If paging is enabled, &os2; will temporarily
move data from physical RAM to a special swap file on a hard disk.
The &os2; swap file is always
called SWAPPER.DAT
. Unless changed through
&cfgsys;, this file resides in the
\OS2\SYSTEM
directory.
In detail, the following happens:
SWAPPER.DAT
. This part of memory is then
available and given to the requesting application.
As a result,
applications may use more memory than what is physically
installed in the computer.
This is why plenty of RAM is the most important prerequisite for an acceptably fast &os2; installation. Even though you may install &os2; with only 8 MB of RAM (&warp; 3 allegedly even with 4), you will then only hear the hard disk rattle because &os2; has to permanently swap in and out.
Even if you have a relatively large amount of RAM installed
(say, 128 MB or more), &os2; may suddenly start swapping.
Since growing the swap file is an expensive operation, you
should choose your SWAPPATH
settings carefully.
If you are using the
&xcenter;,
you can also use the
"Sentinel" widget
to monitor &os2;'s memory management.