What are these files for?

I looked at my c-drive after unhidden hidden files.
I found these two big files:

hiberfil.sys (2.15 GB)
pagefile.sys (1.61 GB)

I have no idea what these files are doing on my computer.
I am no comfortable to see that these files are too big.
Can I delete them without affecting WinXP Pro? Jorge

On Mon, 5 Jan 2009 15:16:53 -0700, "Jorge Cervantes"
wrote:

I looked at my c-drive after unhidden hidden files.
I found these two big files:

hiberfil.sys (2.15 GB)
pagefile.sys (1.61 GB)

I have no idea what these files are doing on my computer.
I am no comfortable to see that these files are too big.
Can I delete them without affecting WinXP Pro? Jorge


Google them, and you will find out what they are and how they are
used. You can turn off hibernation if you don't use it, but do *not*
try to delete the page file.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

"Jorge Cervantes" wrote in message
...
I looked at my c-drive after unhidden hidden files.
I found these two big files:

hiberfil.sys (2.15 GB)
pagefile.sys (1.61 GB)

I have no idea what these files are doing on my computer.
I am no comfortable to see that these files are too big.
Can I delete them without affecting WinXP Pro? Jorge



The first file, hiberfil.sys, is there because hibernation is enabled on
your computer. This file is usually equal in size to the amount of memory
installed on your computer. Here's an article with a basic explanation of
how it works.

Use Hibernate and Standby to Conserve Batteries
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...hibernate.mspx

If you no longer wish to have the option to make your computer hibernate, go
to Control Panel and double click the Power Options icon. Click on the
Hibernate tab and remove the check mark from the box next to "Enable
Hibernation". Click OK.

The second file, pagefile.sys, is created by Windows and is used as virtual
memory. The approach that works best for the average user is to let Windows
manage the size of this file. To see if that's how your computer is
configured, do the following.

Go to Control Panel and double click the System icon.
In System Properties, click on the Advanced tab.
On the Advanced page, hit the Settings button under Performance.
In Performance Options, click on the Advanced tab.
On the Advanced page, click the Change button under Virtual Memory.
On the Virtual Memory page, make sure System managed size is selected.
Hit the Set button.
Click OK three times.

Here's some info on your pagefile.

Virtual Memory in Windows XP
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alistai...icles/xpvm.htm

Good luck

Nepatsfan

Jorge Cervantes wrote:
I looked at my c-drive after unhidden hidden files.
I found these two big files:

hiberfil.sys (2.15 GB)
pagefile.sys (1.61 GB)

I have no idea what these files are doing on my computer.
I am no comfortable to see that these files are too big.
Can I delete them without affecting WinXP Pro?

Now is a great time to point you to one of the easiest ways to find
information on problems you may be having and solutions others have found:

Search using Google!
http://www.google.com/
(How-to: http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/basics.html )

I would recommend leaving them alone - although if you don't use
Hibernation - you can turn it off and free up that 2.15GB. Although there
are probably many people who run without Virtual Memory (pagefile) - I
cannot say I would recommend it to you.

If you need to free up space:

If you are comfortable with the stability of your system, you can delete the
uninstall files for the patches that Windows XP has installed...
http://www3.telus.net/dandemar/spack.htm
( Particularly of interest here - #4 )
( Alternative: http://www.dougknox.com/xp/utils/xp_hotfix_backup.htm )

You can run Disk Cleanup - built into Windows XP - to erase all but your
latest restore point and cleanup even more "loose files"..

How to use Disk Cleanup
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310312

You can turn off hibernation if it is on and you don't use it..

When you hibernate your computer, Windows saves the contents of the system's
memory to the hiberfil.sys file. As a result, the size of the hiberfil.sys
file will always equal the amount of physical memory in your system. If you
don't use the hibernate feature and want to recapture the space that Windows
uses for the hiberfil.sys file, perform the following steps:

- Start the Control Panel Power Options applet (go to Start, Settings,
Control Panel, and click Power Options).
- Select the Hibernate tab, clear the "Enable hibernation" check box, then
click OK; although you might think otherwise, selecting Never under the
"System hibernates" option on the Power Schemes tab doesn't delete the
hiberfil.sys file.
- Windows will remove the "System hibernates" option from the Power Schemes
tab and delete the hiberfil.sys file.

You can control how much space your System Restore can use...

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the System Restore tab.
3. Highlight one of your drives (or C: if you only have one) and click on
the "Settings" button.
4. Change the percentage of disk space you wish to allow.. I suggest moving
the slider until you have just about 1GB (1024MB or close to that...)
5. Click OK.. Then Click OK again.

You can control how much space your Temporary Internet Files can utilize...

Empty your Temporary Internet Files and shrink the size it stores to a
size between 64MB and 128MB..

- Open ONE copy of Internet Explorer.
- Select TOOLS - Internet Options.
- Under the General tab in the "Temporary Internet Files" section, do the
following:
- Click on "Delete Cookies" (click OK)
- Click on "Settings" and change the "Amount of disk space to use:" to
something between 64MB and 128MB. (It may be MUCH larger right
now.)
- Click OK.
- Click on "Delete Files" and select to "Delete all offline contents"
(the checkbox) and click OK. (If you had a LOT, this could take 2-10
minutes or more.)
- Once it is done, click OK, close Internet Explorer, re-open Internet
Explorer.

You can use an application that scans your system for log files and
temporary files and use that to get rid of those:

Ccleaner (Free!)
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Other ways to free up space..

SequoiaView
http://www.win.tue.nl/sequoiaview/

JDiskReport
http://www.jgoodies.com/freeware/jdiskreport/index.html

Those can help you visually discover where all the space is being used.

If you are concerned over less than 5GB of space total at any given time
being freed up on your hard disk drive - then something is wrong and
you would be better off spending a little and putting in a drive that is
likely 3-8 times as large as what you have not and not concerning
yourself over such a small amount of space OR you seriously need
to consider what you really need on the system and what should be
archived.

Basic housekeeping 101... - in an actual home, if your storage area gets
full - you either have to decide what you really should have in the storage
area and what could go or you have to find a new place to store stuff
that will accommodate everything you need. You don't walk into a
warehouse of cars, look at the filing cabinet in the corner where
you keep all the records for the cars and decide that if you move it out of
the warehouse - you will have more room for cars. ;-)

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html