unknown large files from setup

[Catherine]

Hi,

I noticed that there are 2 very large files on my C:
drive. They are:

hiberfil.sys 261,600kb
pagefile.sys 393,216kb

Since Windows itself takes up a huge amount of space, I
find it hard to believe that another ~700 meg are needed
for whatever these are. There was nothing like this in
previous versions of Windows.

Also, does anyone know how task manager "performance"
compares to the old "system resources"? I much prefer the
latter because I feel it gives a bigger overall picture.
At least it seemed simpler. It would help if I knew that,
say, 2% CPU usage meant 95% system resources available, or
whatever.

Thanks,
Catherine

[Shenan T. Stanley]

Catherine <> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I noticed that there are 2 very large files on my C:
> drive. They are:
>
> hiberfil.sys 261,600kb
> pagefile.sys 393,216kb
>
> Since Windows itself takes up a huge amount of space, I
> find it hard to believe that another ~700 meg are needed
> for whatever these are. There was nothing like this in
> previous versions of Windows.
>
> Also, does anyone know how task manager "performance"
> compares to the old "system resources"? I much prefer the
> latter because I feel it gives a bigger overall picture.
> At least it seemed simpler. It would help if I knew that,
> say, 2% CPU usage meant 95% system resources available, or
> whatever.
>
> Thanks,
> Catherine

By "There was nothing like this in previous versions of Windows.", you
obviously mean you either never saw it or never looked for them. It might
be true for the 'hiberfil.sys' - but 'pagefile.sys' has been around a LONG
time. Here is some information on these files:


'hiberfil.sys' is part of the "Power management" for Windows Hibernation.
You must still have it on - probably cannot delete the file while the
service is still going. Look into turning it off through Start -> Help and
Support -> search for "power management hibernation". I don't have this
file, so I bet if you turn hibernation off, you either will find it gone or
you can delete it safely.


'pagefile.sys' on the other hand *is* pretty important. I cannot remember a
version of NT without it - it's pretty much needed.

This is a 'file' generated/used by NT/W2K/WXP as 'virtual' memory; that part
of the drive behaves as though it was RAM... When physical RAM is fully used
and there is need for more, infomation/data not currently being accessed can
be 'swapped' to that location and thus free physical RAM for immediate use.
That same data can be transferred back if need be into physical RAM at any
time. If the Page-file (Swap-file) is being overly accessed/used then one
would normally add extra RAM; extra RAM is the simplest way (usually the
cheapest too) to improve overall performance of a given system.
Without some area so defined (on the hard-drive) NT/W2K/XP will not run
properly, especially when running applications that demand/use large areas
of RAM. Size (and location) can be set by default or as you prefer. So it is
not wise to remove it completely under normal circumstances.

More info:

http://tinyurl.com/ey17
http://tinyurl.com/ey19

All Windows OS have a similar 'file'; in '9x (ME) it's generally referred to
a Swap-file'.

More on that definition see:

http://tinyurl.com/ey1c

As for the TASK MANAGER - it is MUCH MORE informative (IMHO) than any
previous version of similar things. In the PROCESSES tab, you can sort by
name/username/CPU/Mem Usage. If you sort by CPU, you can see exactly what
processes are using up all your processor. If "System Idle Process" is
using it all - YAY - you have that much free processor to eat up with more
stuff! Also - the graphing under the "PERFORMANCE" tab is nice.. Used in
conjunction with the PROCESSES tab you can get a quick overview of
everything. The NETWORKING tab is just cool - as unless you are on a
broadband Internet connection that has 100MBIT of bandwidth available to the
Internet or if you transfer lots of files on your local network, its
usefulness can be "in question" - but it can tell you if your problem is
your network is choking or your computer is choking. heh

Good Luck!

--
Shenan Stanley
"Just trying to help"

[Catherine]

Shenan,

Thanks for all your help. I knew about Swap Files, but I'm
coming from Win98 and I never saw a file that big and
didn't know what it was. As for the hibernation part, my
computer is a laptop so I would be reluctant to mess with
that file unless/until I learn a LOT more about it.

As for the CPU stuff, the info you gave sounds like the
info I needed. I just had no idea how to judge what was
going on having no experience.

As you can see, I'm struggling to adapt to the massive
differences between Win98 and WinXP. Thank goodness for
these forums and people like you who are willing to pass
on knowledge.

Thanks again,
Catherine

>
>By "There was nothing like this in previous versions of
Windows.", you
>obviously mean you either never saw it or never looked
for them. It might
>be true for the 'hiberfil.sys' - but 'pagefile.sys' has
been around a LONG
>time. Here is some information on these files:
>
>
>'hiberfil.sys' is part of the "Power management" for
Windows Hibernation.
>You must still have it on - probably cannot delete the
file while the
>service is still going. Look into turning it off through
Start -> Help and
>Support -> search for "power management hibernation". I
don't have this
>file, so I bet if you turn hibernation off, you either
will find it gone or
>you can delete it safely.
>
>
>'pagefile.sys' on the other hand *is* pretty important.
I cannot remember a
>version of NT without it - it's pretty much needed.
>
>This is a 'file' generated/used by NT/W2K/WXP
as 'virtual' memory; that part
>of the drive behaves as though it was RAM... When
physical RAM is fully used
>and there is need for more, infomation/data not currently
being accessed can
>be 'swapped' to that location and thus free physical RAM
for immediate use.
>That same data can be transferred back if need be into
physical RAM at any
>time. If the Page-file (Swap-file) is being overly
accessed/used then one
>would normally add extra RAM; extra RAM is the simplest
way (usually the
>cheapest too) to improve overall performance of a given
system.
>Without some area so defined (on the hard-drive)
NT/W2K/XP will not run
>properly, especially when running applications that
demand/use large areas
>of RAM. Size (and location) can be set by default or as
you prefer. So it is
>not wise to remove it completely under normal
circumstances.
>
>More info:
>
>http://tinyurl.com/ey17
>http://tinyurl.com/ey19
>
>All Windows OS have a similar 'file'; in '9x (ME) it's
generally referred to
>a Swap-file'.
>
>More on that definition see:
>
>http://tinyurl.com/ey1c
>
>As for the TASK MANAGER - it is MUCH MORE informative
(IMHO) than any
>previous version of similar things. In the PROCESSES
tab, you can sort by
>name/username/CPU/Mem Usage. If you sort by CPU, you can
see exactly what
>processes are using up all your processor. If "System
Idle Process" is
>using it all - YAY - you have that much free processor to
eat up with more
>stuff! Also - the graphing under the "PERFORMANCE" tab
is nice.. Used in
>conjunction with the PROCESSES tab you can get a quick
overview of
>everything. The NETWORKING tab is just cool - as unless
you are on a
>broadband Internet connection that has 100MBIT of
bandwidth available to the
>Internet or if you transfer lots of files on your local
network, its
>usefulness can be "in question" - but it can tell you if
your problem is
>your network is choking or your computer is choking. heh
>
>Good Luck!
>
>--
>Shenan Stanley
>"Just trying to help"
>
>
>.
>