I noticed two big (~ 2GB) files (hiberfil.sys and pagefile.sys) at the root of my C: drive and wondered what they were. I searched on google and found some interesting links, but did not find any answer on this site. I guess it would be good to have this question answered here for future reference.
Here are my questions:
- What is the file hiberfil.sys for?
- What is the file pagefile.sys for?
- Can I safely delete these files?
Answer
hiberfil.sys: is a file used by Windows when you choose to 'Hibernate' the system. Take a look at this site on how to delete it, if you won't use the Hibernate option. In short, you run powercfg -h off in a command terminal with administrator privileges. The file should then be automatically deleted, and the Windows hibernation feature disabled.
pagefile.sys: is the file used by Windows to be your Page File, or your virtual memory swap. If you have 1 GB of RAM and want to use 2 GB as your memory, Windows will create a 1 GB virtual memory in your HD and use it as needed. See this site on how to delete it.
Can you delete them? Yes, but not by simply going to the Windows Explorer and removing them. Take a look at the provided links, or do some research about your Windows version, to know how to delete them.
Notice that simply deleting them is not enough: you'll have to disable the hibernate option and the virtual memory use of your Windows.
No comments:
Post a Comment