Is It OK to Delete Pagefile.sys ??

**tedalin** · December 23rd, 2010, 11:51 AM

i got a file called, pagefile.sys, thats 2GB big and i want to delete it becuz its so big. is it ok to delete it? will i run into problems if i do?

**CeeBee** · December 23rd, 2010, 11:57 AM

You can't delete it while Windows is running. If you do it offline, Windows will re-create it. Windows NEEDS that file for proper operation. Get a bigger drive.

**tedalin** · December 23rd, 2010, 02:54 PM

Originally Posted by CeeBee

You can't delete it while Windows is running. If you do it offline, Windows will re-create it. Windows NEEDS that file for proper operation. Get a bigger drive.

thanks ceebee.

**montecarlo** · December 23rd, 2010, 09:58 PM

You can move the paging file to a different drive. If you are running out of space on C drive and you have some extra space in other drives, then perform the procedure outlined in the below article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886

Note: Do not manually move it!

**tedalin** · December 23rd, 2010, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by montecarlo

You can move the paging file to a different drive. If you are running out of space on C drive and you have some extra space in other drives, then perform the procedure outlined in the below article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/307886

Note: Do not manually move it!

i wanted to remove it to increae performance on my drive. thats all.

**CCT** · December 24th, 2010, 06:45 AM

My take on thisL

With a large amount of installed hardware RAM, your system may function without a page file, or you may run into error messages about 'out of memory'.

So, you should keep a minimum pagefile in the root partition for System functions like System Restore and error dumps, etc.

Left click start, right click my computer, left click properties, left click Advanced, and under Performance left click settings, then left click advanced again.

Now click Change under Virtual Memory and put a mark in the Custom Size and set the initial and maximum sizes to 512. Click Set, OK, OK and OK. This sets aside a minimal pagefile that will allow normal operation.

IF you have another separate drive, create a larger pagefile there equal to your installed hardware RAM. This keeps as much of your fast-access hardware ram available as possible for other uses. But, keep the root minimum one also.

Reboot.

**tedalin** · December 24th, 2010, 02:36 PM

Originally Posted by CCT

My take on thisL

With a large amount of installed hardware RAM, your system may function without a page file, or you may run into error messages about 'out of memory'.

So, you should keep a minimum pagefile in the root partition for System functions like System Restore and error dumps, etc.

Left click start, right click my computer, left click properties, left click Advanced, and under Performance left click settings, then left click advanced again.

Now click Change under Virtual Memory and put a mark in the Custom Size and set the initial and maximum sizes to 512. Click Set, OK, OK and OK. This sets aside a minimal pagefile that will allow normal operation.

IF you have another separate drive, create a larger pagefile there equal to your installed hardware RAM. This keeps as much of your fast-access hardware ram available as possible for other uses. But, keep the root minimum one also.

Reboot.

hi, cct. i did as you instucted. just to let you know, i got 1.5gb of ram, running xp pro sp3, 80GB storage, and speed of 1.3G. Hopefully your settings will help my computer. Thanks.

**slgrieb** · December 25th, 2010, 05:01 PM

Originally Posted by tedalin

hi, cct. i did as you instucted. just to let you know, i got 1.5gb of ram, running xp pro sp3, 80GB storage, and speed of 1.3G. Hopefully your settings will help my computer. Thanks.

Ouch! My advice would have to be to bite the bullet and spend the cash for a bigger hard drive. Drives are pretty cheap, and an 80 GB drive is just too restrictive these days.

**tedalin** · December 26th, 2010, 02:51 AM

Originally Posted by slgrieb

Ouch! My advice would have to be to bite the bullet and spend the cash for a bigger hard drive. Drives are pretty cheap, and an 80 GB drive is just too restrictive these days.

Hi, sigrieb. I dont need anything bigger than what I got now, which is 80GB. I really dont need a bigger hard drive... its not necessary at all, especiailly when I've had about 50GB of free storage for the past 2 years.

**Platypus** · December 26th, 2010, 04:06 AM

Originally Posted by tedalin

i wanted to remove it to increase performance on my drive. thats all.

If you have 50GB free, restricting the size of the pagefile or operating without one will not improve the performance.

**tedalin** · December 26th, 2010, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Platypus

If you have 50GB free, restricting the size of the pagefile or operating without one will not improve the performance.

it may not improve it. but it will free up space, which i already did.

**Ferrit** · December 28th, 2010, 11:21 AM

That really doesnt make much sense
Saying you have had 50 gigs free for the last few years and
not needing a bigger harddrive while in the same breath saying
restricting the pagefile freed up some space.
Whats the point? exactly
Cause absolutely nothing you spoke about
will make any appreciable speed increase.

**tedalin** · December 28th, 2010, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Ferrit

That really doesnt make much sense
Saying you have had 50 gigs free for the last few years and
not needing a bigger harddrive while in the same breath saying
restricting the pagefile freed up some space.
Whats the point? exactly
Cause absolutely nothing you spoke about
will make any appreciable speed increase.

it makes perfect sense. since i'm always needing to maximize storage space, i've therefore, been able to maintain 50GB of free space for years.

**Ferrit** · December 28th, 2010, 04:37 PM

I have no idea what your talking about.
You might save 500 megs or 750.
You "CANNOT" delete the pagefile
and run on memory alone so what you
achieved is so minimal when you compare
50 gigs to it, that its hardly mentionable.
So no it doesnt make any sense at all
Especially when you are talking about speeding up the computer.

**tedalin** · December 28th, 2010, 05:43 PM

Originally Posted by Ferrit

I have no idea what your talking about.
You might save 500 megs or 750.
You "CANNOT" delete the pagefile
and run on memory alone so what you
achieved is so minimal when you compare
50 gigs to it, that its hardly mentionable.
So no it doesnt make any sense at all
Especially when you are talking about speeding up the computer.

ferrit, if you took the time to read thru this thread, you would know what we're talking about.

again, no one deleted the page file. all i did, as sugested by a member here. was to reduce its size, which i did ALREADY.

thru my consistent efforts of maximizing as much space as possible, even in small things like getting rid of 500MB of a page file, or deleting 50MB of trash in the recycle bin, all amounts to me having 50GB of extra strorage. mabye if you heed my practice, you too could save some space, instead of rebuking people here for doing something you obviously cant handle.