System Restore Size....HDD

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where Restore
points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD space
Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
this......

Bob · External Since: Jun 12, 2009 Posts: 6

Got Norton?

"denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
> Restore
> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
> space
> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
> this......

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

NO......

"Bob" wrote:

> Got Norton?
>
> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
> > Restore
> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
> > space
> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
> > this......
>
>
>

Peter Foldes · External Since: Feb 21, 2006 Posts: 933

See the following
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
--
Peter

Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.

"denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where Restore
> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD space
> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
> this......

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine that it
was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of HDD
space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a whole lot
of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be created
in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it a
resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it started to
save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a week
and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on my PC
so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully someone
knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the abnormally
large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can be
altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without the
large File(s).

"Peter Foldes" wrote:

> See the following
> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
> --
> Peter
>
> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
>
> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where Restore
> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD space
> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
> > this......
>
>

Brink · External Since: Jan 07, 2009 Posts: 165

Hello Denmarfl,

I'm not sure what is causing your System Restore to fill up the max
space so fast. Vista will usually only create restore points
automatically when you install such items as drivers, programs, or make
changes to the system.

This tutorial below will show you how to see what you max storage size
for restore points is, and to adjust it if needed.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76227-system-restore-disk-space.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

denmarfl;1075630 Wrote:
> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine
> that it
> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of
> HDD
> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
> whole lot
> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
> created
> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it
> a
> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
> started to
> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a
> week
> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on
> my PC
> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
> someone
> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
> abnormally
> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can
> be
> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without
> the
> large File(s).
>
> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
> > > >
> > > See the following
> > > 'John Barnett's Windows XP Help and Support'
> > (http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm)
> > > --
> > > Peter
> > >
> > > Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> > > Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
> > acknowledged.
> > >
> > > "denmarfl" <denmarfl@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> > > news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@xxxxxx> > > > >
> > > > > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
> > > System
> > > > > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
> > > where Restore
> > > > > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
> > > suddenly
> > > > > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
> > > HDD space
> > > > > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
> > > which
> > > > > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
> > > starts
> > > > > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
> > > causing
> > > > > this......> > > >
> > >
> > > > >

--
Brink

'*MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience*'
(https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile=87AD1AFC-4723-4479-A555-AD617AF3D511)
*There are no dumb questions, just the people that do not ask
them.*
'*::Windows 7 Forums::*' (http://www.sevenforums.com/) *and*
'*::Vista Forums::*' (http://www.vistax64.com/)
*Please post feedback to help others.*

Jim · External Since: Feb 09, 2009 Posts: 28

On Fri, 26 Jun 2009 09:22:01 -0700, denmarfl
<denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
>Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where Restore
>points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now suddenly
>over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD space
>Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off, which
>deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than starts
>over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day causing
>this......

Why do you keep asking the same question - 2-3 weeks ? Google/Bing for
the ERUNT system .

RalfG · External Since: Jan 29, 2009 Posts: 21

I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys file
(which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the page
file to a non-monitored partition.

"denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine that
> it
> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of HDD
> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a whole
> lot
> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
> created
> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it a
> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it started
> to
> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a week
> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on my
> PC
> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully someone
> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
> abnormally
> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can be
> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without the
> large File(s).
>
> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>
>> See the following
>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
>> --
>> Peter
>>
>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
>>
>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
>> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
>> > Restore
>> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>> > suddenly
>> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
>> > space
>> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
>> > which
>> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
>> > starts
>> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>> > causing
>> > this......
>>
>>

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another partition....so
it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each restore
Point.

What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case, almost
overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program, changes, etc?

It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a larger
size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the pagefile,
my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID what
caused the file to grew so large?

Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do what you
did?

"RalfG" wrote:

> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys file
> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the page
> file to a non-monitored partition.
>
> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
> > Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine that
> > it
> > was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of HDD
> > space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a whole
> > lot
> > of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
> > created
> > in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it a
> > resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
> > answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it started
> > to
> > save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a week
> > and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on my
> > PC
> > so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully someone
> > knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
> > abnormally
> > large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can be
> > altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without the
> > large File(s).
> >
> > "Peter Foldes" wrote:
> >
> >> See the following
> >> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
> >> --
> >> Peter
> >>
> >> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> >> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
> >>
> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> >> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> >> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
> >> > Restore
> >> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
> >> > suddenly
> >> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
> >> > space
> >> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
> >> > which
> >> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
> >> > starts
> >> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
> >> > causing
> >> > this......
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

Bob · External Since: Jun 12, 2009 Posts: 6

Which AV program are you running?

"denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:8B8CF5B6-B971-444B-8636-D9BDE73DD5A0@microsoft.com...
> NO......
>
> "Bob" wrote:
>
>> Got Norton?
>>
>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
>> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
>> > Restore
>> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>> > suddenly
>> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
>> > space
>> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
>> > which
>> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
>> > starts
>> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>> > causing
>> > this......
>>
>>
>>

mazorj · External Since: May 10, 2009 Posts: 4

Bob - I'm still struggling with some unknown process that ate 200 GB
of empty space on C: after the 6/10/09 MS downloads. I use NIS 2009.
What is there about NIS and space-eating files that made you ask
whether the OP was using Norton?

"Bob" <bob.DeleteThis@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:umUQ%23N09JHA.1492@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Which AV program are you running?
>
> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:8B8CF5B6-B971-444B-8636-D9BDE73DD5A0@microsoft.com...
>> NO......
>>
>> "Bob" wrote:
>>
>>> Got Norton?
>>>
>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.DeleteThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>>> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>>> > System
>>> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
>>> > where
>>> > Restore
>>> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and
>>> > now suddenly
>>> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB
>>> > of HDD
>>> > space
>>> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it
>>> > off, which
>>> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process
>>> > than starts
>>> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1
>>> > day causing
>>> > this......
>>>
>>>
>>>
>
>

RalfG · External Since: Jan 29, 2009 Posts: 21

The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its optimum
size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on mine
currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm assuming
that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely causes
the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I don't
understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in the
first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a huge
hit on how many restore points can be created.

