A paging file - why is it needed on a computer, why does the system "slow down" without it? Complete Windows swap file setup Moving swapfile sys to another disk

On all or practically all the resources on which I saw this question asked, the answer was practically unchanged: "impossible". In fact this is not true.

For reference:

the Swapfile.sys file is located in the root of the boot (system) windows partition and has the "hidden" attribute, which makes it invisible to the naked eye. It is 256MB in size. Its appearance is directly related to the so-called metro applications, introduced into use in windows 8.0.

Due to causal techniques, MS could not use one pagefile.sys file for both classic and newborn types of applications and remembered the good old name, familiar to all aksakals from the time when windows required megabytes of memory, not gigabytes (yes, yes , it was such a time).

Unlike the paging file, the windows interface does not provide tools for managing the location of the reincarnated container.

The reasons for moving the swapfile.sys file are almost the same as for its cousin pagefile.sys:

• the presence of a faster partition than the one where the system is currently installed
• trying to maximize free space on the system disk
• centralized storage of all garbage-like material on a separate section

How to do it? Easy, eatinstruction in English ... For those who are not strong in the angelic, I will try to briefly explain the essence of the actions.

Stage I : you need to disable the swap file on ALL windows partitions.

Do not forget to confirm each action in this window by clicking the Set button for each disk, where we disable the FP. The "Automatically select paging file size" birdie should be unchecked.

Stage II : as administrator, run the command line and execute the command

mklink c: \\\\ swapfile.sys k: \\\\ swapfile.sys

where k: is the letter of the destination partition where the file will be located. The bottom line is that we replace the original with a link to it - physically it will be located on the specified disk, but the system will be sure that the location of the file is unchanged. A link will be located on the system drive that does not take up disk space.

For reference:

The easiest way to find the command line in the desired form is by pressing the Win + X key combination, select "Command line (administrator)" from the menu, and confirm the action if necessary.

Stage III : include the swap file, placing it anywhere.

Regardless of the location of the pagefile.sys swap file, the swapfile.sys file will be created where we told it - in our case, on the K drive:

At one time, I did a similar operation myself, for transfer I used the capabilities of the Total Commander plug-in - ntfslink, from the PE environment. It works both ways.

In this article we will talk about such an interesting file as Swapfile.sys. This material will be of interest to those who like to study what certain operating system files are for, whether they are of any importance and whether they can be deleted. Well, now let's sort it out in order.

Where is Swapfile.sys located

It is located at the root of the system disk (in some cases, it may be located on other partitions of the hard disk, depending on where your paging file is located). The fact is that Swapfile.sys is nothing more than a swap file. Only in the Windows 7 operating system one file pagefile.sys was responsible for virtual memory, while in the top ten Swapfile.sys was added to it.

Since this is a system file, you just won't see it if you go to the root of the C drive:

In order to see Swapfile.sys we need to enable the display of system files. To do this, right in the explorer window, click on the "File" tab and from the drop-down menu select "Change folder and search options".

In the window that opens, go to the "View" tab and remove the checkbox opposite the item "Hide protected system files".

And now our file has appeared.

Now, about whether it can be deleted and how best to do it. I already wrote about the paging file in Windows 10. Therefore, read it and, depending on the parameters of your computer, decide whether to disable it or not, and here I will just duplicate how the swap file and, accordingly, Swapfile.sys are deleted.

And so, right-click on the "This computer" icon and select "Properties" from the drop-down menu

In the window that opens, select "Additional system parameters":

In the window that opens, remove the bird opposite the point "Automatically select paging file size"

Select the hard disk partition where the file is installed, put the switch in the position "Without swap file" and click on the button "Set" and "OK"

Everything, after that Swapfile.sys will be removed from the computer and disk space will be freed up.

And also watch a video on the topic:

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10 facts about swapfile.sys - What is this file and can it be deleted

Owners of Windows operating systems from 8.1 and higher may have noticed that the list of system files has been supplemented with one more -.

What this file is responsible for and whether it is needed in the system, all PC users need to know.

What is swapfile?

