I have to agree with Rachael there. A good doses of RAM helps limiting the use of slow pagefiles. However, if you make your pagefiles large, the chance that (too)many stuff ends up in there is bigger and slows down a system. In fact I run 3 different systems, that is, they are in hardware all the same, but they differ in software and other applications. Some of those applications demand from me to use page files, so I do that, to a limit. I do not like the setting Rachael recommended though, I rather use a fixed standard in which high and low size is the same amount. Expanding and shrinking of a pafgefile also slows processes down. On two of my systems I even dont use it at all, it runs like crazy there. No swapping, just in and out of the RAM without those swap-delays.

Check your most exagerated use of programs that you might run in one time together in as Racheal mentioned your task manager. By checking processor and memory usage, you should be able to set up a better maximum for your virtual memory.

As for the settings referred to by Racheal as server settings: That maybe so, but some programs use these settings as optimized performance settings for their programs (Digidesign Protools e.g.)

I have to admitt that when I was reading your post, I got a nostalgic Win98 feeling, for those systems the settings you use were not rare, but for XP, 2000, Vista, things drastically changed on those points of view.

And for sure check what Racheal said, what processes are causing those peaks. If possible, turn them off, allready before starting them. So then you need to change some settings in your services. A nice thing to check would be the webpages of "blackviper". Just google it and tweak your system by hand instead of those nice handy little tools, that indeed can change more than you would want it to change, giving all control out of hands.

I'll be back...