Guide
Should the paging file be on? Does turning it off really help games?
The paging file is space on a drive that Windows uses when the RAM is full. Many tweak packs turn it off, but for games like FiveM that makes crashes more likely.
What happens without it
FiveM needs the paging file on most PCs. Without it you can get "out of memory" crashes even with 16 to 32 GB of RAM. The crash helper in Savenz Optimizer sees this cause often.
Which setting to use
- System managed (Windows' default) lets Windows pick the drives and the size. Use this one.
- System managed on the Windows drive only. Keep the paging file on an SSD.
- A fixed size works, but if it is too small and games crash for lack of memory, go back to System managed.
- Off needs at least 32 GB of RAM, and some games and anticheats won't start.
Turn it back on in Windows
- Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl and press Enter.
- On the Advanced tab, under Performance, press Settings.
- On the Advanced tab, under Virtual memory, press Change.
- Tick Automatically manage paging file size for all drives and press OK.
- Restart the PC.
Or in Savenz Optimizer
The memory part of the Tweaks page has every Paging file choice above with its warning. Every change keeps the old value and can be undone. The Home page also warns when the paging file is off.