In addition to pagefile.sys, the Resource Monitor contains swapfile.sys.

These are all swap files and are used exclusively for metro applications.

As a standard, such files are stored in the root folder of the hard disk and do not exceed 256 MB in size.

If the user wishes, the memory size of the swap file can be increased.

Why did the system have a third paging file?

The need for a third file arose after the need for a new way to manage memory due to the emergence of a large number of Metro applications.

These applications require a little more memory to run.

To see the swap file, you first need to enable the display of protected system files.

They can be displayed as follows: Control Panel - Folder Options.

Find the tab in the folder settings "View" and open it, remove the marker from the item and save the settings by pressing the OK button.

If there is not enough RAM while running applications, the system automatically writes data to swapfile.sys.

Thus, it became possible to suspend inactive applications to unload the "operative".

Applications are restored automatically after freeing up RAM.

How does swapfile work?

The work of the swap file can be disassembled in stages:

1. PLM (Process Lifetime Manager - Lifecycle manager) calculates the amount of missing virtual memory and sends a request to MM (Memory Manager - Memory manager) to free the working set of one of the processes that is responsible for processing Metro applications.

2. The memory manager processes the request, then issues the command to move the memory page to the list of recent pages with operating system changes.

All page content is automatically copied and saved to disk.

3. A set of pages is written in turn on the modified page of the list, as indicated by MM.

Recording is performed in the background and is triggered only when there is not enough virtual memory.

4. After updating the application, the worklist is downloaded to the hard drive.

Those pages of memory that were removed from the process will still remain untouched in the waiting list.

In another way, we can say that they remained in the cache of useful pages, which, if necessary, can be used for other applications.

If the memory pages are required by the "native" application, the system can quickly return them.

Where is the swap file?

You can find it in the root folder of the hard drive on which the operating system is installed.

Most of the system files are protected and hidden.

Therefore, to find it, you need to display all hidden system files.

You can configure the display of hidden files not only in the way that we described above. There is another option.

To do this, go to the root folder of the hard drive and open the menu in the upper left corner "File", in which you need to select the item "Change folder and search options".

In the window that opens, open the tab "View", uncheck the item "Hide protected system files" and save the changes by clicking the Apply and OK buttons.

After that, not only the swap file swapfile.sys will be displayed in the root folder, but also other important system files.

In no case should you delete such files! This is fraught with the risk of damage to your computer system. Otherwise, you will have to reinstall the operating system completely.

Difference and affiliation

In fact, swapfile is analogous to pagefile. They are both used for temporary storage of application data, offloading RAM.

What distinguishes them from other files with the .sys extension is the high responsiveness of applications stored in swap and page files.

Customization options

If necessary, the user is given the opportunity to change the amount of available space, disable or delete the swap file, and also move it to another hard drive.

However, it can only be changed or removed at the same time as pagefile.

By default, the system is set to automatically run files and allocate memory for them on the hard disk.

If the user does not agree with the standard settings, he is given the opportunity to change them.

How to change the amount of virtual memory

There are several ways to change the amount of virtual memory:

• Menu "Start" - "System" - "Additional system parameters".
• In the search bar menu "Start" we enter "Performance" (without quotes).
• Menu "My Computer" - "Properties" - "Advanced System Settings".

Opening parameters through the search bar requires fewer steps than other methods.

In the window that opens, you need to go to the tab "Additionally", then LMB click the Change button.

If you have not previously made changes to the system virtual memory settings, there will be a marker on the item in the new window.

If you remove this marker, you can independently change the size of the allowed memory as you wish.

To do this, manually enter the allowed volume, then click the Set button.

Disable virtual memory

You cannot completely delete the swapfile from your computer, but you can disable it until the moment there is no need to expand the OP.

In the window for changing virtual memory parameters, put a marker on the item "Without swap file", confirm the action by pressing the Set and OK buttons, and then restart the computer system.

It should be noted that the amount of free memory on the hard disk will increase, and the performance of the operating system may significantly decrease.

To restore swapfile, you need to go to the same parameters window and put a marker on the item "Automatically select paging file size", or set the size of virtual memory, then reboot the system.

