Short form: I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY?? More detail: The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T. I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it. When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive. The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092". Main Question: Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM? (Does the flash drive need to be formatted?) Does the values for C: need to be changed? I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive. Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also) http://prntscr.com/336ocy Question 2: Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower? Question 3: Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM? Thanks! edit to add: What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP": http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps: ... Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted. ... To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB. For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory , such as graphics programs or games. What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M. And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092 . The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM . I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps. Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot): Drive C Space available: 725194MB *Custom Size Initial Size: 2046 Maximum Size: 4092 Total paging file size for all Drives Minimum allowed: 2MB Recommended: 3019MB Currently Allocated: 2046MB Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092) "The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size." Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ? That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs. "Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C." Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum? I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs. edit 2: I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr. A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it. So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings. Any answers or tips would be appreciated. Am I on the right track?

I am a little confused, because I ran tasklist once, and posted the results. You asked me to run it again and post the text doc of the running processes on the machine. Is this different than what I had already posted? So, when I ran it, it automatically overwrote the text doc, but didn't open it? Yeah, you made one post with the results of the NET USE command only and when I replied I hadn't seen the other post that also included the results of the TASKLIST command. If you could please post the results again but please reboot the machine and let it settled down a bit (a minute or two) and run the commands again before you open programs and start using the computer, I would like to see the started services and processes when the machine is freshly booted. Also post a snapshot again of the Task Manager's performance tab taken when the machine is freshly booted and before you open programs and start using the computer, that way we will get a better idea of the state of the machine when it boots. Again, the commands to run are: net start >C:\services.txt tasklist /svc >>C:\services.txt C:\services.txt John

Got it. I just ran those command again, but I have things running, so the results will likely be similar to what is already posted. I will reboot, allow a couple minutes, run again, and then post. Thanks for your patience! Barry

After rebooting, and allowing a few minutes idle: Opened Task Mgr, and immediately opened Comodo Dragon browser (one tab open on this site), took this screenshot:

Executing the following commands net start >C:\services.txt tasklist /svc >>C:\services.txt C:\services.txt produced this: These Windows services are started: Agere Modem Call Progress Audio Application Layer Gateway Service Automatic Updates AVG WatchDog AVGIDSAgent COM+ Event System COMODO Dragon Update Service Computer Browser Cryptographic Services DCOM Server Process Launcher DHCP Client DNS Client Event Log Fast User Switching Compatibility HID Input Service HTTP SSL IPSEC Services Java Quick Starter MBAMScheduler Network Connections Network Location Awareness (NLA) Plug and Play Pml Driver HPZ12 Print Spooler Protected Storage RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service Remote Access Connection Manager Remote Procedure Call (RPC) SeaPort Secondary Logon Security Accounts Manager Security Center Server Shell Hardware Detection SSDP Discovery Service System Event Notification System Restore Service TeamViewer 8 Telephony Terminal Services Themes TimesUpKidz vToolbarUpdater18.0.5 Windows Audio Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant Windows Management Instrumentation Wireless Zero Configuration Workstation The command completed successfully. Image Name PID Services ========================= ====== ============================================= System Idle Process 0 N/A System 4 N/A smss.exe 632 N/A avgrsx.exe 672 N/A avgcsrvx.exe 712 N/A csrss.exe 916 N/A winlogon.exe 940 N/A services.exe 984 Eventlog, PlugPlay lsass.exe 996 PolicyAgent, ProtectedStorage, SamSs svchost.exe 1160 DcomLaunch, TermService svchost.exe 1232 RpcSs svchost.exe 1328 AudioSrv, Browser, CryptSvc, Dhcp, EventSystem, FastUserSwitchingCompatibility, HidServ, lanmanserver, lanmanworkstation, Netman, Nla, RasMan, seclogon, SENS, SharedAccess, ShellHWDetection, srservice, TapiSrv, Themes, winmgmt, wscsvc, wuauserv, WZCSVC svchost.exe 1368 WudfSvc svchost.exe 1432 Dnscache spoolsv.exe 1572 Spooler agrsmsvc.exe 1792 AgereModemAudio avgidsagent.exe 1804 AVGIDSAgent avgwdsvc.exe 1836 avgwd dragon_updater.exe 1884 DragonUpdater jqs.exe 2016 JavaQuickStarterService mbamscheduler.exe 2044 MBAMScheduler GoogleUpdate.exe 152 N/A avgnsx.exe 580 N/A HPZipm12.exe 596 Pml Driver HPZ12 avgemcx.exe 612 N/A rndlresolversvc.exe 1128 RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service SeaPort.exe 396 SeaPort svchost.exe 1184 stisvc TeamViewer_Service.exe 1320 TeamViewer8 ToolbarUpdater.exe 1496 vToolbarUpdater18.0.5 WLIDSVC.EXE 1632 wlidsvc loggingserver.exe 2132 N/A explorer.exe 2200 N/A TimesUpKidzServer.exe 2296 TimesUpKidz igfxtray.exe 2472 N/A hkcmd.exe 2480 N/A igfxpers.exe 2492 N/A igfxsrvc.exe 2524 N/A WLIDSVCM.EXE 2636 N/A vprot.exe 2728 N/A RTHDCPL.EXE 2768 N/A avgui.exe 2932 N/A jusched.exe 2968 N/A FacebookUpdate.exe 2984 N/A Lightshot.exe 3064 N/A ctfmon.exe 3108 N/A svchost.exe 3644 SSDPSRV alg.exe 1316 ALG avgcsrvx.exe 1668 N/A svchost.exe 3428 HTTPFilter wmiprvse.exe 772 N/A taskmgr.exe 2508 N/A dragon.exe 3004 N/A dragon.exe 3416 N/A dragon.exe 2024 N/A dragon.exe 3944 N/A cmd.exe 4052 N/A tasklist.exe 2980 N/A wmiprvse.exe 1452 N/A