The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you can
set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and support.
Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same place.

Instructions for moving the page file here:

http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging

or

-- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:

Open the System applet in Control Panel
Click on the Advanced tab
Click on the Performance -Settings button
Click on the Advanced tab again
Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."

Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file settings
to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive. Click
Set for each drive that you change.
On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click Set.
Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either select
Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to max) or
let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
reboot to initiate the changes.

After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new location
and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that had
the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System Restore to
delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)

"denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
> Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
> partition....so
> it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each restore
> Point.
>
> What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
> almost
> overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program, changes,
> etc?
>
> It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
> larger
> size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
> pagefile,
> my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID what
> caused the file to grew so large?
>
> Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do what
> you
> did?
>
> "RalfG" wrote:
>
>> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys
>> file
>> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the
>> page
>> file to a non-monitored partition.
>>
>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
>> > Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine
>> > that
>> > it
>> > was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of
>> > HDD
>> > space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
>> > whole
>> > lot
>> > of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
>> > created
>> > in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it
>> > a
>> > resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
>> > answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
>> > started
>> > to
>> > save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a
>> > week
>> > and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on
>> > my
>> > PC
>> > so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
>> > someone
>> > knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
>> > abnormally
>> > large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can
>> > be
>> > altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without
>> > the
>> > large File(s).
>> >
>> > "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>> >
>> >> See the following
>> >> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
>> >> --
>> >> Peter
>> >>
>> >> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>> >> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
>> >>
>> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>> >> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>> >> > System
>> >> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
>> >> > where
>> >> > Restore
>> >> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>> >> > suddenly
>> >> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
>> >> > HDD
>> >> > space
>> >> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
>> >> > which
>> >> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
>> >> > starts
>> >> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>> >> > causing
>> >> > this......
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>>
>>

Bob · External Since: Jun 12, 2009 Posts: 6

Norton is known to cause many problems which don’t always appear
immediately.

"mazorj" <mazorj.TakeThisOut@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:O5e0PL29JHA.5704@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
> Bob - I'm still struggling with some unknown process that ate 200 GB of
> empty space on C: after the 6/10/09 MS downloads. I use NIS 2009. What is
> there about NIS and space-eating files that made you ask whether the OP
> was using Norton?
>
>
> "Bob" <bob.TakeThisOut@nowhere.com> wrote in message
> news:umUQ%23N09JHA.1492@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Which AV program are you running?
>>
>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:8B8CF5B6-B971-444B-8636-D9BDE73DD5A0@microsoft.com...
>>> NO......
>>>
>>> "Bob" wrote:
>>>
>>>> Got Norton?
>>>>
>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>>>> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>>>> > System
>>>> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
>>>> > Restore
>>>> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>>>> > suddenly
>>>> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
>>>> > space
>>>> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
>>>> > which
>>>> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
>>>> > starts
>>>> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>>>> > causing
>>>> > this......
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>
>

mazorj · External Since: May 10, 2009 Posts: 4

"Bob" <bob.RemoveThis@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:O7vzXPA%23JHA.4900@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> Norton is known to cause many problems which don’t always appear
> immediately.

Okay. My problem turned out to be unrelated to Norton.

> "mazorj" <mazorj.RemoveThis@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:O5e0PL29JHA.5704@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>> Bob - I'm still struggling with some unknown process that ate 200
>> GB of empty space on C: after the 6/10/09 MS downloads. I use NIS
>> 2009. What is there about NIS and space-eating files that made you
>> ask whether the OP was using Norton?
>>
>> "Bob" <bob.RemoveThis@nowhere.com> wrote in message
>> news:umUQ%23N09JHA.1492@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>>> Which AV program are you running?
>>>
>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> news:8B8CF5B6-B971-444B-8636-D9BDE73DD5A0@microsoft.com...
>>>> NO......
>>>>
>>>> "Bob" wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Got Norton?
>>>>>
>>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>>>>> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is
>>>>> > causing System
>>>>> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2
>>>>> > years where
>>>>> > Restore
>>>>> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and
>>>>> > now suddenly
>>>>> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB
>>>>> > of HDD
>>>>> > space
>>>>> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it
>>>>> > off, which
>>>>> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process
>>>>> > than starts
>>>>> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1
>>>>> > day causing
>>>>> > this......
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>
>

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

Your reply was very helpful; Thanks

Reviewing the article at the link provided it also outlines having 2 Page
Files to "speed up you PC"? Now this seems to work against moving the Page
File to another HDD. I do have a 2nd Internal HDD (E:\).... so if a user
were to use 2 Page Files, 1 would save on the C:\ the other on the E:\
file....wouldn't both page files be the same size...and therefore the issue
that I am experiencing, that is, using up 3GB HHD space daily on Restore
Points (Vista creates a "System Restore" point any day when no other activity
creates a Restore point)....that issue would contine.....since both Page
Files would be the same size and 1 would be on the C:\ drive?

I have not changed the Page File to my E:\ HDD as yet. The concern is, if I
had to use a prior Restore Point, wouldn't that restore point need the Page
File as part of it to restore my PC back to the Restore Point\Date selected
and since the Page File would not be part of the restore Point....my PC might
not restore properly?

