Can I delete pagefile.sys? What is it?

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Hello Leo,

You mentioned that you don't have a pagefile.sys file or to put in a different way you have disabled virtual memory. Are there any performance benefits to be achieved by doing so? Given that I have 2GiB physical memory and at most all my processes end up using not more than 500MiB, what would be ramifications of disabling virtual memory altogether?

Regards.

Hello leo. im reading your stuff so much time now.
u great. i have a question. from what size of Physical RAM i can disable the VM? casue i my C drive is small and i need that extra space (3069MB - Fixed Size). My PC have 2GB DDR2 800MHz CL5 Physical RAM.
TNX!

thanks leo, this file is very big 2Gb of my HDD is wasted, my hdd seem good and i can install more program.
Best regard

I often defrag and before I do so I set the system to no paging file and reboot, then I defrag and then reset the system to allow Windows to set the paging file size again and it overwrites the previous pagefile,
In this way I feel that I am defragging the area of disk taken up by the page file which otherwise would not be defragged.
I hope that this is a sensible idea.
Just another way of dealing with pagefile.sys rather than just letting it sit there.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that either Windows or some programs do expect to "see" some sort of page file on the "C" drive (even if it's only a small one) and I recollect that the recommendation in the article I read was to have a token small one on the "C" drive, even if (as I have done) the main page file is put on a second drive, which is supposed to improve performance.

Hi Leo, re: VM. Have you seen a case where the a desktop's motherboard and HD seem to be incompatable and this results in VM messages about being out of VM no matter how VM is configured? I finally gave up on the friend's computer but it's bugged me ever since. My guess was a computer shop replaced the HD with the wrong type but the situation wasn't one where I wanted to do it again. Really appreciate your site and insight. Thanks for the help....mike

Had to use the CD boot once to fix a 98 boot pagefile corrupted error. Worked perfectly.
Occasionally had to delete NT pagefile for tweeking performance. Setting VM to zero is a neat trick I'm glad to know.

I recall reading in a Microsoftie's blog something about Windows expecting to be able to potentially write, at minimum, the entire contents of RAM to the pagefile -- not in relation to the hibernation file, but rather to some internal Windows processes. I believe the post in question referred to Windows XP specifically, and I don't honestly expect Vista to behave any differently in this regard.

Furthermore, considering that even with 2 GB of RAM in my computer I'm seeing a commit charge (pagefile usage) or 932 MB, I'm loath to suggest its deletion when Windows clearly is using it.

Unfortunately, all I have is a potentially false memory and anecdotal evidence. Plus, I'm certain that Windows will still work without a page file, it's just that I'm of the impression it will not work as well (either BSOD-ing more often, or just performing (paradoxically) worse) as the same install with a page file.

As such, feel free to disregard this comment.

I see! Indeed, checking it again, it seems the commit charge is the sum total of all memory (physical + virtual) usage.

And, what's more, the so-called "Page File Usage" graphs on the Performance tab of Task Manager seem to follow the commit charge, so... in conclusion, I'd like to slap whoever set the labels on those two graphs, 'cause they did it wrong.

I can remember having a WinME computer that keep giving me "hard drive C: write errors", which I eventually solved by deleting the page file. Must have been corrupted.

With XP, as I understand it, it may be a security risk since it can have saved passwords, usernames, and other sensitive data.

Here are two ways to have it deleted at shutdown, a clean one will be recreated at start up.

Clearing the Page File on Shutdown

Click on the Start button
Go to the Control Panel
Administrative Tools
Local Security Policy
Local Policies
Click on Security Options
Right hand menu - right click on "Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile"
Select "Enable"
Reboot

For regedit users.....
If you want to clear the page file on each shutdown:

Start Regedit
Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Set the value to 1

http://www.geocities.com/terryhollett2003/

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