When you change your paging file settings in Windows 2000, they are not retained when you restart your computer?
Make sure that the System has Full Control permissions on the file.
A common cause of this malady is that you used of the Computer Management tool in the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) to change the settings.
The proper way to set the paging file size is to use Control Panel / System / Advanced /Performance / Change. Select the drive you wish to modify and enter the Initial Size and Maximum Size boxes. Press the Set button and press OK 3 times.
NOTE: It is best to set the Initial Size and Maximum Size values the same, to avoid fragmentation of the pagefile as it grows. A minimum value of RAM * 1.5 is recommended.
Even when you do it properly, some systems do not retain your settings. If this happens to you, use Regedt32 to navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSetxxx\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Set the pagefile by double-clicking the PagingFiles value name in the right hand pane. This is a REG_MULTI_SZ data type that contains one line for each drive letter that has a pagefile configured. The format is <drive>:\pagefile.sys min max where min is the Initial Size and max is the Maximum Size. The next time you restart your computer, these settings will be retained.