"RalfG" wrote:

> The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its optimum
> size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on mine
> currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm assuming
> that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely causes
> the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I don't
> understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in the
> first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a huge
> hit on how many restore points can be created.
>
> The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you can
> set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
> instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and support.
> Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same place.
>
> Instructions for moving the page file here:
>
> http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging
>
> or
>
> -- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:
>
> Open the System applet in Control Panel
> Click on the Advanced tab
> Click on the Performance -Settings button
> Click on the Advanced tab again
> Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
> Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."
>
> Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file settings
> to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive. Click
> Set for each drive that you change.
> On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click Set.
> Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either select
> Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to max) or
> let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
> reboot to initiate the changes.
>
> After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new location
> and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
> points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that had
> the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System Restore to
> delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)
>
>
> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
> > Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
> > partition....so
> > it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each restore
> > Point.
> >
> > What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
> > almost
> > overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program, changes,
> > etc?
> >
> > It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
> > larger
> > size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
> > pagefile,
> > my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID what
> > caused the file to grew so large?
> >
> > Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do what
> > you
> > did?
> >
> > "RalfG" wrote:
> >
> >> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys
> >> file
> >> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the
> >> page
> >> file to a non-monitored partition.
> >>
> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
> >> > Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine
> >> > that
> >> > it
> >> > was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of
> >> > HDD
> >> > space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
> >> > whole
> >> > lot
> >> > of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
> >> > created
> >> > in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it
> >> > a
> >> > resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
> >> > answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
> >> > started
> >> > to
> >> > save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a
> >> > week
> >> > and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on
> >> > my
> >> > PC
> >> > so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
> >> > someone
> >> > knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
> >> > abnormally
> >> > large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can
> >> > be
> >> > altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without
> >> > the
> >> > large File(s).
> >> >
> >> > "Peter Foldes" wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> See the following
> >> >> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
> >> >> --
> >> >> Peter
> >> >>
> >> >> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> >> >> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
> >> >>
> >> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.TakeThisOut@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> >> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> >> >> > Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
> >> >> > System
> >> >> > Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
> >> >> > where
> >> >> > Restore
> >> >> > points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
> >> >> > suddenly
> >> >> > over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
> >> >> > HDD
> >> >> > space
> >> >> > Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
> >> >> > which
> >> >> > deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
> >> >> > starts
> >> >> > over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
> >> >> > causing
> >> >> > this......
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
>
>
>

RalfG · External Since: Jun 30, 2009 Posts: 3

denmarfl wrote:
> Your reply was very helpful; Thanks
>
> Reviewing the article at the link provided it also outlines having 2 Page
> Files to "speed up you PC"? Now this seems to work against moving the Page
> File to another HDD. I do have a 2nd Internal HDD (E:\).... so if a user
> were to use 2 Page Files, 1 would save on the C:\ the other on the E:\
> file....wouldn't both page files be the same size...and therefore the issue
> that I am experiencing, that is, using up 3GB HHD space daily on Restore
> Points (Vista creates a "System Restore" point any day when no other activity
> creates a Restore point)....that issue would contine.....since both Page
> Files would be the same size and 1 would be on the C:\ drive?
>
> I have not changed the Page File to my E:\ HDD as yet. The concern is, if I
> had to use a prior Restore Point, wouldn't that restore point need the Page
> File as part of it to restore my PC back to the Restore Point\Date selected
> and since the Page File would not be part of the restore Point....my PC might
> not restore properly?
>
> "RalfG" wrote:
>
>> The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its optimum
>> size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on mine
>> currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm assuming
>> that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely causes
>> the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I don't
>> understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in the
>> first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a huge
>> hit on how many restore points can be created.
>>
>> The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you can
>> set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
>> instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and support.
>> Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same place.
>>
>> Instructions for moving the page file here:
>>
>> http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging
>>
>> or
>>
>> -- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:
>>
>> Open the System applet in Control Panel
>> Click on the Advanced tab
>> Click on the Performance -Settings button
>> Click on the Advanced tab again
>> Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
>> Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."
>>
>> Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file settings
>> to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive. Click
>> Set for each drive that you change.
>> On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click Set.
>> Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either select
>> Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to max) or
>> let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
>> reboot to initiate the changes.
>>
>> After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new location
>> and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
>> points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that had
>> the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System Restore to
>> delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)
>>
>>
>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
>>> Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
>>> partition....so
>>> it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each restore
>>> Point.
>>>
>>> What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
>>> almost
>>> overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program, changes,
>>> etc?
>>>
>>> It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
>>> larger
>>> size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
>>> pagefile,
>>> my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID what
>>> caused the file to grew so large?
>>>
>>> Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do what
>>> you
>>> did?
>>>
>>> "RalfG" wrote:
>>>
>>>> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys
>>>> file
>>>> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the
>>>> page
>>>> file to a non-monitored partition.
>>>>
>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
>>>>> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine
>>>>> that
>>>>> it
>>>>> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of
>>>>> HDD
>>>>> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
>>>>> whole
>>>>> lot
>>>>> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
>>>>> created
>>>>> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it
>>>>> a
>>>>> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
>>>>> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
>>>>> started
>>>>> to
>>>>> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a
>>>>> week
>>>>> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on
>>>>> my
>>>>> PC
>>>>> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
>>>>> someone
>>>>> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
>>>>> abnormally
>>>>> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can
>>>>> be
>>>>> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without
>>>>> the
>>>>> large File(s).
>>>>>
>>>>> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> See the following
>>>>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
>>>>>> --
>>>>>> Peter
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>>>>>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl.RemoveThis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>>>>>>> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>>>>>>> System
>>>>>>> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
>>>>>>> where
>>>>>>> Restore
>>>>>>> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>>>>>>> suddenly
>>>>>>> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
>>>>>>> HDD
>>>>>>> space
>>>>>>> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
>>>>>>> which
>>>>>>> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
>>>>>>> starts
>>>>>>> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>>>>>>> causing
>>>>>>> this......
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>

I deleted all the old restore points immediately after moving the page
file so that I wouldn't run into the issue of having my changes undone
the moment I did a system restore with one of those old points. In my
case the restore points were essentially redundant since none of them
was more than 3 days old and all were essentially identical anyway. The
whole point of the excercise was to free up the space that all those
copies of pagefile.sys were consuming so that over time I could actually
start creating a useful collection of restore points again rather than
be limited by that handful of huge sized points which were only a few
days old at most.

As far as I can tell the page file is irrelevent to the actual system
restoration. I've only needed to do one system restore since moving
pagefile.sys and that went smoothly. AFAIK the only useful data that the
pagefile contains pertains to programs that are actually running in real
time, the rest being essentially a cache of software that you are likely
to be using during any given working session on the computer. There's
nothing in it that I know of which pertains to the actual
re-installation of the OS or software. The only slight benefit from
including the pagefile in SR, as far as I can see, would be to have a
ready to use intact cache matching the software as it exists in the
newly restored sytem. The alternatives would be that either the
non-restored pagefile might contain software that was removed from the
system during the restoration or the pagefile might need to be recreated
from scratch after a restoration. From my point of view neither of those
two scenarios is as bad as being limited to 5 or 6 system restore points
that might only be 2 or 3 day old duplicates of each other and wasting
20-30GB of SR harddrive space to hold them.

