Pagefile sys windows 7. How to delete - step by step instructions

Probably many computer users on Windows based heard about the concept virtual memory. But not everyone knows that a special component pagefile.sys is responsible for its use in the system. What kind of file the user sees in the system will be discussed further. But in order to understand what we're talking about, in full, first it is necessary to provide some theoretical information.

What is the pagefile.sys file in Windows 7 or any other OS?

Let's start with the fact that this is a system component required for Windows operation. It regulates the rules established for the use of virtual memory.

What is virtual memory used for? So that in the event of a lack of RAM or its excessive load, the operating system does not freeze, but continues to perform its functions. It is the pagefile.sys swap file that contains necessary information regarding treatment operating system to virtual memory and reserved space in which information will be stored in the form of program components that cannot be loaded into RAM.

Linking the paging file to virtual memory: how does it work?

But let's see how such a bundle functions in practice. It is clear that not all users can afford to purchase modern computer configurations with large volumes RAM. Thus, it turns out that the capabilities of computers are in some sense very limited. If we also take into account the fact that the operating system reserves part of the RAM for executing own processes, For user programs There are even fewer resources left.

When too many system and user processes are running, the RAM becomes quite heavily loaded. But active programs They are vying with each other to appeal to her. What to do in this case? To free up resources, the system begins to load program components not into RAM, but into a specially designated space on the hard drive. So what is the file pagefile.sys on the system in relation to virtual memory? It is he who determines how much space on the hard drive will be allocated to virtual memory.

Initially, the operating system sets the file size independently (and for each disk or partition), despite the fact that many experts recommend using eigenvalues systems, but install your own (we’ll look at them separately). On the other hand, there is an opinion among users that a larger file size will provide a significant increase in performance. This is wrong. The fact is that the access speed to RAM is much higher than the same indicator when accessing hard drive. Increasing the size of the pagefile.sys component will only lead to the fact that the system will begin to ignore RAM and begin to use virtual memory to a greater extent. It is not difficult to guess that instead of the expected system acceleration, the user receives reverse effect, and the system begins, as they say, to slow down even more than could have been initially assumed.

How to reduce the size of the pagefile.sys file?

But let's see what operations can be performed with the required component. What kind of file is pagefile.sys, we figured it out. Now let's move on to practical actions. Virtual memory settings can be accessed through the system section in the Control Panel, where you select to go to additional settings, the parameters button is pressed, used again additional options, and in the virtual memory section, press the button to change settings.

You can immediately see that by default, the option to enable the pagefile.sys component is set to automatic.

By unchecking the box, you can change the size used to increase or decrease. Yes, you can reduce the size, but to what extent? In general, there are unspoken rules for choosing the optimal size, but most experts agree that it is best to set a value equal to half of the one set by the operating system (or even disable its use altogether).

Is it possible to delete this file?

Some users have questions about how to delete the pagefile.sys file in Windows 7 or other operating systems. Despite the fact that the component itself is located in the root of the system disk, the system simply will not allow you to perform any actions with it.

No uninstaller or unlocker will be able to remove the pagefile.sys file, so you don’t even have to try. Another thing is if you can’t get rid of it, then at least, you can disable its use.

Completely disabling virtual memory usage

In the size settings section, which was described above, you just need to check the box next to the line “No paging file”.

How will this affect system performance? Actually, there is nothing wrong with disabling virtual memory. As many show practical research, even if the computer has 1-2 GB of RAM, no critical effects are observed. Some experts recommend disabling the use of this component immediately after Windows installations. However, it should be noted that this option is mainly suitable only for those cases when the user works with office documents, and the use of resource-intensive programs is not provided at all. Although... Even if there are such applications, just do not run several programs at the same time.

Optimal file size

What kind of file pagefile.sys is is a little clear. Now a few words about what it is like optimal size recommended for installation. Please note right away that the larger the amount of RAM, the smaller size may have a page file, and with RAM 8 GB and above it is not recommended to keep this component active at all.

• RAM 6 GB - 0.5 GB VP (virtual memory).
• RAM 4 GB - 1 GB.
• RAM 2 GB - 1.5 VP.
• RAM 1 GB - 2 GB VP.
• RAM 0.5 GB - 2.5 GB.

Here you need to understand that these are purely conditional recommendations, since, as noted above, complete shutdown The component in relatively weak configurations does not cause harm to the system and does not particularly affect performance.

