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I have 3GB RAM and plenty of disk space and page file space, but still sometimes switching from one program to another is painfully slow. I would like to do something about it. Which Windows 7 system parameters control program launch speeds/initialization? Are any usefully adjustable? Is there a memory/process parameter tuning procedure I can apply to improve this?

When Windows 7 is running well, it's fine, but unpredictably it's a pain in the neck, taking a-a-a-ages to switch from one program to another. I have increased the page file to much larger than it really needs to be, and mostly Task Manager doesn't show the processor (Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E8200 @ 2.66GHz) exceptionally busy.

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Does anyone have any advice to offer?

dragonmouth
2014-01-01 15:17:42
@Jan F:"unless you have an SDD, which is ideal for paging"I assume you mean "SSD". While an SSD may be ideal for paging if only speed is considered, it is the worst possible location for an Paging File because of the constant writes being done to it. SSDs, unlike HDDs, allow only a limited number of writes before they stop working
Jan F
2014-01-01 21:04:21
Yes and no. If your SSD has maybe 10GB of free space at any given time then you are correct You will most likely kill the drive within two years or so. The same goes if you you are using it for your daily dose of torrents.If you have like 50GB of free space and you use it like a normal drive that really isn't much of a concern. The rating of 1.000 program-erase cycles doesn't sound like much but unless you fill the entire drive (100%) and erase it on a daily basis you will be shocked how long it can last.How much paging and temporary files do you accumulate on a daily basis? Maybe 5GB? Let's say 10GB. So with 50GB of free space it takes 5 days before the first program-erase cycle appears. Times 1.000 cycles is 5.000 days, or 13 years.
Jan F
2013-12-31 21:56:33
You've been in the Task Manager ~ what did it say about your system memory? How much is listed as available? As long as there is memory available your system is operating with very little paging or only paging non-essential or inactive tasks. If the available memory is really low then active tasks might have to be paged an which will certainly make your system run slower (unless you have an SDD, which is ideal for paging).In addition you might also want to take a look at the Resource Monitor. Maybe your system has 3GB of memory in total but some of it could be hardware reserved. Resource Monitor will show you that at the memory tab.Another important tab is the one labeled "Disk". It will give you information about your disk activity.If the activity is constantly high then we may have found the source of the problem - something is keeping your disk busy, making everything else (loading/reading files, paging, etc.) slow. This could be some process going rouge, background tasks performing stuff on the hard drive e.g. defragmentation or maybe an intrusive anti-virus. Most AV nowadays offer real-time protection. The problem with that is anything you "click" on your system is checked while being loaded. This can certainly slow down applications and application switching if they were paged to the hard disk and then read back into the memory.
Sam
2014-01-11 17:03:07
I looked at power-saving settings, and sure enough, the disks were set to spin down after 20 minutes of inactivity - I think this was the problem. I have changed to spin down 'never', as I don't leave the system on for days on end, only when it's needed. I haven't noticed the stalling problem since, but then it was n't long ago. We'll see.Thanks for the tip.I don't believe I have a problem with available memory, or shortage of pagefile space - a lack of response when the disk has gone to sleep explains it well.
Hovsep A
2013-12-31 20:40:01
perhaps the realtime protection if your antimalware is causing this?change the value EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParametersdouble-click on EnablePrefetcher set it to 1double-click on EnableSuperfetch set it to 1if you want to improve the boot then the value should be 2if your Superfetch is not running then Both 'EnableSuperfetch' & 'EnablePrefetcher' need to be set to a value of 1.How to Run the Memory Diagnostics Tool in Windows 7http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/715-memory-diagnostics-tool.htmlperhaps you installed/uninstalled application that left over shell extensionShellExView 1.86 http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/shellexview.html