As far as concerns about using multiple page files, I think that amounts
to a bit of a red herring as far as we are concerned. IINM neither of us
knows enough about the workings of Windows WRT swapfile usage to make
any worthwhile changes to the system default of letting Windows manage
the pagefile. If it wasn't for the drive space issues affecting my
system restore points I wouldn't even have bothered moving the pagefile
to another drive, although the drive it is on now is slightly faster
than the system drive so there is that benefit.

Splitting the single file into multiple parts might be useful if drive
space is limited on your system drive (not able to create the optimum
sized swapfile) or if for some reason you wanted an especially large
swapfile. We could specify an arbitrary size for the pagefile, or
pagefiles, but I think it would be largely a waste of time and effort
for little or no real benefit. IMO system tweaks that save minutes of
operating time are worthwhile doing, those that save imperceptible
microseconds of data loading times aren't.

denmarfl · External Since: Feb 05, 2009 Posts: 16

If I understand, once the page file is changed to another HDD, it not only
doesn't save with C:\ drive Restore Points, but, it also no longer is
updated\kept current. I did contact Microsoft FREE support for Vista SP2 who
advised the size of the Page File is as a result of changes included in SP2.
Further they advised the Page File to perform its intended role must be in
the Root Drive......

"RalfG" wrote:

> denmarfl wrote:
> > Your reply was very helpful; Thanks
> >
> > Reviewing the article at the link provided it also outlines having 2 Page
> > Files to "speed up you PC"? Now this seems to work against moving the Page
> > File to another HDD. I do have a 2nd Internal HDD (E:\).... so if a user
> > were to use 2 Page Files, 1 would save on the C:\ the other on the E:\
> > file....wouldn't both page files be the same size...and therefore the issue
> > that I am experiencing, that is, using up 3GB HHD space daily on Restore
> > Points (Vista creates a "System Restore" point any day when no other activity
> > creates a Restore point)....that issue would contine.....since both Page
> > Files would be the same size and 1 would be on the C:\ drive?
> >
> > I have not changed the Page File to my E:\ HDD as yet. The concern is, if I
> > had to use a prior Restore Point, wouldn't that restore point need the Page
> > File as part of it to restore my PC back to the Restore Point\Date selected
> > and since the Page File would not be part of the restore Point....my PC might
> > not restore properly?
> >
> > "RalfG" wrote:
> >
> >> The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its optimum
> >> size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on mine
> >> currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm assuming
> >> that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely causes
> >> the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I don't
> >> understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in the
> >> first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a huge
> >> hit on how many restore points can be created.
> >>
> >> The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you can
> >> set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
> >> instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and support.
> >> Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same place.
> >>
> >> Instructions for moving the page file here:
> >>
> >> http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging
> >>
> >> or
> >>
> >> -- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:
> >>
> >> Open the System applet in Control Panel
> >> Click on the Advanced tab
> >> Click on the Performance -Settings button
> >> Click on the Advanced tab again
> >> Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
> >> Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."
> >>
> >> Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file settings
> >> to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive. Click
> >> Set for each drive that you change.
> >> On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click Set.
> >> Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either select
> >> Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to max) or
> >> let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
> >> reboot to initiate the changes.
> >>
> >> After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new location
> >> and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
> >> points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that had
> >> the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System Restore to
> >> delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)
> >>
> >>
> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >> news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
> >>> Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
> >>> partition....so
> >>> it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each restore
> >>> Point.
> >>>
> >>> What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
> >>> almost
> >>> overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program, changes,
> >>> etc?
> >>>
> >>> It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
> >>> larger
> >>> size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
> >>> pagefile,
> >>> my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID what
> >>> caused the file to grew so large?
> >>>
> >>> Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do what
> >>> you
> >>> did?
> >>>
> >>> "RalfG" wrote:
> >>>
> >>>> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the pagefile.sys
> >>>> file
> >>>> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved the
> >>>> page
> >>>> file to a non-monitored partition.
> >>>>
> >>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >>>> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
> >>>>> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to determine
> >>>>> that
> >>>>> it
> >>>>> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB of
> >>>>> HDD
> >>>>> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
> >>>>> whole
> >>>>> lot
> >>>>> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
> >>>>> created
> >>>>> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently, it
> >>>>> a
> >>>>> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has the
> >>>>> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
> >>>>> started
> >>>>> to
> >>>>> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go a
> >>>>> week
> >>>>> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything on
> >>>>> my
> >>>>> PC
> >>>>> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
> >>>>> someone
> >>>>> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
> >>>>> abnormally
> >>>>> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s) can
> >>>>> be
> >>>>> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24 mos.....without
> >>>>> the
> >>>>> large File(s).
> >>>>>
> >>>>> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>> See the following
> >>>>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
> >>>>>> --
> >>>>>> Peter
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
> >>>>>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be acknowledged.
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> >>>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
> >>>>>>> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
> >>>>>>> System
> >>>>>>> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
> >>>>>>> where
> >>>>>>> Restore
> >>>>>>> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
> >>>>>>> suddenly
> >>>>>>> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
> >>>>>>> HDD
> >>>>>>> space
> >>>>>>> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
> >>>>>>> which
> >>>>>>> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
> >>>>>>> starts
> >>>>>>> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
> >>>>>>> causing
> >>>>>>> this......
> >>>>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>
> >>
>
> I deleted all the old restore points immediately after moving the page
> file so that I wouldn't run into the issue of having my changes undone
> the moment I did a system restore with one of those old points. In my
> case the restore points were essentially redundant since none of them
> was more than 3 days old and all were essentially identical anyway. The
> whole point of the excercise was to free up the space that all those
> copies of pagefile.sys were consuming so that over time I could actually
> start creating a useful collection of restore points again rather than
> be limited by that handful of huge sized points which were only a few
> days old at most.
>
> As far as I can tell the page file is irrelevent to the actual system
> restoration. I've only needed to do one system restore since moving
> pagefile.sys and that went smoothly. AFAIK the only useful data that the
> pagefile contains pertains to programs that are actually running in real
> time, the rest being essentially a cache of software that you are likely
> to be using during any given working session on the computer. There's
> nothing in it that I know of which pertains to the actual
> re-installation of the OS or software. The only slight benefit from
> including the pagefile in SR, as far as I can see, would be to have a
> ready to use intact cache matching the software as it exists in the
> newly restored sytem. The alternatives would be that either the
> non-restored pagefile might contain software that was removed from the
> system during the restoration or the pagefile might need to be recreated
> from scratch after a restoration. From my point of view neither of those
> two scenarios is as bad as being limited to 5 or 6 system restore points
> that might only be 2 or 3 day old duplicates of each other and wasting
> 20-30GB of SR harddrive space to hold them.
>
> As far as concerns about using multiple page files, I think that amounts
> to a bit of a red herring as far as we are concerned. IINM neither of us
> knows enough about the workings of Windows WRT swapfile usage to make
> any worthwhile changes to the system default of letting Windows manage
> the pagefile. If it wasn't for the drive space issues affecting my
> system restore points I wouldn't even have bothered moving the pagefile
> to another drive, although the drive it is on now is slightly faster
> than the system drive so there is that benefit.
>
> Splitting the single file into multiple parts might be useful if drive
> space is limited on your system drive (not able to create the optimum
> sized swapfile) or if for some reason you wanted an especially large
> swapfile. We could specify an arbitrary size for the pagefile, or
> pagefiles, but I think it would be largely a waste of time and effort
> for little or no real benefit. IMO system tweaks that save minutes of
> operating time are worthwhile doing, those that save imperceptible
> microseconds of data loading times aren't.
>