Brief summary

Here is a brief summary of what pagefile.sys file is in the system. As for practical recommendations, don't install too much large sizes for reserved disk space. Better yet, disable it completely and test the system for performance. If you don’t like something, you can always return the default value set by the system yourself, or set your own options in the form of half original value. But about removing this component using some file manager, applying the attributes of gaining access to it, you don’t even have to think about it.

If you do hidden folders and files visible, you can find the pagefile.sys file on the system disk, which takes up quite a lot of space. Users immediately have a desire to delete it in order to free up space, which is in short supply. However, what stops me is that this file is very similar to the system one. And the consequences of such actions will be unpredictable. But it's not all that scary.

Pagefile.sys - what is this file?

Many users have heard about the file Windows swap. Pagefile.sys is precisely that component. It is used when physical RAM is not enough for the full operation of a particular application. Hence the impressive size.

What is it intended for? Pagefile.sys is created so that you can use virtual file swaps. But placing it on the HDD is not a very sound idea, because the reading speed leaves much to be desired. However, this component has existed in Windows since the XP version.

When setting additional element paging, the operating system creates a pagefile.sys file with a size equal to the amount of memory specified by the user. By default, Windows 10 uses 1500 MB of swap space. This is sufficient for most modern computers. And if the amount of physical RAM is more than 8 GB, then this component is not needed at all.

This file is a system one. Therefore, it is hidden from the prying eyes of users. However, you can see it.

1. Open Windows 10 Explorer and click on the File tab. Here we select “Change folder and search options.”

2. In the next window, go to the “View” tab.

3. Now uncheck the “Hide system files” item and put it on the “Show” item hidden elements».

After performing all these actions, you will be able to see all the hidden elements. Including the pagefile.sys file.

Pagefile.sys is usually located in the root system partition. This is usually drive "C". It is not hidden by many directories. And this is not bad, because it would take quite a long time to look for it.

Is it possible to delete this file?

This question has plagued more than one generation of users. And the question is: is it possible to delete pagefile.sys without consequences for the OS and the computer as a whole? You can delete it. And the system will be able to work without it. But some programs categorically refuse to work without swapping capabilities. For example, this behavior is typical for products from Adobe.

The most common reasons for deletion:

• Catastrophic lack of storage space. This reason is far-fetched. The capacity of modern HDDs makes it possible to store a lot various information. And if there is not enough space, then it is much better to remove a couple virtual images games. Or something else like that. And if you delete the pagefile.sys file, the freed 1500 MB will still not help.
• Decent amount of RAM. If the user is the happy owner of two RAM modules of 8 GB each, then he may well be visited by thoughts that without of this component The OS will run faster. Physical RAM will be used, which is much faster than a classic HDD. This assumption is overly optimistic. If you deprive the OS of the paging file, there will be no changes in performance.
• The page file kills the SSD drive. This story appeared back in the days when solid state drives were very rare. Of course, they have a certain resource, and the first SSD models could not tolerate numerous read-write operations. But all this is in the past. Modern SSDs do not react in any way to the fact that the OS uses them to host the swap file.

If the final decision is made to delete the page file, then you need to know exactly how to do it. Because it can harm the operating system.

1. Open the system properties. You can do this in several ways: using the control panel or system component"Run."

2. Now go to the “Advanced” tab and in the “Performance” block, click “Options”.

3. In the next window, click on the “Advanced” tab and click the “Change” button in the “Virtual Memory” block.

4. Now check the “Without paging file” option, click “Set” and confirm your actions by clicking on the “OK” button.

After rebooting the computer, pagefile.sys will not appear on the HDD. This instruction is also relevant for Windows 7, 8. “Ten” was chosen simply as an example.

How to move the swap file?

Some users ask this question quite often, as they are annoyed by the illegitimate presence of such a large file on the system drive. However, there are other reasons for the transfer.

• There is not enough space on the system partition. This is the most common reason. As is the case with deletion. But if things are so bad, what will one and a half gigabytes change? However, most users consider this to be the main reason.
• Saving SSD resource. There is some truth in this. Even modern SSDs have their own resource, although it is much longer than that of the original models. Under these conditions, the transfer becomes justified.

So how do you move the pagefile.sys file? It's very easy to do. The process is somewhat reminiscent of disabling the page file.

1. Open system properties in the familiar way (using the control panel or the Run component), go to “Advanced” and click “Settings” in the “Performance” block.

2. Now go back to “Advanced” and click on “Change”.

3. The next step is to reduce the memory dump on the system disk to a minimum. It is completely impossible to leave it without this component. Therefore, check the “Specify size” item, enter the values ​​16 and 32 MB in the boxes, respectively, and click the “Set” button.

