[Esbenovich]

hi
i've just found out about the windows page/swap file, which can contain sensitive material like
creditcard numbers, passwords etc. i also heard that it is a good idea to erase it sometimes. but i can't find out how.

so how do you do it?

[lunarlander]

I have Vista Business, and here's how to do it:
Start Menu / Administrative Tools/ Local Security Policy/ Local Policies / Security Options / Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile - enable.

This will empty the swap file on every reboot.

Local Security Policy is also available in Windows XP Pro. If you are using Home version, then you dont have this.

[Esbenovich]

ok, but i run xp home.

i've been googling it alot and i found your answer many times but i didn't now that only pro could use that menu

thx for the answer anyway

[taberds]

you may be looking for this?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314834

[Esbenovich]

sry but i was kinda hoping for a version without changing the registry
but i googled it -again! and i found a website that sounds like i can do it

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/...d-pagefilesys/

now all i wonder is if it is the best way to do it
and when i've done what the website says can i just reset the pagefile to whatever it was before?

ps.
i have one gb of ram in my pc, is it safe to do this whith that much?

[lunarlander]

If all you are doing is to turn virtual memory off and then turn it back on immediately again just to get rid of the pagefile then it shouldn't be a problem.

[Esbenovich]

ok thx

i'll try it out

[Esbenovich]

hi again

I know it's been along time since my last post but since then I've upgraded to 2 gigs of ram instead of just 1.
now I wonder if I really need the page/whatever file - my pc is mostly used for some of the heavy stuff as gaming, watching videos and photo-editing (with Photoshop)

[WhitPhil]

Yes, do not disable the pagefile.

Windows only uses it when required, which with 2GBs installed isn't going to be very often.

As well, there are applications that will refuse to run without a pagefile present.

[Esbenovich]

All right, it won't be turned off then xD