![]() ![]() Having virtual memory means that the system can run substantially faster and use less RAM when many programs use the same common library code. The reason you can disable swap is so the system can run on read only media such as a CD, DVD, locked network image using NetBoot or a read only USB fob like the new Lion installer or recovery fob that ships with some macs that lack optical drives. You have two great answers that explain why this is a bad idea in almost all cases where the system can write to a storage device. ![]() If I hadn't been able to ssh in from another Mac to kill several apps remotely, I'd have had to hold down the power button. This was hiding behind the full-screen game, so the system just locked up. While playing Civilization IV (a large, full-screen game), the system ran out of hard drive space (~50 megs free) and presented the "kill apps now" window. The latter I've experienced (with the swap file enabled) when running out of disk space. If you disable it, you may not be able to run as many programs at the same time (and the limit is far lower than you'd expect) or you may have issues (like freezing and having to hard-reboot the machine) when you run out of memory. The swap file is there for when your running programs consume more memory than you have physically installed. It is almost always a HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE idea to disable your swap file. That said, this is definitely a case of premature optimization. Swap files can be written to frequently, possibly causing disk fragmentation (as well as file system fragmentation) and, eventually, possibly causing the disk to fail sooner. Touch and hold the three vertical lines next to Quick Note, and drag it up or down in the list to place it somewhere in Control Center that will be easy for you to access.The reason they disabled the swap file is likely paranoia about SSDs having a maximum number of writes per block. Now that it’s been added, you can scroll back up to the Included Controls section.
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