4. Now select another disk or partition, check the “Specify size” checkbox and enter the required values ​​in the box. The numbers must correspond to the amount of RAM. For example, if the PC has 4 GB of RAM installed, then the following values ​​should be used: 3072 and 4096. Then click “Set” and “OK”.

Technically, this process does not completely transfer the page file. Its size is simply reduced to a minimum. This means that Windows will not access this element, but will use the one that has a larger volume and is located on another partition.

How to increase or decrease the size of pagefile.sys

Changing the size of this component is also possible. This is generally quite a customizable element. Advanced PC users know this and try to reduce the volume of this component to a comfortable minimum.

Reasons for resizing:

• Decent amount of RAM. If there is enough physical RAM, then the need for a huge swap file disappears. You can safely reduce it to reasonable limits.
• Insufficient disk space. It won't help, but downsizing will this file can free up several gigabytes. The system will be able to use them at its discretion.
• Increase when there is not enough RAM. This reason is quite justified. If there is a catastrophic lack of RAM, then you can change the size of pagefile.sys in big side and use it predominantly. Everything will just work much slower. But without any glitches.

We go to the system properties already known way and open the paging file settings. How to do this is written a little higher. Here we check the “Specify size” checkbox and adjust the size as you like. When the necessary numbers will be entered - click “Set” and “OK”.

When setting the size, it is important to remember that the initial value should never be less than half Computer RAM. If the numbers are lower, then Windows will be terribly slow when accessing the swap file.

How to clear the contents of pagefile.sys?

This action is very useful to perform when turning off the computer. However, on Windows this option is disabled by default. But the paging file may contain passwords and browser data. This information may become the property of hackers. Therefore, you need to configure content cleaning.

1. Launch the “Run” component in a known way and enter “gpedit.msc” in it. Press “Enter” or “OK”.

2. The local editor window will open group policy. Here you need to find the “Security Settings” directory. It's on the way " Windows Configuration" - "Security Settings" - "Local Policies".

3. Now we find the option “Shut down: clear the swap file” and double-click on it.

4. In the next window, mark the “Enabled” item and click “OK”.

That's it. Now after reboot Windows will begin to automatically clean pagefile.sys when you turn off your computer.

The above cleaning method is not suitable for editing Windows Home, since it does not have the gpedit.msc component. For everyone Windows editions use reg file, follow these steps:

1. Download the file, unzip it.
2. Double-click LMB to launch the Vkl_ochis_pagefile.reg file, then click “Run”, “Yes” (UAC), “Yes”, OK.

So, pagefile.sys is the Windows swap file. It is highly customizable and helps the operating system out when there is not enough RAM. It is not recommended to disable it completely, but it is quite possible to reduce its size. This will not cause serious consequences or disruptions.

The inquisitive mind of the Russian person deserves admiration. When we see some unlabeled button on the TV remote, we definitely want to press it. An unfamiliar nut makes you want to unscrew it, and the tail sticking out of the bushes makes you want to pull it and find out what’s on the other end. In the case of a button, this is the launch of a ballistic missile. When the nut is unscrewed, the neighbor's chandelier will fall, and at the other end of the tail, as a rule, sits a tiger.

An interesting but unfamiliar item in the Windows system draws the user to research and experimentation. Pagefile is system file operating system. By carrying out actions with it, the user risks stable work systems. There may be no consequences, or the result of the experiments will be a collapsed system.

What is pagefile.sys

In any personal computer RAM and fast physical memory are installed. Its purpose is to solve urgent problems that arise during computer operation. All programs running on the computer, require RAM for themselves and their work. For example, a photo of a cute cat on the desktop for the system is a set of numbers that need to be kept somewhere. And when the system is running, the drawing is in fast memory.

RAM, physical memory, is part of the computer. Physical module. It can be removed, placed, enlarged or reduced. For this on motherboard a special connector is provided. Size physical memory limited. There may be a lot of it, but not infinitely. Limitations are imposed by the price of the modules and how much memory the computer supports.

When there is not enough fast, physical, RAM memory, the operating Windows system starts using hard drive space. What is not included in the hard drive is reset to fast memory. This information is stored in pagefile. sys. That is why manipulations with the paging file, also called the memory file, can lead to the crash of the OS. The system will not have enough memory to work in this case; there is never a lot of memory.

