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JSI Tip 1394. How can I move the pagefile out of the drive root?

By default, the Pagefile.sys is created in the drive root.

You can use Control Panel / System / Performance / Virtual Memory / Change to move it to another drive, configure it on multiple drives, and change the Initial and Maximum size.

NOTE: Always set the Initial and Maximum size the same, to avoid fragmentation of the paging space.

To move the pagefile from the root of the drive, use Regedt32 to navigate to:

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

Double-click PagingFiles, a type REG_MULT_SZ value, in the right hand pane and click in the Multi-Sting Editor to remove the automatic selection. Edit the string to insert the full path to the pagefile.sys entry/entries.

Example: - change c:\pagefile.sys <Initial> <Maximun> to c:\Winnt\pagefile.sys <Initial> <Maximun>

NOTE: The folder you choose must be granted System - Full Control permissions.

After you restart, you may delete the pagefile.sys in the root directory.

NOTE: You must have enough free space on the drive to temporarily contain both pagefile.sys files (or boot to an alternate install to remove the one in the root).


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