After rebooting, and allowing a few minutes idle: Opened Task Mgr, and immediately opened Comodo Dragon browser (one tab open on this site), took this screenshot: So now we don't really know how much RAM was being used after the machine booted because the shot was taken after Dragon was started... the idea behind running the commands and taking the screen shot after a reboot and before opening any programs was to know what was being started and what RAM used solely by the startup processes. John

Having trouble: Adding RAM with a USB memory stick to a Windows XP desktop that has 4GB installed

Anonymous

Short form:

I want to use a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick as RAM, but seem to be unable to use more than 4GB, due to the system requirements, limiting what I can enter for values (size). WHY??

More detail:

The computer is a desktop machine, having a 3.0GHz dual-core processor, and 4GB RAM installed. I believe the hard drive is a 1T.

I have a 16GB USB flash drive memory stick, which I want to use to boost the RAM, for games, and such. There are 3 spare USB ports on the back of the tower. The flash drive is new, with NO files saved on it.

When I go into the Settings; Computer; Virtual Memory, the computer is not allowing me to enter a value greater than 4096 in the field for "Initial Size" or "Maximum Size", for the Page File of the USB drive.

The Value for C: that I see is: "2096-4092".

Main Question:

Is there some reason why I cannot allocate more of the memory stick for RAM?

(Does the flash drive need to be formatted?)

Does the values for C: need to be changed?

I presently have "4090" entered for values "Initial Size" and "Maximum Size" in the custom size, for the Page File of the USB Drive.

Screenshot provided of Virtual Memory Settings screen: (you can see the L: drive settings (selected), and the C: settings, also)

http://prntscr.com/336ocy

Question 2:

Also, is the "4G" of RAM which I have added to the machine, being added to the 4GB which is already installed in the tower?

Question 3:

Does the OS wait until the system RAM is full before using the External RAM?

Thanks!

edit to add:

What I learned from Microsoft article "How To Set Performance Options in Windows XP":

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308417/en-us

To manually change the size of virtual memory, follow these steps:

...Note After you change the size of the paging file, you may be prompted to restart Windows. If you are prompted to restart, the changes will not take effect until Windows is restarted.

...

To have Windows select the best paging file size, click System managed size. The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size. For example, if you have 256 MB of RAM, the minimum size is 384 MB, and the maximum size is 1152 MB.
For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer. It is good practice to leave the paging file at its recommended size as performance can decrease if a paging file is too large. However, you may increase its size if you frequently use programs that use lots of memory, such as graphics programs or games.