Doug · External Since: Apr 05, 2009 Posts: 3

I am concerned at the suggestion that if the Page File is to perform its
intended role it must be in the Root Drive. I have always put it on a
different drive imagining that with two drives working cooperatively it
speeds everything up, and am reluctant to give up that notion on the basis
of a report of advice given on a Microsoft helpline without further
verification. I shall be interested to learn the current truth of the
matter.

Four weeks ago I was chided on this NG for mentioning that, with my RAM
increased to 4 GB, I had given up using a swap file. The consensus was
always use a swap file and leave Vista to choose its size, so I mended my
ways and now have it, though NOT on my root drive. Since then some
processes, such as Vista's Disk Cleanup, seem to take twice as long as they
did with no swap file, and generally things seem a little more sluggish. I
had imagined they would be even more sluggish if all the frantic disk
activity were confined to a single HDD, but I could well be wrong about
that, particularly if Vista is having to make compromises because the swap
file is on the *wrong* drive.

Doug

"denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:1355E3E3-CBDC-48E5-9D40-B58EC73EC145@microsoft.com...
> If I understand, once the page file is changed to another HDD, it not only
> doesn't save with C:\ drive Restore Points, but, it also no longer is
> updated\kept current. I did contact Microsoft FREE support for Vista SP2
> who
> advised the size of the Page File is as a result of changes included in
> SP2.
> Further they advised the Page File to perform its intended role must be in
> the Root Drive......
>
> "RalfG" wrote:
>
>> denmarfl wrote:
>> > Your reply was very helpful; Thanks
>> >
>> > Reviewing the article at the link provided it also outlines having 2
>> > Page
>> > Files to "speed up you PC"? Now this seems to work against moving the
>> > Page
>> > File to another HDD. I do have a 2nd Internal HDD (E:\).... so if a
>> > user
>> > were to use 2 Page Files, 1 would save on the C:\ the other on the E:\
>> > file....wouldn't both page files be the same size...and therefore the
>> > issue
>> > that I am experiencing, that is, using up 3GB HHD space daily on
>> > Restore
>> > Points (Vista creates a "System Restore" point any day when no other
>> > activity
>> > creates a Restore point)....that issue would contine.....since both
>> > Page
>> > Files would be the same size and 1 would be on the C:\ drive?
>> >
>> > I have not changed the Page File to my E:\ HDD as yet. The concern is,
>> > if I
>> > had to use a prior Restore Point, wouldn't that restore point need the
>> > Page
>> > File as part of it to restore my PC back to the Restore Point\Date
>> > selected
>> > and since the Page File would not be part of the restore Point....my PC
>> > might
>> > not restore properly?
>> >
>> > "RalfG" wrote:
>> >
>> >> The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its
>> >> optimum
>> >> size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on
>> >> mine
>> >> currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm
>> >> assuming
>> >> that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely
>> >> causes
>> >> the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I
>> >> don't
>> >> understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in
>> >> the
>> >> first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a
>> >> huge
>> >> hit on how many restore points can be created.
>> >>
>> >> The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you
>> >> can
>> >> set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
>> >> instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and
>> >> support.
>> >> Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same
>> >> place.
>> >>
>> >> Instructions for moving the page file here:
>> >>
>> >> http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging
>> >>
>> >> or
>> >>
>> >> -- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:
>> >>
>> >> Open the System applet in Control Panel
>> >> Click on the Advanced tab
>> >> Click on the Performance -Settings button
>> >> Click on the Advanced tab again
>> >> Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
>> >> Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."
>> >>
>> >> Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file
>> >> settings
>> >> to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive.
>> >> Click
>> >> Set for each drive that you change.
>> >> On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click
>> >> Set.
>> >> Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either
>> >> select
>> >> Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to
>> >> max) or
>> >> let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
>> >> reboot to initiate the changes.
>> >>
>> >> After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new
>> >> location
>> >> and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
>> >> points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that
>> >> had
>> >> the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System
>> >> Restore to
>> >> delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >> news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
>> >>> Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
>> >>> partition....so
>> >>> it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each
>> >>> restore
>> >>> Point.
>> >>>
>> >>> What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
>> >>> almost
>> >>> overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program,
>> >>> changes,
>> >>> etc?
>> >>>
>> >>> It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
>> >>> larger
>> >>> size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
>> >>> pagefile,
>> >>> my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID
>> >>> what
>> >>> caused the file to grew so large?
>> >>>
>> >>> Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do
>> >>> what
>> >>> you
>> >>> did?
>> >>>
>> >>> "RalfG" wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the
>> >>>> pagefile.sys
>> >>>> file
>> >>>> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved
>> >>>> the
>> >>>> page
>> >>>> file to a non-monitored partition.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >>>> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
>> >>>>> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to
>> >>>>> determine
>> >>>>> that
>> >>>>> it
