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(I hope this is the right community to ask)

Throughout the day, I need to save various images to my computer and then dispose of them soon after. Because of this, I created a PNG file called TempImage on my computer that I can just overwrite each time I need a new file for a short period of time. I thought this would be better than saving a new file with a new name each time. Is it? Or is more of my RAM being wasted by overwriting the files? I just got this new computer and I received a PAGE FAULT IN NONPAGED AREA error from, what I've looked up online, means memory issues. I got this error twice in a row right after accepting a call in Skype, which I know can use a lot of memory, so it kind of makes sense. Should I be worried about my memory? I've overwritten it approximately 286 times. Should I stop doing this and make a new file each time? What can I do to fix my computer? Is it as simple as running a Memory Diagnostic tool? Or do I need to get it repaired? This computer came with Windows 10.


Diagnostic Results

The WDT didn't find any errors. Neither did the chkdsk command.

Windows has scanned the file system and found no problems.


Any other ideas why it would happen? I don't think the computer is even a month old yet... I have only downloaded 3 programs on it...

Mr Awesome8
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3 Answers3

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I tend to agree with MrStatic

I would also recommend this source for potential fixes: http://www.technicalnotes.org/how-to-fix-page-fault-in-nonpaged-area-best-fixes/

Unnecessary Elaboration: (to help answer your concerns about wearing out the memory): When you save a picture (or any file for that matter) it is written to your hard drive not to your ram (what is generally referred to as memory). Of course it will be stored in ram (and in paged memory) while you are editing/viewing it but ram (DRAM) has a very high MTBF and will likely take MANY years to fail (think 1000 years) as unlike flash it uses capacitors and, as I understand it, does not degrade with use. It is FAR more likely that you have a faulty ram stick, given how new it is, than that you did something to cause it. Your ram is constantly re-written regardless of what you do, this is normal and nothing to worry about.

Replacing a file does not actually mean writing it to the same place. Rather the reference to that file is replaced with a reference to the new one and the old one is dereferenced (deleted). The original file will likely remain on your hard drive until it is eventually overwritten. This is actually better for your hard drive than actually using the same area as it helps your drive to wear evenly rather than wearing out one spot (far more important with SSDs than with magnetic drives). Many times (as I learned it in school) hard drives use a FIFO queue for available space which means that the last thing you deleted will generally be the last thing overwritten.

Nathan Owen
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Your process with the PNG file would have no cause for the Page Fault IN Nonpaged Area. If that process works for you then continue it. It won't cause stress on your system either way.

Generally the reason for getting Page Fault In NonPaged Area is as you saw, issue with memory. This can be caused tho from either or both your hard disk and ram. If you only rarely see this area, it is usually a faulty stick of ram. Run Windows Memory Diagnostic for awhile and see if it indicates an error. If it does, you can't repair it. You will have to replace it.

Also try opening up a command prompt by clicking Start, then type in cmd. In the dos style box type in chkdsk. If it returns with an error, run the same command again but with a /F after it. That can try to repair or move your data around so you can avoid the damaged areas of the disk.

Unfundednut
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If you are absolutely sure that the hardware is OK, a page fault is simply a bug in the software that throws this fault. It is pretty common in software and is a sign of bad quality, if the software does it often.

I usually think the other way around. First, I assume that the software crashed and then if I think that the software has good quality, I get the idea to check the hardware.

Martin Sugioarto
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