Increase cache size windows xp

Now use the information shown in Table A to create the seven values in the Size01 key. An asterisk in the Value Data column indicates that you'll leave that particular Value Data text box blank for now. Unfortunately, the Registry Editor doesn't provide a Copy command, so duplicating a certain key requires a bit of ingenuity. To implement my duplication technique, right-click on the Size01 key and select the Export Command.

Right after you save the file, pull down the File menu and select the Import command. From the context menu, choose the Open With Notepad command. Next, save the file and close Notepad. When you do, the Registry Editor imports the contents of the file into the IconCacheSize key and displays a confirmation dialog box. As soon as you click OK, you'll see the new Size02 key. To add the rest of the radio button keys, simply repeat these steps three more times. Now that you've duplicated the radio button keys, you'll need to go back and fill in the Text and CheckedValue Value Data text boxes in each one of the radio button keys.

To do so, subsequently open each one of the Size0 keys, double-click the Text and CheckedValue keys, and use the information shown in Table B to fill in the appropriate Value Data text boxes.

As you can see, I've used a decimal numbering scheme, as opposed to the binary numbering scheme suggested by some. Here's my reasoning: By default, the Max Cached Icons setting is set to and Microsoft recommends taking it up to when you encounter problems with icons and desktop refreshing. While Microsoft doesn't provide very specific details on what exactly the Max Cached Icons setting alters, I'm assuming that since they're using a decimal numbering scheme, coupled with the name they've chosen, the value specifies the maximum number of icons that can be stored in the cache.

Keep in mind that the cache stores all the icons being used by the operating system—not just those on the desktop and Start menu. However, Microsoft goes on to say that valid values for the Max Cached Icons setting range from to As you can see, the latter value indicates a binary numbering scheme, which suggests that the value corresponds to the amount of memory set aside for the icon cache. Of course, this is a logical assumption and that's why you'll find binary recommendations for the Max Cached Icons setting.

Now, it's important to keep in mind that regardless of exactly what the Max Cached Icons setting alters, increasing its value will, of course, require more system memory. In any case, you'll notice that I've also assumed that Microsoft is going from to by doubling the value at each increment—i.

I've even taken the doubling scheme one more step and provided an Icons setting, which breaks the upper limit that Microsoft specifies, but I've found that it seems to work fine. There's also a Icons setting, so you can easily revert to the default setting if you so desire. The limitation of the virtual address range prevents the working sets of the system file cache from exhausting the physical RAM.

On bit versions of Windows Vista operating systems, kernel resources are allocated dynamically. The working set of the system file cache increases to consume the virtual address range of the kernel mode at the expense of other kernel resources. The limitation of this memory range is less than 2 GB. However, the cache can exhaust the virtual address space in the kernel. This can cause allocation failures for other kernel components.

On bit versions of Windows operating systems, the size of the virtual address range is typically larger than the physical RAM. In this situation, the working set for the system file cache can increase to consume most of the physical RAM.

The memory management algorithms in Windows 7 and Windows Server R2 operating systems were updated to address many file caching problems that were found in earlier versions of Windows. There are only certain unique situations in which you have to implement this service on computers that are running Windows 7 or Windows Server R2. To determine whether your system is affected by this issue, install the SysInternals RamMap tool. You can obtain the tool from the following Windows Sysinternals website:.

This displays several columns that show the current pattern of memory usage. Click the Active column to sort by the number of bytes used, and note the top usage directly under the total.

Figure 1. Because a workstation can access information from RAM faster than it can from a hard drive, it copies file information to a temporary location in memory.

When the operating system needs access to a file, it checks the cache first, loading the file quickly if it's in cache or physically reading the file from the hard drive if it's not. The icon cache works much the same way.

Rather than physically accessing XP's Iconcache. By default, Windows XP doesn't reserve a lot of memory for icon caching. By sacrificing a little bit of RAM, you can speed up perceived workstation performance. Speeding things up You'll make the changes in the system registry.

In the right pane, look for the value named Max Cached Icons. If the value exists, it's probably set to , which is the default value for the key. To change the value, double-click it. You are viewing our forum as a guest. For full access please Register. Does anyone know the registry keys for this? I've done it before in 98, but after searching the web, i can't find anything for xp!

What exactly do you mean by the system cache - the paging swap file? PeteC ,. Log in or Sign up to hide this advert.

No, i was thinking of whatever the equivalent of vCache in Xp is In Windows 98 vcache dynamically changed the size of the disk cache depending on available disk space and application requirements. In other words it altered the size of the swap file to suit conditions. In Windows XP the swap file is known as the Pagefile and operates in the same way changing size dynamically to suit conditions using the default settings - Windows Managed Page file.