>> >>>>> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB
>> >>>>> of
>> >>>>> HDD
>> >>>>> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
>> >>>>> whole
>> >>>>> lot
>> >>>>> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
>> >>>>> created
>> >>>>> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently,
>> >>>>> it
>> >>>>> a
>> >>>>> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has
>> >>>>> the
>> >>>>> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
>> >>>>> started
>> >>>>> to
>> >>>>> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go
>> >>>>> a
>> >>>>> week
>> >>>>> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything
>> >>>>> on
>> >>>>> my
>> >>>>> PC
>> >>>>> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
>> >>>>> someone
>> >>>>> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
>> >>>>> abnormally
>> >>>>> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s)
>> >>>>> can
>> >>>>> be
>> >>>>> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24
>> >>>>> mos.....without
>> >>>>> the
>> >>>>> large File(s).
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>> See the following
>> >>>>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
>> >>>>>> --
>> >>>>>> Peter
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>> >>>>>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
>> >>>>>> acknowledged.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl RemoveThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> >>>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>> >>>>>>> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>> >>>>>>> System
>> >>>>>>> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
>> >>>>>>> where
>> >>>>>>> Restore
>> >>>>>>> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>> >>>>>>> suddenly
>> >>>>>>> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
>> >>>>>>> HDD
>> >>>>>>> space
>> >>>>>>> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it
>> >>>>>>> off,
>> >>>>>>> which
>> >>>>>>> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process
>> >>>>>>> than
>> >>>>>>> starts
>> >>>>>>> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>> >>>>>>> causing
>> >>>>>>> this......
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>
>> >>
>>
>> I deleted all the old restore points immediately after moving the page
>> file so that I wouldn't run into the issue of having my changes undone
>> the moment I did a system restore with one of those old points. In my
>> case the restore points were essentially redundant since none of them
>> was more than 3 days old and all were essentially identical anyway. The
>> whole point of the excercise was to free up the space that all those
>> copies of pagefile.sys were consuming so that over time I could actually
>> start creating a useful collection of restore points again rather than
>> be limited by that handful of huge sized points which were only a few
>> days old at most.
>>
>> As far as I can tell the page file is irrelevent to the actual system
>> restoration. I've only needed to do one system restore since moving
>> pagefile.sys and that went smoothly. AFAIK the only useful data that the
>> pagefile contains pertains to programs that are actually running in real
>> time, the rest being essentially a cache of software that you are likely
>> to be using during any given working session on the computer. There's
>> nothing in it that I know of which pertains to the actual
>> re-installation of the OS or software. The only slight benefit from
>> including the pagefile in SR, as far as I can see, would be to have a
>> ready to use intact cache matching the software as it exists in the
>> newly restored sytem. The alternatives would be that either the
>> non-restored pagefile might contain software that was removed from the
>> system during the restoration or the pagefile might need to be recreated
>> from scratch after a restoration. From my point of view neither of those
>> two scenarios is as bad as being limited to 5 or 6 system restore points
>> that might only be 2 or 3 day old duplicates of each other and wasting
>> 20-30GB of SR harddrive space to hold them.
>>
>> As far as concerns about using multiple page files, I think that amounts
>> to a bit of a red herring as far as we are concerned. IINM neither of us
>> knows enough about the workings of Windows WRT swapfile usage to make
>> any worthwhile changes to the system default of letting Windows manage
>> the pagefile. If it wasn't for the drive space issues affecting my
>> system restore points I wouldn't even have bothered moving the pagefile
>> to another drive, although the drive it is on now is slightly faster
>> than the system drive so there is that benefit.
>>
>> Splitting the single file into multiple parts might be useful if drive
>> space is limited on your system drive (not able to create the optimum
>> sized swapfile) or if for some reason you wanted an especially large
>> swapfile. We could specify an arbitrary size for the pagefile, or
>> pagefiles, but I think it would be largely a waste of time and effort
>> for little or no real benefit. IMO system tweaks that save minutes of
>> operating time are worthwhile doing, those that save imperceptible
>> microseconds of data loading times aren't.
>>

Manny Weisbord · External Since: Feb 23, 2009 Posts: 31

"Doug" <doug DeleteThis @FAKEpleasereplytogroup.com> wrote:

>I am concerned at the suggestion that if the Page File is to perform its
>intended role it must be in the Root Drive. I have always put it on a
>different drive imagining that with two drives working cooperatively it
>speeds everything up, and am reluctant to give up that notion on the basis
>of a report of advice given on a Microsoft helpline without further
>verification. I shall be interested to learn the current truth of the
>matter.
>
>Four weeks ago I was chided on this NG for mentioning that, with my RAM
>increased to 4 GB, I had given up using a swap file. The consensus was
>always use a swap file and leave Vista to choose its size, so I mended my
>ways and now have it, though NOT on my root drive. Since then some
>processes, such as Vista's Disk Cleanup, seem to take twice as long as they
>did with no swap file, and generally things seem a little more sluggish. I
>had imagined they would be even more sluggish if all the frantic disk
>activity were confined to a single HDD, but I could well be wrong about
>that, particularly if Vista is having to make compromises because the swap
>file is on the *wrong* drive.
>
>Doug

