Find out how to track your Windows 9x swap file with Windows' built-in System Monitor. Use these easy-to-follow instructions.
What you need:
Procedure:
Begin by installing System Monitor on your workstation. Place CD in Workstation, and wait for CD Menu. Select Add/Remove Programs | Windows Setup. Double-click System Tools. Scroll down Components list box and select System Monitor. Click OK to close System Tools. Click OK to close Add/Remove programs. Windows asks for the location of your Windows CD-ROM and installs System Monitor. No reboot required.
Start System Monitor by clicking Start | Programs | Accessories | System Tools | System Monitor. Remove the default Kernel: Processor Usage chart from the window by clicking Edit | Remove | Kernel: Processor Usage | Ok.
Add page file-monitoring items. Click Edit | Add. In the Add Item box, select Memory Manager in the Category box. Press and hold [CTRL]. Select Swapfile Size, Unused Physical Memory, Swapfile In Use. Click OK.
Set monitoring interval. Click Options | Chart. Slide Update Interval bar to 1 minute. Click OK. As System Monitor runs, you'll see output similar to Figure A.
Configure automatic monitoring. Click Start | Settings | Task Bar & Start Menu. On the Properties page, click the Start Menu Programs tab and click the Advanced button. Open the Programs\Accessories\System Tools folder and copy the System Monitor shortcut into the Programs\StartUp folder. Restart system.
Enable logging. After the system restarts and System Monitor loads, click File | Start Logging. Enter file name and location for log file. Allow System Monitor to log data for one week. Adjust permanent swap file size based on log results. You can see sample output in Figure B.
| Figure A |
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| System Monitor gathering swap file information |
| Figure B |
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| Page file log created with System Monitor |
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