For lower to average memory (RAM) systems, the paging file is an essential, but tragically slow, part of the Windows Operating System. The role of the paging file is to set aside hard drive space to act as memory when the system requires more memory than is available to it. As one can imagine, if you have more than three gigabytes of memory installed on your Windows 7 operating system, the paging file likely doesn't need to be utilized.

The interesting thing about how Windows 7 manages the paging file is that it will utilize it without the need for it. For example, if you have four gigabytes of memory and are only using two most of the time, the paging file will still operate for some of you memory centric functions. This is why it is essential to disable the paging file on higher memory systems, as hard drive memory is astoundingly slower than system memory.

Disable The Paging File On High Memory (RAM) Systems:

1. Select the Windows 'Start' button.

2. Right click on 'Computer'.

3. Select 'Properties'.

4. In the upper left hand corner of the properties window, select 'Advanced System Settings'.

5. When the settings come up, select the 'Advanced' tab.

6. Under the Performance section, select 'Settings...'.

7. When the settings come up, select the 'Advanced' tab.

8. Under the Virtual Memory section, select 'Change...'.

9. When paging file configuration comes up, uncheck 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives'.

10. Select the 'No Paging File' radio button.

11. Make sure you select 'Set'.

12. Choose 'Ok'.

13. Select 'Apply'.

14. Select 'Ok'.

15. Restart your computer.

16. That's it!

It is important to monitor your memory usage for awhile after disabling the paging file. Remember to run applications like you normally do to ensure your memory usage doesn't get too close to the maximum memory on your system. Disabling the paging file can cause random hanging if not enough memory is available on the system. To learn how to monitor your memory usage, watch the video.