These sites might be helpful (or might confuse you more):

http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging

http://tweakhound.com/vista/tweakguide/page_6.htm

http://www.mydigitallife.info/2008/02/26/tweak-windows-vista-virtual-m...ry-chan

>
>"denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>news:1355E3E3-CBDC-48E5-9D40-B58EC73EC145@microsoft.com...
>> If I understand, once the page file is changed to another HDD, it not only
>> doesn't save with C:\ drive Restore Points, but, it also no longer is
>> updated\kept current. I did contact Microsoft FREE support for Vista SP2
>> who
>> advised the size of the Page File is as a result of changes included in
>> SP2.
>> Further they advised the Page File to perform its intended role must be in
>> the Root Drive......
>>
>> "RalfG" wrote:
>>
>>> denmarfl wrote:
>>> > Your reply was very helpful; Thanks
>>> >
>>> > Reviewing the article at the link provided it also outlines having 2
>>> > Page
>>> > Files to "speed up you PC"? Now this seems to work against moving the
>>> > Page
>>> > File to another HDD. I do have a 2nd Internal HDD (E:\).... so if a
>>> > user
>>> > were to use 2 Page Files, 1 would save on the C:\ the other on the E:\
>>> > file....wouldn't both page files be the same size...and therefore the
>>> > issue
>>> > that I am experiencing, that is, using up 3GB HHD space daily on
>>> > Restore
>>> > Points (Vista creates a "System Restore" point any day when no other
>>> > activity
>>> > creates a Restore point)....that issue would contine.....since both
>>> > Page
>>> > Files would be the same size and 1 would be on the C:\ drive?
>>> >
>>> > I have not changed the Page File to my E:\ HDD as yet. The concern is,
>>> > if I
>>> > had to use a prior Restore Point, wouldn't that restore point need the
>>> > Page
>>> > File as part of it to restore my PC back to the Restore Point\Date
>>> > selected
>>> > and since the Page File would not be part of the restore Point....my PC
>>> > might
>>> > not restore properly?
>>> >
>>> > "RalfG" wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> The pagefile (swapfile) grows as you use apps until it reaches its
>>> >> optimum
>>> >> size. That size is either the system managed default (about 3.4GB on
>>> >> mine
>>> >> currently) or some value that you assign manually yourself. I'm
>>> >> assuming
>>> >> that loading the apps you habitually use into the swap file likely
>>> >> causes
>>> >> the fast growth. That in itself isn't the big issue to me. What I
>>> >> don't
>>> >> understand is why pagefile.sys is included in System Restore points in
>>> >> the
>>> >> first place. Serves no practical use as far as I can see and it puts a
>>> >> huge
>>> >> hit on how many restore points can be created.
>>> >>
>>> >> The default location of the paging file is on the system drive but you
>>> >> can
>>> >> set it to be on any of the existing partitions/drives. There are
>>> >> instructions for changing the paging file size in Windows Help and
>>> >> support.
>>> >> Just search Paging file in Help. Moving the file is done in the same
>>> >> place.
>>> >>
>>> >> Instructions for moving the page file here:
>>> >>
>>> >> http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/move-and-optimize-windows-vis...-paging
>>> >>
>>> >> or
>>> >>
>>> >> -- If you want to change the size and/or move pagefile.sys:
>>> >>
>>> >> Open the System applet in Control Panel
>>> >> Click on the Advanced tab
>>> >> Click on the Performance -Settings button
>>> >> Click on the Advanced tab again
>>> >> Click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory section
>>> >> Uncheck "Automatically manage paging file size for all drives..."
>>> >>
>>> >> Click on each drive that is listed in turn and change its page file
>>> >> settings
>>> >> to your preference, or select No Paging file for a particular drive.
>>> >> Click
>>> >> Set for each drive that you change.
>>> >> On your system drive change the setting to No paging file and click
>>> >> Set.
>>> >> Enable a paging file on the drive of your choice. You can either
>>> >> select
>>> >> Custom size for for the page file (a range of sizes actually, min to
>>> >> max) or
>>> >> let the System manage the file size. When finished with the settings,
>>> >> reboot to initiate the changes.
>>> >>
>>> >> After you're done and rebooted the paging file will be in the new
>>> >> location
>>> >> and System Restore will not be including it in any subsequent restore
>>> >> points. At that point I deleted all of my existing restore points that
>>> >> had
>>> >> the old stored page files from the system drive. (turn off System
>>> >> Restore to
>>> >> delete restore points, then re-enable System Restore)
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> >> news:7E0D4A34-AACD-4BAA-B230-BE41BDCD7A24@microsoft.com...
>>> >>> Lets see if I understand, you moved the pagefile to another
>>> >>> partition....so
>>> >>> it continues to serve its purpose and does not get saved with each
>>> >>> restore
>>> >>> Point.
>>> >>>
>>> >>> What causes this file to grew to such a large file, and, in my case,
>>> >>> almost
>>> >>> overnight without me doing anything, ie, adding a new program,
>>> >>> changes,
>>> >>> etc?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> It just seems to me, whatever has caused this file to grew to such a
>>> >>> larger
>>> >>> size happened overnight and whatever it is that is included in the
>>> >>> pagefile,
>>> >>> my PC ran fine for 20 months without it. Is there not a way to ID
>>> >>> what
>>> >>> caused the file to grew so large?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Lastly, is there a link to provide step-by-step instructions to do
>>> >>> what
>>> >>> you
>>> >>> did?
>>> >>>
>>> >>> "RalfG" wrote:
>>> >>>
>>> >>>> I had a similar symptom. System Restore was archiving the
>>> >>>> pagefile.sys
>>> >>>> file
>>> >>>> (which had reached 3.6GB at the time) in every restore point. Moved
>>> >>>> the
>>> >>>> page
>>> >>>> file to a non-monitored partition.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> >>>> news:450BFD97-B035-4225-93F4-215F7087C2AE@microsoft.com...
>>> >>>>> Thanks; b=as I wrote in my original message, I was able to
>>> >>>>> determine
>>> >>>>> that
>>> >>>>> it
>>> >>>>> was the System restore points that were causing me to lose 3 to 4GB
>>> >>>>> of
>>> >>>>> HDD
>>> >>>>> space daily becuase when I turned off System restore, I regained a
