[R2didi2]

Hi Stuart R

You asked:
"One of the things is to change your pagefile so that it is the right size for your memory - the default is often not. You can get quite a leap in performance if you do this." - how do I check this please.

I am not sure which operating system you are running, but for Windows XP, NT, 2000, etc., right click "my computer", select "properties", click the "Advanced" tab, under "performance" click "settings, then select the "Advanced" tab. Then you should see the current pagefile size under "Virtual memory". If you need to change it, then click "change" but bear in mind the following:

1. Windows Help says: "For best performance, do not set the initial size to less than the minimum recommended size under Total paging file size for all drives. The recommended size is equivalent to 1.5 times the amount of RAM on your system. Usually, you should leave the paging file at its recommended size, although you might increase its size if you routinely use programs that require a lot of memory."

2. You can mess your machine up if you are not careful - so take good care when changing any of these settings that you are certain it is appropriate to do so, and that you are changing it to an appropriate value.

Press F1 for Windows Help and type in "virtual memory" as the search string and this will give you a lot more information. There are lots of conflicting opinions about optimising virtual memory - Google is a good resource.

Hollis_f is right to recommend you buying more RAM and I agree with all that nirofo says too. It won't likely be worth changing your virtual memory unless you buy a new PC because the default settings you already have set are probably already adequate for the RAM you have.

I hope that helps!
Didi