After restarting the paging file will be restored.

Transferring swapfile to another hard drive

You can also customize the swap file by transferring it to another hard drive.

In this case, we mean exactly another hard drive, and not a logical partition of the same disk.

Transferring the swap file saves disk space with the system, but performance does not change.

The transfer requires a symbolic link.

Mklink c: \\\\ swapfile.sys g: \\\\ swapfile.sys

Instead of the letter g, you can put any other that corresponds to the drive you need.

After all the manipulations performed, it is required to reboot the operating system.

Determining the optimal amount of virtual memory

Before changing the amount of virtual memory, consider why you are increasing the performance of your computer.

If this is an office PC or laptop for work, you should not increase the memory too much.

For a gaming computer, consider the amount of memory on the hard drive itself.

To determine the optimal amount of memory, run several priority programs, games and / or videos on your computer at once.

By pressing the Ctrl + Alt + Delete keys once, call the task manager and go to the tab "Speed".

In this window, you need to find out how loaded the RAM is, then multiply this number by 2 and subtract the actually installed amount of memory.

For example, you have 5 GB of RAM loaded, but in fact, 6 GB is installed. We calculate: (5+5)-6=4 .

Exactly this amount of additional virtual memory will be optimal for your computer.

Checking swapfile after disconnecting

After you have disabled the paging file, you can check if it has disappeared from the computer system.

To do this, you first need to enable the display of all hidden system files.

To display, open the explorer and follow the following path: "File" - "Change folder and search settings" - "View" - "Hide protected system files".

We save the changes by clicking the Apply and OK buttons.

If you have disabled the swap file correctly, it will not appear in the system folder.

Check for swap file

Swapfile pros and cons

Advantages:

• Saving budget... Thanks to the swap file, you can do without buying additional RAM cards for a while. If the extension is required for a specific amount of time, you can use swapfile.sys.
• Performance stability... Lack of RAM greatly slows down the operation of the system, which, unambiguously, causes failures. If the hard disk has enough memory, you can expand the virtual memory to the optimal amount.
• Excellent workaround... If you don't have enough RAM to run high-demand programs, the swapfile.sys extension will provide you with the temporary support you need.

Disadvantages:

• Slow reading speed... If the swap file is placed outside the system hard drive, the response time may increase.
• Swapfile is just RAM support... Swap cannot replace or supplement it fully.
• Hard disk memory usage. If there is not enough free space on your hard drive, a swap will do little to solve the problem of insufficient RAM. You will have to buy a new OP anyway.
• High probability of computer breakdown... With the constant use of the swap file as an extension of the OP, a system failure may occur, because of this, your computer may need to reinstall the operating system or a comprehensive repair.

conclusions

It allows you to temporarily expand the amount of RAM, but does not solve the problem of the lack of available space properly.

The swap can only be used as a temporary solution.

In this case, there is a danger of a BIOS error, since this is a software "overclocking" of the computer, which was not initially provided for by operating systems.

For gaming computers, such a solution is not only useless, but also dangerous, since these computers use the system resources of their devices to the limit.

Using a swap file can lead to both incorrect operation and damage to your PC hardware.

If you are in doubt about your skills, contact the service center, where specialists will help you understand your problem, as well as advise you or independently configure the system of your computer.

Contact only licensed service centers that have good reviews or work at computer stores.

Let's separate the Swapfile.sys files Hiberfil.sys Pagefile.sys: what and for what purpose, what function do they have, and what role do they play in the performance of your computer?

Swapfile.sys Hiberfil.sys Pagefile.sys: one “extra”?

In the Windows operating system, the lack of system resources is actively supported. The system refers to it (if it is created) at the moment when the RAM ceases to cope with the assigned tasks, or rather to redistribute RAM resources.

In addition, in Windows, by default, it is set, which allows you to save all "kernel" processes (from the side of the Windows kernel), as well as those launched from the outside, directly to the hard disk. After clicking on the start button of the computer, this file helps the system to boot faster than a normal boot from scratch. The file is called hiberfil.sys.

