Windows 7: Can the page file be read?

Yup, that's it just curious. That stuff is all foreign to me and it look like it was made in 98/XP days.

Thanks Bill call me slow.

Nothing to really see, all you will get is what appears to random data on one side, series of hexadecimal numbers on the other. Opening any binary file would get you the same results.

I'm still wondering then why some security experts recommend either deleting it or encrypting it if indeed it can't be read to gain any personal info or account numbers, etc? I have always read that the pagefile contains all this personal data.

I did not say it could not be read. It requires experience to be able to fully understand what one is seeing with a hex editor. In reality, if an attack can read a pagefile then they can read everything else on the system. Its really not that big of a deal to get all paranoid about it. Reading the pagefile is not something that is easy. Physical access to the computer would be required in most cases.

Once the Virus Fox gets in the Windows 7 Chicken House and is sniffing around for Page File Chicks it's to late. It's time to break out the big Anti Gun, loading it with updates and shoot the Virus Fox.

I guess I was misunderstood. I'm not paranoid about the pagefile, just curious about what data it really contains to see if it is worth the extra boot times to overwrite it.

Oh yeah, I have a few Anti guns for Virus Fox. My henhouse has no chicks anymore though, just an old bird.

It can contain whatever your memory (RAM) can contain...

All this discussion is besides the point. If your computer is stolen then there might be information in the pagefile of use to a criminal. The software that LEA's use to get at this information is often pirated and so it might be wise to take precautions - just as it is with ANY personal data - don't leave it lying around to be pilfered. Theft is not going to happen? Nice philosophy for life but hardly prudent.

I don't think it is besides the point at all. It's just a matter of my own curiosity. My computer is a 50 pound desktop so I'm not leaving it laying around.

Furthermore, if your laptop is stolen do you honestly think someone would care enough to pull fragments of your personal information that may or may not be contained in the pagefile when they now have unrestricted access to your personal information stored on the computer in full. Or passwords stored in the browsers log in cache. Why would they bother with the pagefile? (BTW, encryption keys are already protected from being paged out in the first place, they will not be contained in the pagefile.)