Windows uses a paging file, also known as a page file, as additional virtual memory when your RAM fills up. Windows can clear your page file every time you shut down, ensuring no sensitive data is left in the page file on the drive.
How This Works
RELATED:What Is the Windows Page File, and Should You Disable It?
When you shut down your computer, the system’s RAM is always erased—it’s erased whenever it loses power. But the page file isn’t. If you’re worried about someone snooping for sensitive data that may be left in your page file, Windows can erase it each time you shut down. It does this by writing 0’s to every bit of the page file, overwriting any existing data. If someone pulls the hard drive from your computer, they can’t inspect the page file to find any potentially sensitive data that may have been stored in memory.
There’s a real downside to enabling this feature. It will make your computer take much longer to shut down. Your shutdown time may go from a few seconds to a few minutes, or even longer. It depends on how fast your computer’s hard drive is and how large your page file is. This is why Windows doesn’t automatically clear the page file at shutdown by default. It’s a trade-off, and one most people wouldn’t want.
We Recommend Encryption Instead
RELATED:How to Enable Full-Disk Encryption on Windows 10
Rather than rely on clearing your page file, we recommend setting up full-disk encryption on your Windows PC, if possible. If your page file is stored on an encrypted drive, you don’t have to wipe it each time you shut down—the page file will be encrypted, too. That means no one can pull the drive and attempt to examine the page file without having your encryption key.
More importantly, encryption also prevents attackers from looking at all the other files on your hard drive. But, if you store your page file on an unencrypted drive, or if an organization uses thin-client systems, this option can be useful.
Home Users: Erase the Page File on Shutdown with the Registry Editor
Game of thrones season 5 torrent. If you have a Home edition of Windows, you will have to edit the Windows registry to make these changes. You can also do it this way if you have Windows Pro or Enterprise, but just feel more comfortable working in the Registry as opposed to Group Policy Editor. (If you have Pro or Enterprise, though, we recommend using the easier Group Policy Editor, as described in the next section.)
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Standard warning: Registry Editor is a powerful tool and misusing it can render your system unstable or even inoperable. This is a pretty simple hack and as long as you stick to the instructions, you shouldn’t have any problems. That said, if you’ve never worked with it before, consider reading about how to use the Registry Editor before you get started. And definitely back up the Registry (and your computer!) before making changes.
First, open the Registry Editor by pressing Windows+R, typing “regedit” into the Run dialog that appears, and pressing Enter.
Use the left sidebar to navigate to the following key.
You should see a “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” setting in the right pane. If you don’t, right-click the “Memory Management” key in the left pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and enter “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” as the name.
Double-click the
ClearPageFileAtShutdown value, set enter “1” in the value data box, and press Enter.
You can now close the Registry Editor window.
If you want Windows to stop clearing the page file at shutdown, return here, double-click the
ClearPageFileAtShutdown setting, and set it back to “0”.
Download Our One-Click Registry Hack
RELATED:How to Make Your Own Windows Registry Hacks
We’ve created two downloadable registry hacks that do the work for you. One disables the “ClearPageFileAtShutdown” setting, and one enables it. Download the archive below, double-click the registry hack you want to use, and add the information to your registry.
These are really just two small .REG files that change the registry value we showed you how to change above. If you ever want to see what a .REG file does, you can right-click it and select “Edit”. And, if you enjoy tweaking the registry, you can make your own registry hacks.
Pro and Enterprise User: Use the Group Policy Editor
RELATED:Using Group Policy Editor to Tweak Your PC
If you’re using a Professional or Enterprise edition of Windows, the easiest way to have Windows clear your page file at shutdown is by using the Local Group Policy Editor. It’s a pretty powerful tool, so if you’ve never used it before, it’s worth taking some time to learn what it can do. Also, if you’re on a company network, do everyone a favor and check with your admin first. If your work computer is part of a domain, it’s also likely that it’s part of a domain group policy that will supersede the local group policy, anyway.
