Share via

Cannnot clear pagefile.sys at shutdown for Windows 10 Home version ?

Anonymous
2020-11-03T14:55:28+00:00

So i have been trying to clear the pagefile.sys file by modifying the value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 1 instead of 0.  But right after a reboot, the currently allocated still stay at around 5 GB. Is there a way to clear the pagefile properly ?

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Files, folders, and storage

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments No comments

Answer accepted by question author

  1. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T16:35:23+00:00

    Dear iiixefehs,i suggest this other method then, press Windows + R on the keyboard and type “gpedit. msc ”in the Run dialog box that appears and press“ Enter ”.

    If an error message appears saying that gpedit.msc was not found, you are using a Home edition of Windows. You cannot use this tool.

    In the left pane, navigate to the Local computer> Computer configuration> Windows settings> Security settings> Local policies> Security options folder policy.

    Locate the "Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile" in the right pane and double-click it.

    Click the "Enabled" option in the properties window that appears and click "OK". Windows will now clean the paging file every time you shut down.

    You can now close the group policy editor window.

    If you want to prevent Windows from cleaning your page file every time you shut down, return here, double-click on the "Shutdown: clear paging file from virtual memory" setting and select the "Disabled" option.

    I hope this resolves, see you later!

    4 people found this answer helpful.
    0 comments No comments

5 additional answers

Sort by: Most helpful
  1. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.


    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  2. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T15:14:33+00:00

    Dear iiixefehs,this article demonstrates the method for cleaning the Windows paging file (Pagefile.sys) during the shutdown process, so that there is no unsafe data in the paging file when the shutdown process is complete.

    Note If you enable this feature, the shutdown time may increase.

    Some third-party programs may temporarily store unencrypted passwords (plain text) or other sensitive information in memory. Because of Windows' virtual memory architecture, this information may be present in the paging file.

    Although not a suitable substitute for physical protection of the computer, cleaning the paging file can be a good idea to increase data security on the computer while Windows is not running.

    Open the Windows registry

    Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).

    Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown data to 1 in the following registry key :

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ClearPageFileAtShutdown

    If the value does not exist, add this:

    Value name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown

    Value type: REG_DWORD

    Value: 1

    This change will not take effect until you restart your computer.

    I hope this helps!

    0 comments No comments
  3. Deleted

    This answer has been deleted due to a violation of our Code of Conduct. The answer was manually reported or identified through automated detection before action was taken. Please refer to our Code of Conduct for more information.


    Comments have been turned off. Learn more

  4. Anonymous
    2020-11-03T15:01:12+00:00

    Hello iiixefehs, welcome to the Microsoft community, my name is Luiz Cruz, an independent consultant and I would be happy to help you.

    O arquivo de paginação (Pagefile.sys) é o arquivo que o Windows utiliza para memória virtual - uma área de armazenamento em disco dedicada que é tratada como RAM adicional por aplicações do servidor.

    Não há nenhuma maneira de prever precisamente quais dados estarão presentes no arquivo de paginação em um dado momento.

    Os dados do arquivo de paginação podem incluir senhas ou outras informações confidenciais.

    O arquivo de paginação é protegido enquanto o Windows está em execução, mas os dados contidos nele persistem após um desligamento. Se o acesso físico ao servidor não estiver adequadamente restrito, um usuário não autorizado pode acessar os dados no arquivo de paginação, movendo o disco que contém o volume do sistema para uma máquina diferente. Além disso, outros sistemas operacionais instalados no mesmo servidor podem ter acesso irrestrito ao arquivo de paginação quando o Windows não está em execução.

    Para atenuar esse possível risco à segurança, o Windows pode ser configurado para limpar o arquivo de paginação em todos os desligamentos.

    Solution:

    Windows configuration to clean the paging file at shutdown through the registry:

    Open Regedit.

    Navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager".

    Create a DWORD value called Clearpagefileatshutdown and set its value to 1.

    No restart is required for the change to take effect. To create a file that will automatically edit the record, copy the following text into the Block:

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

    [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager]

    "ClearPageFileAtShutdown"=dword:00000001

    Save the file with a descriptive name, such as ClearPageFile.reg. Right-click the file and select Merge to update the record with this value. The paging file will be cleared the next time Windows is shut down.

    I hope I helped, even more!

    0 comments No comments