Page File sys meter widget challange
.. for all you saavy programmers
Sunday, January 22, 2006 by DesignCaddy | Discussion: Requests
The link on this article leads to a great referance on how to understand/use Virtual Memory, and also includes info on how you can use Window's built-in ability to create a guage which monitors the page file more thoroughly than task manager. We have widgets that monitor CPU usage, hard drive space, and ram - but i don't see any in the library that addresses the page file - which is more important in guaging available resources and system taxation than your ram alone.
I'd like to see a widget built that addresses these key areas of resources, specifically the page file. Its size, how much of it is used, and most importantly its fragmentation. You could also tie into this the commit charge total, limit, and peak and sure - why not physical ram itself.
The article should point some people in the right direction, and across the board it is a good read if you want to tweak your computer for max performance.
since i have hard drive space to burn, ive got the maximum sized page file on an empty drive which gives me an extra 4 gigs to use - and amazingly enough i end up using it! But how do i know when that page file is becoming fragmented? thus the widget. This is your chance to make something other than a clock!
I'd like to see a widget built that addresses these key areas of resources, specifically the page file. Its size, how much of it is used, and most importantly its fragmentation. You could also tie into this the commit charge total, limit, and peak and sure - why not physical ram itself.
The article should point some people in the right direction, and across the board it is a good read if you want to tweak your computer for max performance.
since i have hard drive space to burn, ive got the maximum sized page file on an empty drive which gives me an extra 4 gigs to use - and amazingly enough i end up using it! But how do i know when that page file is becoming fragmented? thus the widget. This is your chance to make something other than a clock!
ExodusCrow
Reply #2 Wednesday, January 25, 2006 5:08 PM
Reply #2 Wednesday, January 25, 2006 5:08 PM
I would definatly give that a go. If I had time.
Kevin_C
Reply #3 Thursday, January 26, 2006 10:06 AM
Reply #3 Thursday, January 26, 2006 10:06 AM
OK, I've been tinkering with this some in my spare time and if I do this I'll possibly need some graphics for the widget cause that's not my cup of tea but I'll post the information I can get about the page file here and what I'd like to get is some feedback on what would be useful to have in a widget.
AccessMask: -1
Archive: true
Caption: d:\pagefile.sys
Compressed: false
CompressionMethod: null
CreationClassName: CIM_LogicalFile
CreationDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
CSCreationClassName: Win32_ComputerSystem
CSName: STO-56117
Description: d:\pagefile.sys
Drive: d:
EightDotThreeFileName: d:\pagefile.sys
Encrypted: false
EncryptionMethod: null
Extension: sys
FileName: pagefile
FileSize: 1597218816
FileType: System file
FreeSpace: null
FSCreationClassName: Win32_FileSystem
FSName: FAT32
Hidden: true
InitialSize: 0
InstallDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
InUseCount: null
LastAccessed: 1/25/2006 00:00:00
LastModified: 1/25/2006 12:06:16
Manufacturer: null
MaximumSize: 0
Name: D:\pagefile.sys
Path: \
Readable: true
Status: OK
System: true
Version: null
Writeable: true
AllocatedBaseSize: 1523
CurrentUsage: 27
InstallDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
PeakUsage: 125
Status: null
TempPageFile: null
There are other properties but these are the most interesting. I don't imagine anyone wants to see this much detail so what is the consensus on what would prove interesting?
AccessMask: -1
Archive: true
Caption: d:\pagefile.sys
Compressed: false
CompressionMethod: null
CreationClassName: CIM_LogicalFile
CreationDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
CSCreationClassName: Win32_ComputerSystem
CSName: STO-56117
Description: d:\pagefile.sys
Drive: d:
EightDotThreeFileName: d:\pagefile.sys
Encrypted: false
EncryptionMethod: null
Extension: sys
FileName: pagefile
FileSize: 1597218816
FileType: System file
FreeSpace: null
FSCreationClassName: Win32_FileSystem
FSName: FAT32
Hidden: true
InitialSize: 0
InstallDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
InUseCount: null
LastAccessed: 1/25/2006 00:00:00
LastModified: 1/25/2006 12:06:16
Manufacturer: null
MaximumSize: 0
Name: D:\pagefile.sys
Path: \
Readable: true
Status: OK
System: true
Version: null
Writeable: true
AllocatedBaseSize: 1523
CurrentUsage: 27
InstallDate: 12/22/2005 12:18:47
PeakUsage: 125
Status: null
TempPageFile: null
There are other properties but these are the most interesting. I don't imagine anyone wants to see this much detail so what is the consensus on what would prove interesting?
DesignCaddy
Reply #4 Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:01 PM
Reply #4 Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:01 PM
i'd say the most useful information is its drive, size, peak usage, and fragmentation.
FileSize is obviously the page file size but
CurrentUsage,
PeakUsage
seem to be relative to AllocatedBaseSize
Also i do not see where Fragmentation is noted.. although fragmentation can be accessed via the user-built application in the article.
Dunno. neat find, f0r3
FileSize is obviously the page file size but
CurrentUsage,
PeakUsage
seem to be relative to AllocatedBaseSize
Also i do not see where Fragmentation is noted.. although fragmentation can be accessed via the user-built application in the article.
Dunno. neat find, f0r3
thomassen
Reply #5 Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:11 PM
Reply #5 Thursday, January 26, 2006 1:11 PM
Now this can be a very interesting project. If we find out the information required for the project. Then we can have someone working on extracting the data, and at the same time people can come up with design ideas for the GUI. Then eventually combine it. Sound like a nice little community project to puzzle with.
Kevin_C
Reply #6 Thursday, January 26, 2006 2:05 PM
Reply #6 Thursday, January 26, 2006 2:05 PM
This http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wmisdk/wmi/win32_defraganalysis.asp is the closest I could find to something that would actually report fragmentation and it is not available via WMI in XP.
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Reply #1 Wednesday, January 25, 2006 12:17 PM
*bump*