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It would seem that everything is simple and clear. However, with the advent of Windows 8/10, things got a little more complicated.

AND pagefile and hiberfil are firmly registered in the system as long as the paging file and quick launch functions are activated:

But, as you can see from the last figure, the hibernation mode (and therefore the file itself) is firmly tied to: no quick start - hibernation does not work. Although the file itself hiberfil will remain in place until you forcefully get rid of it (command in the paragraph below). But from here just quick start for Windows 10 users constant problems arise: it is the cause of many system bugs ( File Explorer loses navigation functions, the taskbar does not work, etc.).

Further. If set all the settings of the specified and functions by default, a characteristic fact is observed: hiberfil takes 70-75% RAM, and pagefile get the rest 25-30% ... Apparently, the hibernation mode requires a lot of resources to unload the kernel drivers and applications, but the system takes these resources away from the paging file. Delete hiberfil.sys (for this purpose in the command console enter the command

file should disappear) and look at the swap file after a while. Its value selected by Windows will approximate the size of physical RAM. However, it all depends on the actual amount of RAM: the lower the amount, the more the virtual machine will be in percentage terms.

pagefile grows after disabling fast startup and virtual memory auto-tuning

What is the bottom line?

What is the conclusion from this? If you are not a laptop user who is constantly at risk of losing data due to a dead battery, it is better to abandon hibernation in favor of a paging file, which carries much more benefit. In any case, remember about the distribution of computer / laptop resources when the quick start function is activated: it consumes a lot of resources. Only the owners of “top-end” assemblies can boast of its trouble-free work.

What does swapfile.sys have to do with it?

With the first two, the situation has more or less cleared up. What is swapfile.sys? Its function is similar to the swap file, but the action was originally directed to applications from the Windows Store. But not only. And despite the similarity in purpose, they have different algorithms.

During a session, Windows “means” both files: pagefile and swapfile... And the first contains information about the programs that quite a while user did not start and which can be “taken to the warehouse” - we can only regulate its size. And in the second - information about applications, which exactly not enough RAM... Do you feel the difference? For all that, both files work differently on different assemblies: pagefile has proven itself on productive machines, the latter should often be included in the work on outdated computers or tablets running Windows. And don't forget that both files are primarily hard disk space. This means that both are susceptible to fragmentation, and this process is almost instantaneous, and the huge allocated sizes for files can gradually fade away due to fragmentation. This is a starting point for solving performance problems and.

Swapfile.sys Hiberfil.sys Pagefile.sys Summary

We have learned that Swapfile.sys Hiberfil.sys Pagefile.sys play a distinct role in system performance. However, each of them performs its function in its own way, which depends on the state of the system as a whole and the hardware capabilities of the computer. So remember - the exposed functions for Windows optimization may not work or work not at full capacity. Maintain the system in proper condition.

Some users examining the system files on the C drive in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 notice a file named Swapfile.sys.

It is usually small in size, but its purpose is of some interest.

In this article, we will tell you about this file and you will find out why Swapfile.sys is needed on the system drive C.

What is Swapfile.sys for?

Just like Swapfile.sys is. That is, files and data of running programs and games that do not fit in RAM are loaded into it.

Many people may have a very pertinent question - why two swap files?! Microsoft provides the following answer on this matter.

The fact is that all new modern applications use a slightly different algorithm for working with memory. The usual page file Pagefile.sys works like this - you run a program or game, it is loaded into RAM. Everything that does not fit there is loaded into the swap file.

Swapfile.sys works differently. You launch the game. At the same time, naturally, something is already running - antivirus, browser, skype, some background system services, explorer. Something from the game files does not fit into RAM. And now the system, instead of loading the remaining game files into the swap file, uploads there files of background running applications that you are not currently using, and continues to load game files into the free space.

All this gives you faster performance of demanding applications. After all, now they are not loaded into the swap file, but what you are not currently using. Here is the system.

Should you delete Swapfile.sys?

Definitely not! After all, its size is usually about 250 MB. By removing it, you will not, but reduce the performance of your PC.

If for some reason you still decide to delete this file, then you can do it, completely the swap file.