[ None Quake related question ] hiberfil.sys & pagefile.sys files.

[♥samantha♥]

We have windows 10 installed on a separate secondary hard drive, but choose to continue using windows 7 until the end of its support life cycle next year January 2020.

[ Page File ]
I have 32 GB of system ram installed, is there a way of cutting down the page file that windows 7 uses, currently the page file is 31.9 GB

I know pagefile.sys is needed and the more system ram I have installed the larger the page file will be.

[ hibernation file ]
I have also noticed there is a hiberfil.sys, which is 23.9 GB, I know this system file is for when the PC goes into hibernate mode, to store data, the thing is we don't use hibernation mode on our pc and have never used this mode.

Can this mode be disabled, so that the extra disc space can be reclaimed, we have enough hard drive space as we have 4 hard drive installed on this pc, because we have never used hibernation mode, how can we disable or remove this file?

[Kyuss]

Hello Samantha,
sure you can disable the hibernation mode. I always do that on every PC I installed windows on at first because it is just a waste of disk space.

It is pretty simple to deactivate. Just open the CMD as administrator (right click mouse and open as Administrator) and write into that command line window:

powercfg -h off

and hit Enter and the file is gone. If you ever want to active it again just do the same and write:

powercfg -h on


Hope I could help?

Greetings and see you in Quake
Kyuss

[DCR]

Have had pagefile disabled since windows 2000 when i was at 768MB ram. I can not find an argument to keep pagefile enabled that's valid for current software at all. Sure some legacy software will demand it perhaps, and if u do large scale creative editing it can be useful, but that's about it.

[crogeek]

There is no absolute point of using hibernation at all - especially nowadays when you can turn off or turn on PCs in seconds because of SSDs.
My opinion only, I don't use hibernation/sleep modes since like Windows 2000 or something.

[♥samantha♥]

Thank you for all the replies & tips. Now that the hiberfil.sys is removed.

Is there also a way of limiting the amount of disc space used for page file, I know this feature is needed for the OS, I do think 31.9GB is to much, could I get this down to 20 GB or 16 GB, what are the exact number I would have to input to get either of the two thank you.

[Kyuss]

I would recommend to leave the pagefile like it is and let the system decide and manage it itself so you will never get problems cause of that!

But if you still want to do it or just being curious where you find it follow these steps:

Windows 7:
Start-Button -> Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced system settings

On the Advanced tab at the performance section click "Settings" -> Advanced -> Change

Windows 10:
Click on your search bar at the taskbar and search for "control panel" after that it is the same way like on Win7.