Windows XP swapfile. On or off?

[Bob]

A somewhat misleading title to what I really want to ask.

I have two PC's running XP SP2 with 1Gb RAM. I've disabled the
pagefile on both. I have no ill effects.

I wish Usenet supported polling. I really wanted to know if anyone
does the same thing? How many of you run with no swapfile?

-Bob

 

[Doug Kanter]

A somewhat misleading title to what I really want to ask.

I have two PC's running XP SP2 with 1Gb RAM. I've disabled the
pagefile on both. I have no ill effects.

I wish Usenet supported polling. I really wanted to know if anyone
does the same thing? How many of you run with no swapfile?

-Bob

Why would you want to? Running out of disk space?

 

[Haggis]

A somewhat misleading title to what I really want to ask.

I have two PC's running XP SP2 with 1Gb RAM. I've disabled the
pagefile on both. I have no ill effects.

I wish Usenet supported polling. I really wanted to know if anyone
does the same thing? How many of you run with no swapfile?

-Bob

for the record I am not.. but without a pagefile ..if you hit the 1gig limit
doing "something" you will sure miss it

 

[Bob]

Why would you want to? Running out of disk space?

No, for security. If my laptop were to be stolen, I don't want my
unencrypted information being in the pagefile. Besides, I've not had
any problems, and my perception is it's faster when multitasking.

I use TrueCrypt to create a encrypted drive for the purposes of
storing all my sensitive data. I have no fear now that any
perpetrator would have access my Quicken data (although I'd still be
pissed at losing my laptop!)

-Bob

 

[Gary]

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSesssionManagerMemory
Management

Select ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right.
Right click on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 1 to enable.
Reboot your computer.

 

[Doug Kanter]

No, for security. If my laptop were to be stolen, I don't want my
unencrypted information being in the pagefile. Besides, I've not had
any problems, and my perception is it's faster when multitasking.

I use TrueCrypt to create a encrypted drive for the purposes of
storing all my sensitive data. I have no fear now that any
perpetrator would have access my Quicken data (although I'd still be
pissed at losing my laptop!)

-Bob

Just last night, I was reading about a way of encrypting your swap file. The
book's at home, unfortunately. How about posting a question with the subject
line "How to encrypt swap file"

 

[Bob]

Yes, I'm aware of that parameter.

1) It doesn't do a secure wipe of the pagefile. Certain forensic type
procedures could still read the data. Yes, the chance of a thief
having that kind of access is slim, but why take it? It's the
difference between calling your credit card companies and cancelling
your accounts to not having any worries at all.

2) If I have a big swapfile, how does that speed things up in my PC?
It takes a lot longer to shutdown.


No, when I did use a swapfile, I used Cryptoswap:
http://geocities.com/phosphor2013/list.htm

I had no problems with it, but since I've upgraded my memory, it's
just as secure to disable the pagefile. Even better, when using
Cryptoswap, you don't need to both clearing your pagefile at shutdown.


So I guess no one reading thus far is going to answer my original
question? Don't believe everything Microsoft tells you. If you
indeed have enough memory, XP runs fine without a swapfile, except of
course, as well all know, the occasional Photoshop user.

-Bob

 

[Gary]

If you are really that paranoid then you must realize that it doesn't matter
what you use to encrypt your files they can be recovered given enough time.

 

[Bob]

Of course, but most people don't have that much time (years) to crack
at it. I see no reason not to take "reasonable" measures. Running an
encryption program and disabling the swapfile certainly doesn't take
any extra time out of my day, except the few seconds to type my
password in. Businesses do this all the time, especially with
corporate executive's laptops.

Using encryption with VPN (3DES, AES) is considered the norm for
connecting to your place of employment through the Internet. It most
certainly is a good idea with wireless. Why would it be a stretch to
say that you shouldn't take reasonable measures on the hardware
itself? Personally, I feel everyone should be using such an
application, and you're crazy if you don't. But I digress.

Perhaps I didn't post my original poll on the right day. I thought
there would be others, but most likely they don't frequent this
newsgroup.

 

[Gary]

I think the answer to your original question:

"I have two PC's running XP SP2 with 1Gb RAM. I've disabled the
pagefile on both. I have no ill effects.
I wish Usenet supported polling. I really wanted to know if anyone
does the same thing? How many of you run with no swapfile?"

Most people do run with a swap file and have no need to turn it off.

If you laptop is stolen it is because of the value of the laptop, not the
information contained on the hard disk. (Well unless your 007 I suppose).