To open it, press Windows+R on your keyboard, type “gpedit.msc” into the Run dialog that appears, and press “Enter”.
If you see an error message saying gpedit.msc wasn’t found, you’re using a Home edition of Windows. You can’t use this tool.
In the left pane, navigate to the Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > Security Options folder.
Locate the “Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile” option in the right pane and double-click it.
Click the “Enabled” option in the properties window that appears and click “OK”. Windows will now clear the page file each time you shut down.
You can now close the group policy editor window.
If you ever want to stop Windows from clearing your page file each time you shut down, return here, double-click the “Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile” setting, and select the “Disabled” option.
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Windows 10 can be very resource intensive. Sometimes the capacity provided by your physical RAM (Random Access Memory) is insufficient to hold every running program and process.
Microsoft’s clever work around to this problem is through a special ‘paging file’ called pagefile.sys. This will hold any data that your RAM can’t. While pagefile.sys isn’t anywhere near as efficient as the best RAM, it does prevent your system from crashing when resources run low.
Windows 10 is configured by default to automatically manage the paging file – most users won’t even know it’s there, as it is hidden to avoid tampering. If you need to free up some space on your drive or improve system efficiency even further, you can transfer pagefile.sys to an external disk or set a size limit.
Don’t worry though, we’ll demonstrate how to view pagefile.sys as well as manage manually. Please take the time to read our advice on deleting the file (ie: don’t) and make sure to backup your PC before you make any changes.
Is pagefile.sys safe to delete?
Because pagefile contains important information about your PC state and running programs, deleting it could have serious consequences and tank your system’s stability. Even if it takes up a large amount of space on your drive, pagefile is absolutely necessary for the smooth operation of your computer. This is exactly why pagefile.sys is hidden by default on Windows 10.
If you choose not to heed our warning and are determined to delete pagefile.sys, follow the steps to view protected system files in Windows 10.
How to delete pagefile.sys
If you believe your pagefile.sys has become corrupted or is causing other system problems, you can choose to delete it although it is not recommended.
Follow the steps below to locate and delete the file. We'll also show you how to run a backup of your Windows 10 system in case deleting causes further issues.
1. View hidden OS Files
In order to delete pagefile.sys you first need to be able to view it.
To get started you firstly need to be able view pagefile.sys. Open the file explorer and navigate to the C: Drive.
Press Control + F1 to enable the ribbon menu. Click on 'view' and then 'Options'. A drop down menu will appear.
Click 'Change folder and search options'. In the new window which appears, click the 'view' tab and then uncheck 'Hide protected system operating files (Recommended)'.
Next, check the radio button 'Show hidden files, folders, and drives', then click 'Apply'. Pagefile.sys will now be visible.
2. Backup your files
Close and save any files you have open. If you've never backed up your files before, you can do so using Windows 10 dedicated tool. You can find this under 'Settings' and >'Update and security'.
You'll need a dedicated external hard drive to store your backups. Make sure that it's capacity is at least as large as the drive inside your machine.
Once you are ready to proceed with your backups, follow the step on the Micorosoft website (https://support.microsoft.com/en-ie/help/17143/windows-10-back-up-your-files) to safeguard your data.
3. Delete pagefile.sys
Right click on pagefile.sys and choose 'Delete'. If your pagefile is particularly large, the system may have to delete it immediately without sending it to the Recycle Bin. Once the file has been removed, restart your PC.
How to move pagefile.sys
By default. pagefile.sys is around 12GB in size. However, this will vary depending on how many resources your PC uses and the amount of physical RAM it has.
To save on precious hard drive space, you can move pagefile.sys to an external drive. This may increase your system speed depending on the type of disk e.g. an SSD and access speeds e.g. via USB 3.0. Whichever drive you use, make sure it is formatted to NTFS, which can handle larger file sizes.
1. Access Advanced settings
In Windows 10 open 'Control Panel'. Select the Windows icon at the bottom left of your desktop and enter the word 'Advanced'. Next, choose 'view advanced system settings'. In the 'Performance' section click 'Settings'.
