 MB N-Vidia Ti 200
Soundblaster Live Value
Linksys cable modem & 4 port Router
Sony CD-RW CRX140E
NEC DV-5800A
Windows XP Home (clean install)