Almost nothing. However, it's best if you lock your pagefile to a set size and leave it there.
No it isn't.
Do you (speaking to the crowd) always, every day, day in and day out, week after week, month after month, year after year use your computer the exact same way, running the exact same programs? Performing the exact same tasks?
Do the programs you run never ever change?
Does your OS never ever change?
Does your hardware configuration never ever change?
Do you know how to properly determine your virtual memory requirements and then how to calculate the optimal size for page file based on those requirements? Because that sure is NOT done by saying the PF should be 1.5 (or whatever) times the amount of RAM you have installed.
That is,
Are you truly a virtual memory expert?
If you can honestly answer that your requirements never ever change and that you truly are a virtual memory expert who can properly determine your virtual memory requirements, then and only then can your PF be set to a set size, then left alone.
But if your programs regularly are updated, if your OS gets regularly update, if your computing tasks are not the exact same day after day, if you are not "true" expert in virtual memory management,
then stop pretending you are smarter than all the real experts at Microsoft, their exabytes (that's 10s of 1000s of terabytes
) of empirical date, and their super computers used to run scenarios!
The Page File is
NOT a set and forget setting! If it was, why would Microsoft make it dynamic.
Who might benefit from fixed PF size? A PoS computer, for example - that is Windows computer that runs a cash register.
Contrary to what some here want us to believe, the folks at Microsoft are NOT stupid. At least not the develop team (can't speak for the marketing team or some of the execs). They want our systems to run optimally. Why? Because they care! And they know if our systems don't, there will be those who will, in a nanosecond, pounce on MS to bash them.
What happens when the page is full?
Simple. The lowest priority and/or oldest stored data is dumped. What does that mean? Again, simple. It just means the OS will have to retrieve it from its normal saved file location on the drive again, instead of the ready PF. No problem. It actually happens all the time.
Darkwing tends to hold his opinions no matter the evidence,
If the supposed evidence is real and substantiated, I will be happen to retract my statement and change position.
If can show me where any "real" evident shows disabling the page file because you have lots of RAM, or setting a fixed size is "best" for the majority or "normal" users, then I will absolutely apologize to you for being wrong, and will not long recommend users just let Windows manage it. If you (now speaking to Andy and Lex) can't do that, then I am sticking to my guns and will continue to call you out whenever you post otherwise.
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