What I am unclear of here, is that, as you can see in the screenshot, the Recommended Size under Total paging file size for all drives is 3019M.

And, the values set for the Paging File in C are 2046-4092.

The tower has been rebuilt, and has 4GB RAM.

I do not know if these numbers reflect an original build of 2GB, whereas 3GB (3019M) would be 1.5 times the installed RAM, perhaps.

Under Virtual Memory, I see the following (shown in screenshot):

Drive C

Space available: 725194MB

*Custom Size

Initial Size: 2046

Maximum Size: 4092

Total paging file size for all Drives

Minimum allowed: 2MB

Recommended: 3019MB

Currently Allocated: 2046MB

Given that the system has 4GB RAM installed, shouldn't the minimum be 1.5 times that value, or ~6000MB ? (not 3019MB), and the maximum be 3 times ? (not 4092)

"The recommended minimum size is the same as 1.5 times the RAM on your computer, and 3 times that figure for the maximum size."

Can I change the values on the Virtual memory for C drive to 2046-12000MB ?

That is what I am reading from the article. But, it also says to not have a paging file on the same drive as the programs.

"Try to avoid having a paging file on the same drive as the system files, usually drive C."

Also, why am I unable to enter values greater than 4096 for the USB drive in Initial or Maximum?

I also have a question as to whether I should select "Programs" or "System Cache" in memory usage, due to the cache requirements of games, running very few programs.

edit 2:

I learned that the usb drive needs to be formatted in NTFS, so I did that, which isn't easy, as that isn't a selection in the choices in the Format menu, without going into Device Mgr.

A friend was telling me about formatting a usb drive ex-fat for a newer application, and got me thinking. I had selected FAT32 for this one, and had noticed no change in the page file graph usage after adding the drive, like it wasn't getting any data placed on it.

So, as custom settings for this USB drive, I have the Initial value at 4091 and the Maximum at 4096, with "System Cache" selected as opposed to "Programs" in Memory usage, in Performance settings.

Any answers or tips would be appreciated.

Am I on the right track?

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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149 answers

Anonymous

2014-03-27T17:52:27+00:00

I am a little confused, because I ran tasklist once, and posted the results. You asked me to run it again and post the text doc of the running processes on the machine.

Is this different than what I had already posted? So, when I ran it, it automatically overwrote the text doc, but didn't open it?

Yeah, you made one post with the results of the NET USE command only and when I replied I hadn't seen the other post that also included the results of the TASKLIST command.

If you could please post the results again but please reboot the machine and let it settled down a bit (a minute or two) and run the commands again before you open programs and start using the computer, I would like to see the started services and processes when the machine is freshly booted. Also post a snapshot again of the Task Manager's performance tab taken when the machine is freshly booted and before you open programs and start using the computer, that way we will get a better idea of the state of the machine when it boots.

Again, the commands to run are:

net start >C:\services.txt

tasklist /svc >>C:\services.txt

C:\services.txt

John
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Anonymous

2014-03-27T19:26:41+00:00

Got it.

I just ran those command again, but I have things running, so the results will likely be similar to what is already posted.

I will reboot, allow a couple minutes, run again, and then post.

Thanks for your patience!

Barry
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Anonymous

2014-03-27T19:43:30+00:00

After rebooting, and allowing a few minutes idle:

Opened Task Mgr, and immediately opened Comodo Dragon browser (one tab open on this site), took this screenshot:
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Anonymous

2014-03-27T19:44:42+00:00

Executing the following commands

net start >C:\services.txt

tasklist /svc >>C:\services.txt

C:\services.txt

produced this:

These Windows services are started:

Agere Modem Call Progress Audio

Application Layer Gateway Service

Automatic Updates

AVG WatchDog

AVGIDSAgent

COM+ Event System

COMODO Dragon Update Service

Computer Browser

Cryptographic Services

DCOM Server Process Launcher

DHCP Client

DNS Client

Event Log

Fast User Switching Compatibility

HID Input Service

HTTP SSL

IPSEC Services

Java Quick Starter

MBAMScheduler

Network Connections

Network Location Awareness (NLA)

