The alternative is for the system to crash or hang when it runs out of RAM. And that’s exactly what used to happen, in the bad old days, before swapfiles came into common use!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, if you set up your system try to run with no swapfile, you’ll encounter those same errors when your system’s real RAM maxes out, just like the old days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But some people recommend deleting the swapfile at the end of every computing session, for security reasons: It’s possible, for someone who has access to your PC, to forensically examine the swapfile for fragments of data left over from previous operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But this is a long, hit-or-miss process, and usually requires actual, physical access to your PC. It’s not something a casual snoop would do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But, if you’re using a shared PC for some kind of top secret work that nefarious persons want to steal, then sure, delete the pagefile as the last step in all the other physical and electronic security measures you take, such encrypting everything, and placing the air-gapped PC in a physically and electronically secure room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But for most users in normal circumstances, it’s just not worth it: If you do delete the pagefile, the system will rebuild it the next time you start up; and that takes extra time. All you’ve really done is make things slower for yourself!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leave the swapfile alone; you, and your PC, will be happier for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Permalink: https:\/\/langa.com\/?p=2678<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n COMMENT \/ QUESTION<\/strong> on THIS ITEM?<\/strong> See the<\/em> Comment box<\/strong> at bottom of this page!<\/em> For most people, it’s NOT a good idea to delete the pagefile. A pagefile (or swapfile) is a temporary scratchpad area on the hard drive that an operating system (e.g. Windows) uses to store code and data when the operating system is juggling more stuff than will fit into RAM. A pagefile lets Windows act as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-reader-asks","category-windows"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paaiox-Hc","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3143,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/07\/30\/should-you-use-new-nvme-or-old-sata-ssd-for-booting-windows-10\/","url_meta":{"origin":2678,"position":0},"title":"“Should I use my new NVMe or old SATA SSD for booting Windows 10?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-07-30","format":false,"excerpt":"The general rule is: Put the operating system, and your other most-frequently-accessed files, on the fastest drive. NVMe drives can be faster than classic SATA drives; but the fastest SATA SSDs are faster than some run-of-the-mill NVMe SSDs. Plus, some of the spec-sheet advantages of NVMe may not matter all\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3426,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/09\/18\/is-high-disk-usage-a-ram-problem-or-a-pc-problem\/","url_meta":{"origin":2678,"position":1},"title":"“Is high disk usage a RAM problem or a PC problem?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-09-18","format":false,"excerpt":"If a PC is running slow despite having reasonably current and otherwise-healthy hardware, then too-little RAM is for sure a prime suspect --- especially if the PC was originally configured at the low end of the OS's RAM recommendations. Of course, if your PC is old, or has an underpowered\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1744,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/01\/29\/taking-my-own-advice\/","url_meta":{"origin":2678,"position":2},"title":"Taking my own advice","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-01-29","format":false,"excerpt":"Uncle! OK, OK, I give in! When I recently resurrected the Langa.Com site, and started working again with the old Windows Secrets gang over at AskWoody.com, I assumed my current laptop would be up to the task. After all, it had served me well for the last few years. I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Misc"","block_context":{"text":"Misc","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/misc\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/time-for-a-new-PC.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2579,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2019\/04\/12\/a-reader-asks-why-is-there-a-need-for-separate-ram-and-hard-drives\/","url_meta":{"origin":2678,"position":3},"title":"A reader asks: “Why is there a need for separate RAM and hard drives?”","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2019-04-12","format":false,"excerpt":"Speaking very generally: RAM is very fast, temporary data storage used only while the device is powered on. The data in RAM goes away when you turn off the device. Hard drives are for storing data longer term; they retain data even when powered off. But hard drives --- even\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "A reader asks..."","block_context":{"text":"A reader asks...","link":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/category\/a-reader-asks\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/langa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/1280px-Samsung-1GB-DDR2-Laptop-RAM-e1587235482510.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":782,"url":"https:\/\/langa.com\/index.php\/2018\/10\/19\/a-reader-asks-how-much-open-space-does-a-drive-really-need\/","url_meta":{"origin":2678,"position":4},"title":"A reader asks: How much open space does a drive really need?","author":"Fred Langa","date":"2018-10-19","format":false,"excerpt":"Reader Liz G asks (via the CONTACT link) how much open space a drive really needs: I know installed hard drives need 15% breathing room. 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