In those days when hard drives were small, it made sense manual setting pagefile. What did it give? In the fight for every meter disk space, an overly bloated paging file did not suit the user. Its size was changed to the minimum possible values ​​or turned off completely. IN modern hard On disks, several gigabytes do not play any role and there is no need to change the paging file settings.

How to remove the system file pagefile.sys

The desire to delete pagefile arises in the user in cases when:

• there is not enough disk space - freeing up several gigabytes of space can be critical;
• I want to conduct an experiment - what if deletion improves the system;
• the system begins to slow down - when the system paging file is used, the system turns to the disk for information. At the same time, other data is read and written. This slows down work and freezes and freezes occur.

Is it possible to delete pagefile sys? WITH technical side- there is nothing complicated. But from the point of view of system performance, it is not recommended. Even if there is plenty of RAM installed in your computer, there is no guarantee that Windows will have enough of it.

To delete the swap file you need to:

1. Follow the path: “Start” button, open “Control Panel”, open “System”, click “ Additional options systems."
2. In the “System Properties” tab, select “Options” under “Performance”, go to the “Advanced” tab, click “Change” for “Virtual Memory”.
3. In the “Virtual Memory” menu, uncheck automatic selection.
4. Below, select “No paging file”.
5. Click "OK".
6. Delete using File Explorer (you must enable display invisible files) pagefile.sys from the root of the "C:\" drive or the drive where it was specified by the user.

Resizing and finding the swap file

Changing the size and location of pagefile sys is done from the “Virtual Memory” menu (see the section “How to remove pagefile sys”). The method is suitable For Windows versions XP, Windows 7, 8. It is necessary to uncheck the box about automatic selection parameters. Select the disk where it will be stored new file paging, set its size. A lot of virtual memory will take up disk space, but too little can disrupt the stability of Windows.

Manually setting the size of the system paging file is required in cases where the system is configured for specific user needs. And also minimal system file size paging can be set at large quantities PC physical memory. But is it worth doing this if the system automatically takes into account all the features of the system? Most likely not.

How to clear pagefile sys

The main purpose of cleaning the system paging file is the security of personal data. In pagefile sys Passwords and payment information remain and another personal information, the discovery of which by other people is undesirable. In case of malicious actions of attackers, this data can be stolen and used to harm the owner.

The first way to clear the page file is to delete it, erase it, and create it again. The second is to edit the Wind o ws registry. To do this, do the following:

1. “Start” - “Run” (or press Win + R), enter regedit, “Enter”.
2. Go to the section “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management”.
3. Find the "ClearPageFileAtShutdown" parameter.
4. Click right click, select “Change”, set the value to “1”.
5. Restart Windows.

Message "c pagefile sys error opening"

This error may occur when working antivirus program. Swap file not intended to be used other programs other than Windows OS. It is protected by system means and an attempt to read or write will receive an error. An error does not mean the presence of viruses.

Removing or changing the size of the system virtual memory file may be necessary in special cases or when working on an old computer with small volume hard drive. In modern PCs for daily tasks manipulation with disk memory not required.

Hello! Once you got here, you were most likely interested in the following question: what is the pagefile.sys file, what is it for and perhaps how to remove it. As practice shows, the reason why people start to become interested in this file is that there is not enough space on the C:/ drive, and when checking the properties of each folder, you ended up with pagefile.sys, which most likely takes up more than one GB.

So, let's figure out what the purpose of this file is in the system and for what reason it eats up so much space. In general, the situation is that all Windows operating systems have such a thing as a page file (pagefile.sys), which is designed to expand the computer's RAM, allowing you to work various programs even if the system does not have enough of its own installed virtual memory.

That is, in other words, the page file takes a certain amount Not occupied space on the disk, and adds it to the RAM, so that it would be possible to launch another program, in addition to those that were already open.

As a result, after this the computer may begin to slow down a little, all because additional load on hard drive. And since it must process not only its own information, but also the data that comes from virtual memory, small freezes appear and the performance speed of your PC drops significantly.

Whether to disable pagefile.sys (swap file) or not, there is quite a bit of debate on this issue. Some definitely do not recommend doing this, others argue that you should definitely get rid of this function in order to avoid filling up the system partition. I will share my personal opinion a little later and show you how to deal with pagefile.sys in various situations.

But first I'll show you how to disable or delete pagefile.sys file, Well, then I’ll share with you my opinion about the optimal setting swap file.

