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I found this in a few different places around the 'net - hopefully it's helpful:

Move the Paging File in Windows XP

This article describes how to change the location of the paging file in Windows XP.

The paging file is the area on the hard disk that Windows uses as if it were random access memory (RAM) This is sometimes known as "virtual memory." By default, Windows stores this file on the same partition as the Windows system files. You can increase the performance of Windows, and increase free space on the boot partition, by moving this file to a different partition.

  • Log on to the computer as Administrator.
  • Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
  • Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
  • Click the Advanced tab, and then under Performance, click Settings.
  • Click the Advanced tab, and then under Virtual memory, click Change.
  • In the Drive [Volume Label] list, click a drive other than the one on which Windows is installed (Windows is usually installed on the drive C). Under Total paging file size for all drives, note the value that is displayed next to Recommended.
  • Click Custom size, and then type the recommended value in the Initial size (MB) box.
    Type the maximum size that you want to allow for paging in the Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
  • In the Drive [Volume Label] box, click the drive on which Windows is installed (usually the drive C), and then use one of the following steps:
  • If you do not want a paging file on the drive, click No paging file, and then click Set. A message similar to the following message appears:

If the pagefile on volume C: has an initial size of less than 126 megabytes, then the system may not be able to create a debugging information file if a STOP error occurs.

Continue anyway?

  • Click Yes.
  • If you want to keep the minimum size of the paging file on the drive, click Custom size, and then type a value that is equal to or greater than the amount of RAM in the computer in the Initial size (MB) box. Type that same value in the Maximum size (MB) box, and then click Set.
    The following message appears:

The changes you have made require you to restart your computer before they can take effect.

  • Click OK, click OK, click OK.
  • Then click Yes when you are prompted to restart the computer.
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Dani AI

Generated

Good find — the step‑by‑step is useful. A few practical, experience‑based notes that complement those instructions and help avoid common pitfalls:

Placing the pagefile on a different physical disk (a separate platter/spindle), not merely another partition, is what yields measurable I/O benefit. On systems with two or more independent drives, splitting the total pagefile across spindles can reduce contention. On single‑disk systems the gains are negligible and fragmentation becomes the main issue.

Sizing and fragmentation: for Windows XP-era machines a common guideline is to provision total paging space roughly 1.5× physical RAM, but this is a rule of thumb rather than a hard rule — very small‑RAM systems often need proportionally more, while very large‑RAM systems can use less. To reduce fragmentation, give the pagefile a fixed size so it does not grow and shrink frequently; fixed sizing keeps allocation contiguous and reduces disk head thrash on mechanical drives.

Monitoring and troubleshooting: use Performance Monitor (perfmon) counters such as Memory\Pages/sec and Paging File\% Usage to see whether the system is spending lots of time paging. Sustained high paging activity usually indicates the need for more RAM rather than pagefile relocation. If fragmentation is suspected, boot‑time defragmenters (those that run before Windows locks the pagefile) are the reliable way to consolidate it.

Additional context: on modern solid‑state drives the locality/placement of the pagefile has much less impact on responsiveness, though very old SSDs had endurance concerns. These notes are intended to sit alongside ’s procedure and help choose the best placement and sizing for real‑world workloads.

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