>>> >>>>> whole
>>> >>>>> lot
>>> >>>>> of space. However, the new restore points simply start again to be
>>> >>>>> created
>>> >>>>> in the same 3 to 4GB Size. I don't want to turn if off permanently,
>>> >>>>> it
>>> >>>>> a
>>> >>>>> resource I may need some day. The issue is, and I hope someone has
>>> >>>>> the
>>> >>>>> answer, the PC is almost 2 yrs old and just about 3 weeks ago it
>>> >>>>> started
>>> >>>>> to
>>> >>>>> save Restore points in this 3 to 4GB size, prior to that I could go
>>> >>>>> a
>>> >>>>> week
>>> >>>>> and not lose 1GB. I have not installed\chnaged or altered anything
>>> >>>>> on
>>> >>>>> my
>>> >>>>> PC
>>> >>>>> so that is not the reason for the large restore Files. Hopefully
>>> >>>>> someone
>>> >>>>> knows what file ot files overnight grew so large as to cause the
>>> >>>>> abnormally
>>> >>>>> large size System Restore points on my PC....possibly that file(s)
>>> >>>>> can
>>> >>>>> be
>>> >>>>> altered or deleted...afterall, my PC ran fine for 24
>>> >>>>> mos.....without
>>> >>>>> the
>>> >>>>> large File(s).
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>> "Peter Foldes" wrote:
>>> >>>>>
>>> >>>>>> See the following
>>> >>>>>> http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_clear_system_restore_po.htm
>>> >>>>>> --
>>> >>>>>> Peter
>>> >>>>>>
>>> >>>>>> Please Reply to Newsgroup for the benefit of others
>>> >>>>>> Requests for assistance by email can not and will not be
>>> >>>>>> acknowledged.
>>> >>>>>>
>>> >>>>>> "denmarfl" <denmarfl DeleteThis @discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>>> >>>>>> news:79F3044D-23B0-49BA-A0BF-A66F89DCE518@microsoft.com...
>>> >>>>>>> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing
>>> >>>>>>> System
>>> >>>>>>> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years
>>> >>>>>>> where
>>> >>>>>>> Restore
>>> >>>>>>> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
>>> >>>>>>> suddenly
>>> >>>>>>> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of
>>> >>>>>>> HDD
>>> >>>>>>> space
>>> >>>>>>> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it
>>> >>>>>>> off,
>>> >>>>>>> which
>>> >>>>>>> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process
>>> >>>>>>> than
>>> >>>>>>> starts
>>> >>>>>>> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
>>> >>>>>>> causing
>>> >>>>>>> this......
>>> >>>>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>>
>>> I deleted all the old restore points immediately after moving the page
>>> file so that I wouldn't run into the issue of having my changes undone
>>> the moment I did a system restore with one of those old points. In my
>>> case the restore points were essentially redundant since none of them
>>> was more than 3 days old and all were essentially identical anyway. The
>>> whole point of the excercise was to free up the space that all those
>>> copies of pagefile.sys were consuming so that over time I could actually
>>> start creating a useful collection of restore points again rather than
>>> be limited by that handful of huge sized points which were only a few
>>> days old at most.
>>>
>>> As far as I can tell the page file is irrelevent to the actual system
>>> restoration. I've only needed to do one system restore since moving
>>> pagefile.sys and that went smoothly. AFAIK the only useful data that the
>>> pagefile contains pertains to programs that are actually running in real
>>> time, the rest being essentially a cache of software that you are likely
>>> to be using during any given working session on the computer. There's
>>> nothing in it that I know of which pertains to the actual
>>> re-installation of the OS or software. The only slight benefit from
>>> including the pagefile in SR, as far as I can see, would be to have a
>>> ready to use intact cache matching the software as it exists in the
>>> newly restored sytem. The alternatives would be that either the
>>> non-restored pagefile might contain software that was removed from the
>>> system during the restoration or the pagefile might need to be recreated
>>> from scratch after a restoration. From my point of view neither of those
>>> two scenarios is as bad as being limited to 5 or 6 system restore points
>>> that might only be 2 or 3 day old duplicates of each other and wasting
>>> 20-30GB of SR harddrive space to hold them.
>>>
>>> As far as concerns about using multiple page files, I think that amounts
>>> to a bit of a red herring as far as we are concerned. IINM neither of us
>>> knows enough about the workings of Windows WRT swapfile usage to make
>>> any worthwhile changes to the system default of letting Windows manage
>>> the pagefile. If it wasn't for the drive space issues affecting my
>>> system restore points I wouldn't even have bothered moving the pagefile
>>> to another drive, although the drive it is on now is slightly faster
>>> than the system drive so there is that benefit.
>>>
>>> Splitting the single file into multiple parts might be useful if drive
>>> space is limited on your system drive (not able to create the optimum
>>> sized swapfile) or if for some reason you wanted an especially large
>>> swapfile. We could specify an arbitrary size for the pagefile, or
>>> pagefiles, but I think it would be largely a waste of time and effort
>>> for little or no real benefit. IMO system tweaks that save minutes of
>>> operating time are worthwhile doing, those that save imperceptible
>>> microseconds of data loading times aren't.
>>>

whs · External Since: Jul 03, 2009 Posts: 21

denmarfl;1075468 Wrote:
> Vista Home Prem 32bit. Has anyone come up with what is causing System
> Restore Points on a PC that has been running for almost 2 years where
> Restore
> points were Restore Points took 5 to 7 days to equal 1GB, and now
> suddenly
> over the past 3 weeks each restore Point is taking up 3 to 4GB of HDD
> space
> Daily? I know its System restore using up space, if I turn it off,
> which
> deletes all Points, I regain the Space lost....but the process than
> starts
> over again. There has to be a file(s) that grew in size in 1 day
> causing
> this......

A restore point (shadow) is on average 1GB +/-. It is written once per
day and then each time you install something (program, update, etc.).
Could it be that you installed a lot recently?. Check how many restore
points you have and how they are dated with the cmd command VSSADMIN
LIST SHADOWS.

--
whs