Changing and deleting the pagefile.sys page file

So, setting, disabling and indicating the size used free space for the paging file, specified in the performance parameters. Therefore, to get to them you need to perform a few simple steps:

1. Call up the properties of the computer;
   
2. Let's go to " Additional options»;
   
3. Next, click on “ Options", in the field "";
4. In the next window we find the tab “ Additionally", where by going to the area called " Virtual memory", click on " Change»;
5. Initially, you will see that there is a checkmark for automatic selection of the system, which itself determines what and how much does she need free space, but since we want to change this matter and indicate our values, we simply remove it;
6. Now, put a dot on the point “ Specify size"and write down the minimum and maximum value, I recommend betting from 500MB to 1000MB, this will be enough for a simple work computer;
7. Having entered all the numbers, apply the settings by clicking on “ Set»;
8. Then, close the windows by pressing " OK"and start rebooting the system;

Disabling the pagefile.sys file completely

It’s clear how to change the size of the paging file, but you can also disable it completely.

To do this, you will need to go to the same settings and mark the dot “ No swap file" and then be sure to click on the " Set" to confirm your choice.

You may receive a message that it is not recommended to completely disable the page file (pagefile.sys) because it may interfere with full-time work, debug data records when system error. But, if you really intend to disable it completely, then click " YES" and restart your computer.

In this way, we will completely delete the pagefile.sys file, and virtual memory swapping will no longer bother you, constantly taking up quite a bit of space on your hard drive.

Disable swap file or not

Now I want to share my thoughts on whether it is worth disabling the pagefile.sys page file completely or leaving everything as it is.

Of course, the paging file is a useful thing that was invented by Microsoft developers. For example, I turn it off completely only when I come across old computer on which a HDD with a capacity of several GB is installed.

Here, sometimes there is simply nowhere to go, since user data needs to be stored somewhere and Windows is constantly filling system disk, then updates, then something else. In general, in such cases, I completely disable the pagefile.sys file.

The second case is when the computer is used only purely for work, such as opening a closed browser, printing a document, etc., and even if a normal hard drive is installed on it. Many users, over time, still notice the loss free space and ask. In this case, I simply change the size of the paging file, somewhere up to 1GB, which does not interfere with the computer’s full operation and satisfies the user’s wishes.

This option applies to those people who almost constantly work with some kind of graphic editors, with editing of video materials, playing the newest games. All these applications sometimes use a lot system resource, but they use it in such a way that sometimes it is simply not enough, but working condition The program supports the swap file pagefile.sys.

Therefore, if you are one of these users, then it is better to leave this file in its original state. But, if you really really want to change it, then do it wisely, indicating numbers that are not much less than what the system consumed in automatic mode.

With this I will finish my article and, as always, I invite you to join us.

The computer's RAM does not always cope with what the user puts on it. It happens that a user opens several large applications that greatly load the RAM, and then begins to complain that the system freezes and does not work properly. In such cases, a swap file is used, into which the OS dumps running unused applications and does not allow those who are open and active in at the moment.The pagefile.sys file is the same swap we were talking about just now.

This file is very flexible and can be configured as the user wants. By default, it is disabled in the system, but after you enable it, it begins to accumulate information and later, after a couple of months, it can accumulate several GB. Accordingly, you need to understand how you can reduce the size of this file without harm to the system and itself. Let's look at Windows example 10.

Using the paging file pagefile.sys is relevant when the computer has too little RAM. If you have successfully purchased additional bar RAM, and also managed to install it in a laptop or system unit, we recommend getting rid of the file.

In addition, this trick needs to be done if you have added a new system to the system. SSD drive . Its operating technology does not imply the use of swapping, which can slow it down or even ruin it. Removing pagefile.sys on Windows 10 looks very simple:

C: \pagefile.sys – opening error

Have you encountered such an error? It is obtained as a result of scanning the operating system third-party antivirus. Users often immediately begin to torment Google with this issue, but there's really nothing serious here. Error opening swap file - normal reaction when another application tries to read it. It is a system file, plus it works depending on the load on the RAM, so it does not allow itself to be opened so that errors do not occur in the operation of other programs.

There is no need to pay attention to this error, just ignore it. The same errors can occur with other files, for example, with hiberfil.sys, NTUSER.DAT and others.

Initially, the paging file is installed on the system disk. Since you started using your computer, a lot of memory space may be taken up, so pagefile.sys can and should be moved to another local drive.

In general, the transfer as such will not happen, because in fact the content depends on what is running at the moment. Before performing the steps, you need to close all applications except the browser with open page this site.

The situation with a previously unknown file turned out to be very simple. pagefile.sys. The algorithms indicated in the article can be used even in Windows 7, because the essence of this process has remained unchanged since 2009.