pagefile.sys?

[Guest]

I wish to defrag my c: drive, as the MS defragmenter recommends. However, it
says that I have a 767 MB pagefile.sys that has 245 fragments on C: drive. I
have previously moved my pagefile to my F: drive. When I check the virtual
memory allocation window, it does tell me that my pagefile is located on F:
and there is not one on C: drive. When I try to delete the C: pagefile.sys
via a command prompt, it tells me there is no such file. Why is the
defragmenter finding this file that is not there, or why are all the other
indications pointing to it not being there if it is? On top of that, no
matter now many times i defrag it, that particular file is always reported as
being heavily fragmented. Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Well, let's answer the easier question first: There is no point to
defragmenting your page file, so the page file is excluded from
defragmentation. The paging file is a temporary storage space that your
computer uses when and as needed.

There is a specific method to moving the page file. If you don't follow the
correct method, Windows will ignore what you are trying to do and maintain a
page file on the system drive. It's all explained in this article from
Microsoft's knowledge base:

"How to configure paging files for optimization and recovery in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314482.

Keep in mind that while there is a theoretical advantage to having the
paging file on another physical disk, you are unlikely to notice any
performance improvement unless the disk with the paging file is much faster
than the disk with the system partition and the disk with the paging file is
normally accessed much less frequently.

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Download Sysinternal's PageDefrag
http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/pagedefrag.shtml

or consider purchasing a very thorough Disk Defragmenter
such as PerfectDisk:
http://www.raxco.com/products/perfectdisk2k/

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect Your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| I wish to defrag my c: drive, as the MS defragmenter recommends. However, it
| says that I have a 767 MB pagefile.sys that has 245 fragments on C: drive. I
| have previously moved my pagefile to my F: drive. When I check the virtual
| memory allocation window, it does tell me that my pagefile is located on F:
| and there is not one on C: drive. When I try to delete the C: pagefile.sys
| via a command prompt, it tells me there is no such file. Why is the
| defragmenter finding this file that is not there, or why are all the other
| indications pointing to it not being there if it is? On top of that, no
| matter now many times i defrag it, that particular file is always reported as
| being heavily fragmented. Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.

 

[Guest]

You can’t delete PF from F: as long as it exists on C:
Just remove PF completely (No paging file) from all drives.
Restart computer.
Defragment the drive few times with restarts in-between.
And then set PF back.

Related (assuming Windows XP):
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308417


Good Luck!
---
How to optimize Windows XP, 2000, ME
for the best performance (Step-by-step Visual Guide):
http://www.fixyourwindows.com

Spyware/Virus Removal and Prevention:
http://www.fixyourwindows.com/windowsxpsolutions.htm
(Links to online virus scans on the same page)

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the quick response. I have my partition on a separate drive to
conserve space on my C drive. I have followed all the directions that are
listed on the MS page. I am confused because going through a command prompt,
there is no listing of a pagefile on that drive, but there is on the drive
that I moved it to.

 

[Guest]

I have cleared my computer of all pagefiles, and then defragged, and then
reset the pagefile to where I want it. I will try it again later when I get
a chance, but that sounds exactly like what I did to move it in the first
place. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Guest]

I should also add that following defragmentation, the pagefile.sys is always
the only file that could not be defragmented.

 

[Guest]

I should also add that following defragmentation, the pagefile.sys is always
the only file that could not be defragmented.

With Hibernation enabled you may have another file (hiberfil.sys) that you
can't defragment.

 

[David Candy]

what does

dir /a c:\*.*

show?

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the suggestion David. Actually, when using the /a switch, it does
list the pagefile.sys on c:\... but the date associated with it is
02/11/2004, and it is 804409344 bytes. Right now, I have removed the
pagefiles on all drives in windows in the virtual memory allocation window,
but this still shows up. Any thoughts on this one? I'd love to free up
750M... Thanks.

 

[Guest]

I do have the hiberfil.sys on C:\. Is there any way I can move this one to
another drive as well without screwing things up? Under the power
properties, all I can see is a checkbox to enable hibernation, but no path
for the file.

 

[John R Weiss]

I do have the hiberfil.sys on C:\. Is there any way I can move this one to
another drive as well without screwing things up? Under the power
properties, all I can see is a checkbox to enable hibernation, but no path
for the file.

I have not found a way to change hiberfil.sys.

BTW, if this is a desktop, I can't think of a good reason to use Hibernate
anyhow.

 

[David Candy]

If it ain't being used

attrib -r -s -h c:\pagefile.sys
del c:\pagefile.sys

 

[David Candy]

I use it occionally. I might have 30 IE windows open researching and it will take 1 week to read the material. I hibernate if I have to turn off the computer.

 

[Ron Martell]

I wish to defrag my c: drive, as the MS defragmenter recommends. However, it
says that I have a 767 MB pagefile.sys that has 245 fragments on C: drive. I
have previously moved my pagefile to my F: drive. When I check the virtual
memory allocation window, it does tell me that my pagefile is located on F:
and there is not one on C: drive. When I try to delete the C: pagefile.sys
via a command prompt, it tells me there is no such file. Why is the
defragmenter finding this file that is not there, or why are all the other
indications pointing to it not being there if it is? On top of that, no
matter now many times i defrag it, that particular file is always reported as
being heavily fragmented. Thanks for any help that anyone can provide.

Pagefile fragmentation is an issue that ranks right up there with
Santa Claus, Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy - lots of hype and very
little substance.

The page file is not read as an entire file - only sections of it are
read from or written to. And there is no way to guarantee that the
specific sections used for any given read or write operation will be
contiguous even if the page file itself is entirely unfragmented.


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."

 

[Guest]

Just uncheck the box, and file will disappear.
If you use Hibernation, check the box after you are done playing with
Defrag, and Windows will recreate the file.

I don’t think it’s required, but keep restarting after changing
enable/disable .

 

[John R Weiss]

"David Candy" <.> wrote...
I use it occionally. I might have 30 IE windows open researching and it will
take 1 week to read the material. I hibernate if I have to turn off the
computer.

For a desktop, I would use Standby instead of Hibernate. You should have a
faster restart time, and the miniscule power used will not break your
electricity budget. Also, you will be able to recover the space used by
hiberfil.sys.

 

[David Candy]

It's usually when storms come.

 

[Gerry Cornell]

David

It is recommended that a small pagefile say 50 mb is kept on the system
drive / partition where the main pagefile is located elsewhere.


~~~~~~

Regards.

Gerry

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FCA

Stourport, Worcs, England
Enquire, plan and execute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
If it ain't being used

attrib -r -s -h c:\pagefile.sys
del c:\pagefile.sys

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Gerry:

Unless one commonly experiences BSODs, in which case there is a larger
problem, I think 50MB seems a bit excessive for a stub page file. A minidump
occupies something like 2MB of diskspace. If one wishes for a larger data
dump on errors I believe the next level occupies 64MB.

Ted Zieglar