Windows 7: Ram using hard drive space

craigcornwall · 12 Jan 2012

Recently I upgraded my ram to 24 gb and noticed that hard drive space is lost with more ram is this normal...

Britton30 · 12 Jan 2012

It might be. If you have hibernation enabled it will make a hiberfil file the same size as your installed RAM.

essenbe · 12 Jan 2012

If you do not use Hibernate the hiberfile can be deleted. Open an elevated command prompt (click start, in the search box type cmd, right click the cmd entry that appears and select run as administrator) In the command window type powercfg -h off and push enter. It will delete the hibernate shutdown option and will save you 24GB of space on your hard drive. If you want to keep hibernate as a shutdown option, do not follow the above instructions.

Fred Garvin · 12 Jan 2012

Quote: Originally Posted by craigcornwall

Recently I upgraded my ram to 24 gb and noticed that hard drive space is lost with more ram is this normal...

If you have Windows set to manage your virtual memory, Windows will automatically allocate a certain amount of space (about 1.5 x the amount of RAM installed) on your hard drive to be used as a "cache" for your main memory. This is normal and an optimal way for Windows to run. If losing 35Gb of space is hurting your C drive, you need a bigger drive or will have to clear out some files.

essenbe · 12 Jan 2012

It's unlikely he will ever use a page file with 24GB of ram. I have 8GB of ram and reduced the page file to 1GB and never use it. And if he has an SSD, it can make a big difference. 24GB for Hiberfile and 35GB for page file is a lot of space on any drive.

Fred Garvin · 12 Jan 2012

I agree he can probably reduce the pagefile size, depends on the role and load of the PC. No mention of an SSD or if this is a server in Craig's profile. IMO, I would not reduce a system down to 1GB though, even if he has no intention of ever running a 32 bit app.

craigcornwall · 13 Jan 2012

I deleted my hiberfile (Gaining 24 gb of storage )then reduced my page file to the minimum of 800 mb (saving another 23gb of storage) after doing that my BSOD's have stopped also.
I wouldn't have even noticed the big loss in storage but recently upgraded to 2 SATA III hard drives 120 gb each, running in raid ( giving me 222 gb total ) Minus the 50 gbs and
that's not much storage. Previously having 1 tb capacity.

Windows 7: Ram using hard drive space

Ram using hard drive space problems?