Compressing and Uncompressing Files Cause File Cache to Grow

SYMPTOMS

When you compress or uncompress big files, the performance of the interactive processes may suffer. This happens when the files are bigger than the physical memory of the computer.

All three of the following utilities capable of compressing or uncompressing files in Windows NT show this behavior: When you run performance monitor during compression you will see that the cache (Memory: Cache Bytes) is very large (between 50 and 90 percent of the physical memory) and the working sets of the processes (Process: Working Set, Instance _Total) are reduced.