6. Improving Windows 7's Memory
A long time ago PCs of a bygone era had woefully
inadequate amounts of RAM, and the versions of Windows used back then
had to regularly swap large chunks of RAM back to slower, disk-based
storage called virtual memory.
Virtual memory was (and still is, really) an inexpensive way to
overcome the limitations inherent in using a low-RAM PC; but as users
ran more and more applications, the amount of swapping would reach a
crescendo of sorts as an invisible line was crossed and performance
suffered.
Today, PCs with 4 to 8GB of RAM are commonplace, so
manually managing Windows 7's virtual memory settings is rarely needed.
That said, you can still do so if you want. In older versions of
Windows, you had to jump through quite a few hoops. With Windows 7's
Start Menu Search enhancements, finding and opening this dialog is much
easier.
Open the classic Performance Options dialog by performing a Start Menu Search for adjust perf.
In
the Performance Options dialog that appears, navigate to the Advanced
tab and click the Change button. The Virtual Memory window will appear,
as shown in Figure 8.
By default, like previous versions of
Windows, Windows 7 is configured to automatically maintain and manage
the paging file, which is the single disk-based file that represents
your PC's virtual memory. Windows 7 will grow and shrink this file
based on its needs, and its behavior varies wildly depending on how
much RAM is on your system: PCs with less RAM need virtual memory far
more often than those with 4GB of RAM (or more with 64-bit versions of
Windows 7).
While we don't generally recommend
screwing around with the swap file, Windows 7's need to constantly
resize the paging file on low-RAM systems is one exception. The problem
with this behavior is that resizing the paging is a resource-intensive
activity that slows performance. Therefore, if you have less than 2GB
of RAM and can't upgrade for some reason, you might want to manually
manage virtual memory and set the paging file to be a fixed size—one
that won't grow and shrink over time.
To do this, uncheck the option titled Automatically manage paging file sizes for all drives
and select Custom size. Then determine how much space to set aside by
multiplying the system RAM (2GB or less) by 2 to 3 times. On a PC with
2GB of RAM, for example, you might specify a value of 5,120 (where 2GB
of RAM is 2,048MB, times 2.5). This value should be added to both the
Initial size and Maximum size text boxes to ensure that the page file
does not grow and shrink over time.
NOTE
Optionally, you can put the paging file on a
faster, separate hard disk (a physical hard disk, not just a second
partition) for better performance.
6.1. Using ReadyBoost
Another way to improve performance on systems with 2GB or less of RAM is to use a new Windows 7 feature called ReadyBoost.
This technology uses spare storage space on USB-based memory devices
such as memory sticks to increase your computer's performance. It does
this by caching the most frequently accessed information to the USB
device, which is typically much faster than reading directly from the
hard drive. (Information cached to the device is encrypted so it can't
be read on other systems.)
There are a number of caveats, of course. First, the
USB device you choose to use must meet certain speed requirements or
Windows will not allow it to be used in this fashion. Second, storage
space that is set aside on a USB device for ReadyBoost cannot be used
for other purposes until you reformat the device.
NOTE
In previous versions of Windows, you were
limited to the use of only one USB device and a maximum ReadyBoost
cache size of 4GB. Both of these limitations have been lifted in
Windows 7.
In our testing, ReadyBoost seems to have the most
impact on systems with less than 1GB of RAM, and it clearly benefits
netbooks and notebooks more than desktop PCs, as it's often difficult
or impossible to increase the RAM on older portable machines.
When you insert a compatible USB device into a
Windows 7 machine, you will see a Speed Up My System option in the Auto
Play dialog that appears. When you select this option, the ReadyBoost
tab of the Properties dialog of the associated device will appear, as
shown in Figure 8,
enabling you to configure a portion of the device's storage space. It
recommends the ideal amount based on the capacity of the device and
your system's RAM (ensuring a RAM-to-cache minimum of 1:1 and a maximum
of 2.5:1).
Obviously, ReadyBoost won't work unless the USB
memory key is plugged into your PC. This can be a bit of a hassle
because you need to remember to keep plugging it in every time you
break out your portable computer. Still, ReadyBoost is a great
enhancement and a welcome feature, especially when a PC would otherwise
run poorly with Windows 7.
NOTE
If you're using a PC containing a solid-state
drive (SSD)—a drive similar to a flash stick vice a spindle of spinning
platters—ReadyBoost will be turned off, because the disk is fast enough
that ReadyBoost will unlikely provide any additional gain in
performance.
6.2. Adding More RAM
This final tip may seem a bit obvious, but Windows 7
is a resource hog (albeit less so than Windows Vista), and it will
steal whatever RAM you throw at it. Our advice here is simple: 2GB of
RAM is the minimum for a happy Windows 7 PC; most PC users would be
better off with more. If your PC can support 4GB or even 8GB of RAM,
upgrade. Memory is inexpensive these days, so cost is rarely an issue.
NOTE
Microsoft says that 32-bit versions of Windows
support up to 4GB of RAM (while 64-bit versions support quite a bit
more). While this is technically true, 32-bit versions of Windows are
actually limited in their support of RAM because of its underlying
architecture. Therefore, even on systems with a full 4GB of RAM, 32-bit
versions of Windows can really access only about 3.12GB to 3.5GB of
RAM, depending on your configuration. In the initially shipped version
of Windows Vista, the System Information window would accurately
portray how much RAM it could access, but this confused (and probably
infuriated) those who paid for and installed 4GB of RAM, so with
Windows Vista Service Pack 1 (SP1), Windows now reports that your PC
has 4GB installed, even though it can't use all of it. Windows 7
carries over this behavior unaltered.
The obvious question is whether you should even
bother upgrading to 4GB of RAM when your 32-bit version of Windows 7
can't actually address almost 1GB of that storage space anyway. The
answer is an unqualified yes, for two reasons. First, you'd have to
really go out of your way to upgrade a PC to 3GB of RAM instead of 4GB,
and the cost differential would be minimal. Second, who says you're
always going to be using a 32-bit version of Windows? You may later
decide to go the 64-bit route. When that happens, you'll be happy you
went for the full 4GB of RAM instead of saving a few pennies to no good
end.
For the record, we max out the RAM on every single
PC we purchase because the costs are so minimal and the effect is
extremely positive. You just can't overstate how important more RAM is
to Windows. 8GB of RAM may have been a fantasy a few years ago, but for
a modern, Windows 7–based PC, that's just a starting point.
