Deleting Pagefile.sys

[blackpearl75]

Dear ALL,
I do not want "pagefile.sys" on all my drives..as i have disabled System Restore on ALL my drives..thus i guess do not Need pagefile.sys. BUT I am not able to remove this HUGE Sized file (around 1 GB on all my drive's). I booted my PC from miniPE..and from there i was able to delete pagefile.sys. BUT when booting back to WinXP the file (pagefile.sys) is back there. Whats going on ?????

Also..plz tell me is it SAFE to remove files from :-
1.) D:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\*.*
2.) D:\WINDOWS\Installer\*.* (Hidden Folder on Windows)

Plzz help as i am left with only 215 MB of space on my bootable partition{i feel my system is taking hell lot of a time to boot coz of less space on bootable partition}. I have 80 GB, partitioned in 4 parts.

Regards to ALL ..

[Lucky_star]

Who said pagefile.sys is for system restore services?

Its for memory Paging purposes and you can't delete it.
If you want to cleanup your drive use CCleanerInstall it and while runing it tick all the checkboxes. Now analyze and yu will find a huge amount of wasted space. Clean it.

If you want to clear your system restore files, use drive cleanup by right clicking on the drive and selecting properties.

__________
The hidden Windows Installer folder keeps information about the programs you installed. If you delete it, you will not be able to uninstall some of the programs.
Best, use CCleaner.

[s18000rpm]

Updated...

For Page File Issue

right click "My Computer"->Properties...follow the steps from the picture.


you can select "No Paging File for C: Drive & allocate some space for Page File in other Drives (like i have done- in K: Drive)


select the CustomSize (marked with blue circle), & set the desired size. (always keep both minimum & maximum as same)
hope it helped.

[Lucky_star]

Never install any of your programs on the drive in which Windows is installed.
__________

Originally Posted by s18000rpm

wait a minute...

Wat's up?

Yes lucky is right. this pagefile.sys is your virtual memory on the HDD, you can't delete it. But you can certainly move it to another drive with more free memory.

Go to system properties ->Advanced -> Setting under Performance -> Advanced -> Virtual Memory -> Change. Here your assigned virtual memory is listed. Set the amount of your memory you need in another drive, remove from system drive.

I can't say whether it is advisable to remove all virtual memory from system drive or not. Confirm it from someone else. I think virtual memory size should be set to minimum 1.5 times of your RAM.

[Lucky_star]

Originally Posted by s18000rpm

Updated...

For Page File Issue

right click "My Computer"->Properties...follow the steps from the picture.


you can select "No Paging File for C: Drive & allocate some space for Page File in other Drives (like i have done- in K: Drive)

hope it helped.

Yah, I knew that

I was waiting for this to happen.


This time also you came up with some good demonstration..

[s18000rpm]

^^thanks for the complements

[blackpearl75]

Dear Lucky_star,s18000rpm,titun..and many more to join...thank you for such a prompt reply...s18000rpm...ur illustration is very handy...titun has the same thing to say..but...somtimes..picture speaks effectively than words...I'll definetly give a try to the solution provided by computer "genius" (in here). There is another "hiberfil.sys" {around 1 GB+} ...what that is for ??? Can it be also set to take "its" place on some other drive ????

Now plz reply to the 2nd part of my issue...which is ....
Also..plz tell me is it SAFE to remove files from :-
1.) D:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\*.*
2.) D:\WINDOWS\Installer\*.* (Hidden Folder on Windows)

[s18000rpm]

hiberfil.sys will be present as long as you've turned ON the Hibernate Feature.

if you dont use Hibernate Feature, then turn it OFF.

the space taken by that file is Equal to the total RAM installed in ur PC.

so if your RAM is 1GB, then hyberfile.sys is ~1GB:wink

to turn OFF Hibernate Feature, right Click on Desktop-> follow the steps from pic

Uncheck Enable Hibernation to turn OFF that feature

sorry i dont know about moving this file & about the other Qs.

[anandk]

great tips given by all above;
and : safe to remove files from the first ie downloaded installations.

[blackpearl75]

Thnk u all..i am able to move my "pagefile.sys" to diff. partition (the partition is NTFS...guess, that does not make much diff.) Only the "Diskeeper 2007 11.0 Build 693 Pro Premier" program has STOP functioning after this action. Guess i need to uninstall/Re-install it.
Also i am able to switch off "hiberfil.sys" from my bootable partition. Thats saves lot of space. ...thnx s18000rpm for that..And anandk..thnx for ur prompt response of removing C:\WINDOWS\Downloaded Installations\*.* Files...thats too save some space for me on my HDD.
Now just waiting for the final confirmation to move...the "D:\WINDOWS\Installer(Hidden Folder on Windows)\*.* files to get more space on my bootable partition. Its taking up 900 MB on my partition. Guys helpme out....dont let me search for some other forum for this issue of mine..when i am always able to get affirmation reply HERE only...where have all the genius Gone ??????

[Vishal Gupta]

Regarding to ur last point, don't remove the "Installer" folder bcoz it contains windows installers for various softwares, like ms office, etc. If u'll remove it, such programs might give u error while opening and u'll also face problems in uninstalling them.

[koolbluez]

s18000rpm told the right & easiest way.
System Properties->Advanced tab->Performance Settings->Advanced tab->Virtual Memory Change
It's the swap file, virtual memory space using demand paging. If you have lotsa ram (>~512) then you probably won't ever use it. However, some programs won't run without that there (even if it never uses it).

Read this too.. good info.. registry edits here... from Microsoft itself

But if u've limited memory within 512mb... it's better to enable it in the primary drive. But make ranging between 2 - 1.5xofRAM. So when u r not using virtual memory, it'll stay only 2mb in size, and expand only when u really need it. If it is system managed size, more calculations r done by processor... performance reduces. If u put it within a range (like i said above), performance is hampered (by calculations) a little still but space wastage reduces. U want max performance (min. calculations for page filing), u better make initial size & maximum size same...
__________

Also don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. It increases shutdown time.
Only for security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it.
To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit< in the Run box) and go to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management
Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer.
Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.

Btw if u want some more space in ur system drive, you can compress your drive to save a lots of disk space. In turn, it will slow down launching large programs like photoshop, otherwise it will be no problem.
It will take some time, say 45 to 60 minutes, but will save a lots of space, I did that when I needed space to install VS2005 & MSDN.

Give it a try.

[koolbluez]

Originally Posted by titun

Btw if u want some more space in ur system drive, you can compress your drive to save a lots of disk space. In turn, it will slow down launching large programs like photoshop, otherwise it will be no problem.
It will take some time, say 45 to 60 minutes, but will save a lots of space, I did that when I needed space to install VS2005 & MSDN.

But it also hampers performance. Want to xtract all juice of ur computer... don't use it; esp gamers & image/audio/video editors and 3D modelers, anyone who stresses their comp much...
U can buy space for cheap.... but performance costs much higher

[Vishal Gupta]

For getting FREE space following tut can be visited:

TUTORIAL: How to get FREE space in Windows?

[blackpearl75]

Ok..guys..thnks for your support...Vishal as suggest by you i am NOT clearing my \windows\install folder..koolbluez..thnx for joining and enriching me(us) of your valuable info with registry tweak. And titun i also feel compressing is not the solution unless u have put your PC for R&D...Neways..guys..i am going to buy Hitachi 160 GB IDE (not SATA - as it is not supported by my m/board) soon...to resolve my HDD space problem...its costing me 2650/- rs.
Regards to all...