DOCUMENT:Q105058  13-OCT-1993  [W_NT]
TITLE   :Unable to Create Sufficient Pagefile with Temporary Pagefile
PRODUCT :Windows NT
PROD/VER:3.10
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
 - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
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SYMPTOMS
========
 
In Windows NT, if you set your pagefile (PAGEFILE.SYS) lower than the
recommended amount (12 MB plus system RAM), Windows NT may have to
create a temporary pagefile (TEMPPF.SYS) to operate.
 
If the temporary pagefile takes most of the free space on your hard
disk, you may receive the following error message after you log on:
 
   Limited Virtual Memory
   Your system is running without a properly sized paging file.
   Please use the virtual memory option of the System applet in the
   Control Panel to create a paging file, or to increase the initial
   size of your paging file.
 
CAUSE
=====
 
Windows NT displays this error message when the setting in Initial
Size of the pagefile exceeds the amount of free space on the hard
disk. This can occur when a temporary pagefile takes the majority of
free space on the hard disk, leaving less space than the Initial Size
of the pagefile setting specified in the Control Panel.
 
This situation can occur when the initial paging file size is reduced
to an amount considerably smaller than the recommended amount and the
system is restarted. At startup, the smaller paging file is created,
the system then recognizes that the size is insufficient and creates a
temporary paging file of up to 20 MB in the WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory.
The System dialog box from Control Panel spawns, forcing you to
address the paging file problem.
 
When the free hard disk space approaches 30 MB or lower, problems can
occur in trying to correct the insufficient paging file size. The
combination of the insufficient paging file and the temporary paging
file can easily use all the available free hard disk space. This does
not leave enough free space to create a paging file sufficient in size
to eliminate the need for the temporary paging file.
 
The only way to free the disk space used by the temporary paging file
is to create a new paging file close to the recommended size. Once
there is no longer a need for the temporary paging file, it will be
deleted upon the next startup of Windows NT and the disk space will be
freed.
 
RESOLUTION
==========
 
To eliminate the above error message, either create enough free disk
space so a sufficient pagefile can be created, or use the following
procedure:
 
   WARNING: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious,
   system-wide problems that may require you to reinstall Windows NT
   to correct them. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems
   resulting from the use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use this
   tool at your own risk.
 
1. Open the Registry Editor (REGEDT32.EXE) and use the following
   path:
 
      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\
      Session Manager\Memory Management
 
2. Find the following value:
 
      PagingFiles:REG_MULTI_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys X 20
 
3. From the Edit menu, choose String.
 
4. Replace the first number listed (X) after PAGEFILE.SYS with the new
   initial value of the pagefile size (megabytes used by the TEMPPF.SYS
   and insufficient PAGEFILE.SYS).
 
5. Shut down and restart Windows NT.
 
Because the pagefile setting will now be sufficient, the temporary
pagefile will be deleted by Windows NT and there will not be Virtual
Memory errors.
 
Additional reference words: 3.10
KBCategory:
KBSubcategory: filsys

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