Pagefile.sys, is an important systemfile belonging to Windows. More known than the filename, is it’s function: as storagefile of Windows files and information is automatically stored on the memory, when there is enough RAM. If you are having alot of programs open on your computer and you don’t have a lot of memory, then you can often hear the harddisk working: Windows is then storing pagefiles from the full RAM on the harddisk, into the file ‘pagefile.sys’.

Normally Windows will handle the size of ‘pagefile.sys’ itself. Windows will calculate a new size looking at the amount of free space on the harddisk. Because the amount of free space changes all the time, windows will fragment the data in the pagefile.sys. If the fragmenting becomes too much, it is a good idea to defragment your harddisk and make a fresh pagefile.sys. After a restart it’s again in one piece on the harddisk, instead of being scattered around.

If however, you put a certain value to the size of the pagefile, then Windows can sometimes be faster. It is a good idea to make the size of the file not too big, and invest in some memory: data that are stored in the memory instead of pagefile.sys will be ready for use much quicker.