In the new window which opens, click the 'Advanced' tab. Find the section named 'Virtual Memory' and click 'Change'.
2. Select your external drive
From the 'Virtual Memory' window, uncheck the option 'Automatically manage paging file size of each drive'.
Under 'System manage file' select 'No paging file'. Next, select the external drive that is showing under the C Drive.
Click the 'Set' button. Read through the warning message and then click 'Yes' if you want to proceed.
3. Restart your PC
Your system will need to restart for these changes to take effect. Click 'Ok' to dismiss the pop-up message. Save and close any open files and then reboot your PC.
Windows 10 will automatically delete the old pagefile.sys and create a new one on the external drive.
How to resize pagefile.sys
Windows 10 automatically manages the size of pagefile.sys for you, but if hard drive space is at a premium, you can impose limits. Bear in mind that this could reduce system performance.
One way to have your cake and eat it is to install more RAM. This means your system relies less on the paging file making it smaller. For instance our Windows 10 testing machine has 32GB of RAM which resulted in a paging file of less than 2.5GB.
1. Check Memory usage
To determine how much virtual memory your system is using, press Ctrl + Alt + Del to access 'Task Manager'.
Click the 'Performance' tab and then choose 'Memory'. Pay close attention to the amount of memory (in use), as this will give you a rough idea of how large pagefile.sys needs to be.
You'll need to do this over several days to work out how much virtual memory you are using on average.
2. Access advanced settings
In Windows 10 open 'Control Panel'. Select the Windows icon at the bottom left of your desktop and enter the word 'Advanced'. Next, choose 'view advanced system settings'. In the 'Performance' section click 'Settings'.
In the new window which opens, click the 'Advanced' tab. Find the section named 'Virtual Memory' and click 'Change'.
3. Set size limits
From the 'Virtual Memory' window, uncheck the option 'Automatically manage paging file size of each drive'. Choose the option 'Custom size'. Set file to at least 800MB under 'initial size'.
Under 'maximum size, enter your desired upper limit for the page file in MB. Remember 1GB = 1,024MB e.g. a maximum size of 8GB is 8,192MB. Click 'Set' to confirm your changes.
If you run multiple applications simultaneously in Windows for long periods of time, you probably notice that your system’s performance gradually decreases over time. When you close an application either from within the application or by using the Task Manager, the tasks or threads associated with the application may not all be completely released. This ties up your system’s memory resources and causes your system to become sluggish and possible unstable. You may think that the only way to solve this problem is to reboot your machine. We found an easy way to flush the memory cache without rebooting your computer.
To easily flush the Windows memory cache, we will create a shortcut containing a command that will perform the task. To do this, right-click in an empty area of the desktop and select New | Shortcut from the popup menu.
The Create Shortcut dialog box displays. Copy and paste the following command into the Type the location of the item edit box on the first screen of the dialog box.
Click Next.
How To Clear Pagefile Sys
On the next screen, enter a name for the shortcut in the Type a name for this shortcut edit box and click Finish.
Your shortcut may have been placed where you right-clicked to create the new shortcut. If you want it lined up with your other shortcuts, right-click on an empty space on the desktop and select View | Auto arrange icons from the popup menu.
When your Windows system feels as if it not responding to commands as quickly as it should, run this command using the convenient shortcut. Your system’s performance should improve.
You can also put the shortcut on the Taskbar for easy, one-click access. To do this, right-click on the shortcut and select Pin to Taskbar from the popup menu.
NOTE: You can also add the shortcut to the Start menu using the Pin to Start Menu option on the popup menu.
We created this shortcut in Windows 7 for the example in this post, but this shortcut will work in Windows Vista and Windows XP just as well.
NOTE: For one-click access to the shortcut in Windows XP, drag the icon on the desktop to the Quick Launch bar. The icon will not be moved; a copy of the icon will be available on both the desktop and the Quick Launch bar. Enjoy!
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