Datasheet

Tweaking Windows
5
Take Control of the Swap File
Have you ever opened a number of big drawings, maybe with loads of Xrefs or 3D geometry,
only to discover that AutoCAD is taking an inordinate amount of time to do anything?
Maybe you also have many different programs running: AutoCAD, Autodesk VIZ, Autodesk
Inventor, Microsoft Word, and/or Microsoft Outlook. If you’ve already defragmented, then
there must be another reason for the slowdown. Chances are, you’ve run out of memory.
When your system is overtaxed with too much information to process, rather than
immediately crashing, Windows stores what should be going into the now-full random
access memory (RAM) in virtual memory. Virtual memory is another way of saying your
computer is paging to disk, or recording data to the swap file. Every time your system pages
out to disk, you get to sit and wait. Although virtual memory is a poor substitute for physical
(real) RAM, it’s better than nothing (certainly better than crashing), and we all use it from
time to time.
If this is news to you, then you’re letting Windows manage the swap file automatically.
You can get better virtual-memory performance by setting the swap file two to three times
the size of your physical memory (RAM):
1. Choose Start menu ➔ Settings ➔ Control Panel ➔ System. Click the Advanced tab (we’re
making an expert out of you already!).
2. Click the Settings button in the Performance area, which controls virtual memory (among
other things).
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