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Thread: how to flush a windows swap file...

  1. #1
    Senior Member very_unhappy's Avatar
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    how to flush a windows swap file...

    is there just kinda like one command that would empty the infamous swap file.
    /dev/humor: not found

  2. #2
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    In a word..............NO

    Are you really talking about the "swap" file (3x, 95,98,ME) or do you mean the "page" file (NT, 2000, XP)?

    I have something that will erase it.............like one pass with "0"s or even pseudorandom.............. then DoD M-22............up to Gutmann.........

    I would like a few more details before advising you my friend........... mainly what OS are we talking about?



    And will ya just stop goin to "those" sites

  3. #3
    Senior Member Aardpsymon's Avatar
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    If yer thinking erase it for security and shred it....just run a few innocent memory intensive apps.

    if you want to get rid of it to defrag or whatever, first off close pretty much everything then go into my computer -> properties -> advanced -> performance settings -> advanced -> change virtual memory and set it to 0.

    Then reboot, probably into safe mode. Then you can defrag without the swap file in the way. Don't ask me what that will do to system performance, I have never tried it.

    If you want to do something that isn't either of those then what nihil said. more details please.
    If the world doesn't stop annoying me I will name my kids ";DROP DATABASE;" and get revenge.

  4. #4
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    I do not want to 'divert' from the topic... but a question which I think would probably result in an answer of 'no' is:

    Is there ANY method using which I can ENCRYPT the pagefile in Windows (like in Linux) and while using the OS the pagefile remains encrypted so that from the asecuroty perspective it would become a better situation?
    "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

    - Albert Einstein

  5. #5
    Senior Member Aardpsymon's Avatar
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    if it was possible it would really really slow down your system if you did.
    If the world doesn't stop annoying me I will name my kids ";DROP DATABASE;" and get revenge.

  6. #6
    It's a gas!
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    What about the built-in EFS?
    Would this not work on the page file also?

  7. #7
    It's a gas!
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    Scrap that idea, it wont!

  8. #8
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    It isn't possible almost by definition. You need to decrypt stuff to work with it.

    Now, there are numerous drive encryption applications that would do the business once you logged off, but not whilst you had something open.

    It would not improve security, as you would have to give "system" the password, and a lot of malware runs as "system"?


  9. #9
    AO übergeek phishphreek's Avatar
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    You can clear your pagefile at shutdown.
    http://netsecurity.about.com/od/wind...t/aa071004.htm

    I think that the bitlocker encryption in Vista Ultimate? It will encrypt the whole volume, including the pagefile.
    http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true
    Quitmzilla is a firefox extension that gives you stats on how long you have quit smoking, how much money you\'ve saved, how much you haven\'t smoked and recent milestones. Very helpful for people who quit smoking and used to smoke at their computers... Helps out with the urges.

  10. #10
    Senior Member nihil's Avatar
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    Hi phish~ I believe that is only available in XP. I am not sure how it does it either, that is, just how secure the "clearing" really is?

    The tools I have seen for earlier versions of Windows are either run from bootable media or submit a job that runs when you reboot.

    I agree that bitlocker in Vista Ultimate and Enterprise will encrypt the whole drive apart from some boot information that is in a separate partition.

    I still think that the answer to jockey's question is "no". As soon as you boot up the system with bitlocker you will open Windows, which means that you will open the page file in unencrypted form.

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