Plug and Play

Pml Driver HPZ12

Print Spooler

Protected Storage

RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service

Remote Access Connection Manager

Remote Procedure Call (RPC)

SeaPort

Secondary Logon

Security Accounts Manager

Security Center

Server

Shell Hardware Detection

SSDP Discovery Service

System Event Notification

System Restore Service

TeamViewer 8

Telephony

Terminal Services

Themes

TimesUpKidz

vToolbarUpdater18.0.5

Windows Audio

Windows Driver Foundation - User-mode Driver Framework

Windows Firewall/Internet Connection Sharing (ICS)

Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)

Windows Live ID Sign-in Assistant

Windows Management Instrumentation

Wireless Zero Configuration

Workstation

The command completed successfully.

Image Name PID Services

========================= ====== =============================================

System Idle Process 0 N/A

System 4 N/A

smss.exe 632 N/A

avgrsx.exe 672 N/A

avgcsrvx.exe 712 N/A

csrss.exe 916 N/A

winlogon.exe 940 N/A

services.exe 984 Eventlog, PlugPlay

lsass.exe 996 PolicyAgent, ProtectedStorage, SamSs

svchost.exe 1160 DcomLaunch, TermService

svchost.exe 1232 RpcSs

svchost.exe 1328 AudioSrv, Browser, CryptSvc, Dhcp,

EventSystem, FastUserSwitchingCompatibility,

HidServ, lanmanserver, lanmanworkstation,

Netman, Nla, RasMan, seclogon, SENS,

SharedAccess, ShellHWDetection, srservice,

TapiSrv, Themes, winmgmt, wscsvc, wuauserv,

WZCSVC

svchost.exe 1368 WudfSvc

svchost.exe 1432 Dnscache

spoolsv.exe 1572 Spooler

agrsmsvc.exe 1792 AgereModemAudio

avgidsagent.exe 1804 AVGIDSAgent

avgwdsvc.exe 1836 avgwd

dragon_updater.exe 1884 DragonUpdater

jqs.exe 2016 JavaQuickStarterService

mbamscheduler.exe 2044 MBAMScheduler

GoogleUpdate.exe 152 N/A

avgnsx.exe 580 N/A

HPZipm12.exe 596 Pml Driver HPZ12

avgemcx.exe 612 N/A

rndlresolversvc.exe 1128 RealNetworks Downloader Resolver Service

SeaPort.exe 396 SeaPort

svchost.exe 1184 stisvc

TeamViewer_Service.exe 1320 TeamViewer8

ToolbarUpdater.exe 1496 vToolbarUpdater18.0.5

WLIDSVC.EXE 1632 wlidsvc

loggingserver.exe 2132 N/A

explorer.exe 2200 N/A

TimesUpKidzServer.exe 2296 TimesUpKidz

igfxtray.exe 2472 N/A

hkcmd.exe 2480 N/A

igfxpers.exe 2492 N/A

igfxsrvc.exe 2524 N/A

WLIDSVCM.EXE 2636 N/A

vprot.exe 2728 N/A

RTHDCPL.EXE 2768 N/A

avgui.exe 2932 N/A

jusched.exe 2968 N/A

FacebookUpdate.exe 2984 N/A

Lightshot.exe 3064 N/A

ctfmon.exe 3108 N/A

svchost.exe 3644 SSDPSRV

alg.exe 1316 ALG

avgcsrvx.exe 1668 N/A

svchost.exe 3428 HTTPFilter

wmiprvse.exe 772 N/A

taskmgr.exe 2508 N/A

dragon.exe 3004 N/A

dragon.exe 3416 N/A

dragon.exe 2024 N/A

dragon.exe 3944 N/A

cmd.exe 4052 N/A

tasklist.exe 2980 N/A

wmiprvse.exe 1452 N/A
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Anonymous

2014-03-27T19:52:11+00:00

After rebooting, and allowing a few minutes idle:

Opened Task Mgr, and immediately opened Comodo Dragon browser (one tab open on this site), took this screenshot:

So now we don't really know how much RAM was being used after the machine booted because the shot was taken after Dragon was started... the idea behind running the commands and taking the screen shot after a reboot and before opening any programs was to know what was being started and what RAM used solely by the startup processes.

John
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