Additionally, if you have the paging file enabled, operations that exceed the limited RAM space are automatically sent to the paging file to be stored to free up RAM. In other words, the paging file extends the RAM’s capacity, as it stores RAM data that has not been used or accessed lately. The paging file can support system crashes and expand the amount of system-committed memory, or virtual memory, that a system can back. Only one is installed on each hard disk, although more can be added. A paging file is a hidden, optional system storage file on a hard disk. “ \Paging File\% Usage” displays the percentage of the paging file that is currently in use. Following last week’s article about monitoring CPU usage using Performance Monitor counters, this post concerns the “ \Paging File\% Usage” counter.
