Re: Windows XP swapfile. On or off?

I think the answer to your original question:

"I have two PC's running XP SP2 with 1Gb RAM. I've disabled the
pagefile on both. I have no ill effects.
I wish Usenet supported polling. I really wanted to know if anyone
does the same thing? How many of you run with no swapfile?"

Most people do run with a swap file and have no need to turn it off.

If you laptop is stolen it is because of the value of the laptop, not the
information contained on the hard disk. (Well unless your 007 I suppose).


"Bob" <xxx@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:u23m12105uh6bouduraqrnaili1lkeetvo@xxxxxxxxxx
Of course, but most people don't have that much time (years) to crack
at it. I see no reason not to take "reasonable" measures. Running an
encryption program and disabling the swapfile certainly doesn't take
any extra time out of my day, except the few seconds to type my
password in. Businesses do this all the time, especially with
corporate executive's laptops.

Using encryption with VPN (3DES, AES) is considered the norm for
connecting to your place of employment through the Internet. It most
certainly is a good idea with wireless. Why would it be a stretch to
say that you shouldn't take reasonable measures on the hardware
itself? Personally, I feel everyone should be using such an
application, and you're crazy if you don't. But I digress.

Perhaps I didn't post my original poll on the right day. I thought
there would be others, but most likely they don't frequent this
newsgroup.





On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 11:08:53 -0800, "Gary" <Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

If you are really that paranoid then you must realize that it doesn't
matter
what you use to encrypt your files they can be recovered given enough
time.


"Bob" <xxx@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:2oul12lrj9pfhb0qe64v44uu686c5ogtar@xxxxxxxxxx
Yes, I'm aware of that parameter.

1) It doesn't do a secure wipe of the pagefile. Certain forensic type
procedures could still read the data. Yes, the chance of a thief
having that kind of access is slim, but why take it? It's the
difference between calling your credit card companies and cancelling
your accounts to not having any worries at all.

2) If I have a big swapfile, how does that speed things up in my PC?
It takes a lot longer to shutdown.


No, when I did use a swapfile, I used Cryptoswap:
http://geocities.com/phosphor2013/list.htm

I had no problems with it, but since I've upgraded my memory, it's
just as secure to disable the pagefile. Even better, when using
Cryptoswap, you don't need to both clearing your pagefile at shutdown.


So I guess no one reading thus far is going to answer my original
question? Don't believe everything Microsoft tells you. If you
indeed have enough memory, XP runs fine without a swapfile, except of
course, as well all know, the occasional Photoshop user.

-Bob




On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 09:53:00 -0800, "Gary" <Gary@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSesssionManagerMemory
Management

Select ClearPageFileAtShutdown from the list on the right.
Right click on it and select Modify.
Change the value to 1 to enable.
Reboot your computer.

"Bob" <xxx@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:9nsl12t9om32q8jbdt44ku8pchs1i1gtro@xxxxxxxxxx
On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:54:14 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
<ancientangler@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Why would you want to? Running out of disk space?



No, for security. If my laptop were to be stolen, I don't want my
unencrypted information being in the pagefile. Besides, I've not had
any problems, and my perception is it's faster when multitasking.

I use TrueCrypt to create a encrypted drive for the purposes of
storing all my sensitive data. I have no fear now that any
perpetrator would have access my Quicken data (although I'd still be
pissed at losing my laptop!)

-Bob







.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Windows XP swapfile. On or off?
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