Pagefile growth issue

[joseph.zazza.b]

Hello
I am running WinXP-e 512MB RAM. The HDD has 4 partitions. Each has a
pagefile of 768MB. Recently discovered that the c:\ partition (10Gig)
has run out of physical space. Found that in the C:\Windows\ directory
the following system files are present and are 768MB in size. P, A, G,
E, F, I, L, E, Y( Y is currently 57MB and growing). They have no file
extension, but are system files. I set the pagefile up as custom size,
initial size 768, maximum size 768.
Does windows automatically create additional page files (providing disk
space remains) when the initial pagefile you've created is exceeded?
How can I make it stop...

Thank You

 

[KM]

There is no "additional" pagefiles system creates on the same partition.
It must be something else.
If you haven't created those system files yourself, check and watch the system on worms and viruses.

Read this article to get familiar with pagefile settings on XP: http://www.petri.co.il/pagefile_optimization.htm

KM

 

[joseph.zazza.b]

Thank You KM
I have scanned the instrumentation using Trend, as well as McAfee and
there is no virus. Also looked on Norton's site for any virus or worm
known to behave this way, there are none known to exist.
I have back-tracked to my original master hard drive (I am working
with embedded devices) and have found that these files existed on my
original master hard drive. Therefore these files were likely created
by FBA when installing my image. I've checked my Target designer
solution, I am using the Standard PC Computer component (HAL) the
pagefile settings I selected were initial size of 256MB and set to grow
no larger than 256MB. I did change this setting to 768MB via the
control panel on the embedded device after the image was deployed.
Another interesting tidbit of information is when changing the
physical RAM on the device, the size of these files nearly doubles!
This happens everytime on multiple machines. Use 256MB and the files
c:\windows\P,A,G, etc. are ~391MB, use 512MB physical memory and on the
same system (same harddrive) they are now 791MB. Thier size is
completely dependent upon the ammount of physical memory in the device
at that time.
I have the sneaking suspision that this is a target design, possible
Standard PC component bug. Would it be possible for you to open a DOS
prompt navigate to c:\windows\ and type "dir \ah" , (they are hidden
system files) and look for these files? I would be very interested to
know if anyone else has these files. Note that they have no file
extension, but are labeled system files when looking at them using
windows explorer.

Thank You

 

[KM]

Joseph,

Once again, those files are not related to pagefile. Different name, different location (pagefile is created under partition root by
default).

Have you tried checking who is creating and holding the files? Use FileMon (www.sysinternals.com) and Obj/Handle Explorer (the same
website) to see which component is holding the files.

Btw, beside AV you may also want to run "anti-spyware" solution (like Spyboot, e.g.).

KM

PS. I certainly do not have those files under \windows (XPe, XP Pro).

 

[joseph.zazza.b]

Thanks again KM.
Spybot turned up nothing interesting. I have simply deleted the files.
I have also determined that contrary to my first message, the files are
not growing as the application runs, but they do indeed change based
upon the ammount of RAM installed, an interesting little behavior. At
this point I simply deleted the little buggers as part of my software
installation, and have run tests to determine that they do not
re-appear.

Thanks again
Joe