Quick overview:
The swap file is the so-called virtual working memory of Windows 2000, in case the working memory runs out. However, if a program crashes, remnants remain in the swap file. As a result, this file fragments and access to it becomes slower. However, you can arrange for Windows to overwrite the so-called page file with zeros every time it shuts down.
1. Click on Start > Run and type regedit in the command line. Navigation is similar to Windows Explorer. Go to the following values in sequence HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management.
2. You will now see various lines in the right-hand pane. Double-click on the value ClearPageFileAtShutDown and enter a 1 (without quotation marks).
Note: The Windows swap file should require a fixed (large) and continuous space on the hard disk. It is therefore recommended to switch off the swap file completely (the way to do this can be found here, you only need to select No swap file). Now defragment your hard disk, e.g. with O&O Defrag V6, so that a basic order and structure is established in your file system. Now activate the swap file again, as in the instructions above, and set it to the desired value. The swap file is moved in one piece to the end of your file system - the defragmentation of the swap file (also known as PageFile) is now complete. The path of the read/write head of the hard disk is as short as possible and a slightly noticeable increase in performance awaits you.
NOTE FOR NEW PUBLICATION: This article was produced by Sandro Villinger and comes from the Windows Tweaks archive, which has been built up since the late 1990s.
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