One user noticed on the Task Manager that the secondary hard disk (HDD 5800 RPM) was in heavy use. So the user went ahead and disabled the Page File from the disk settings and rebooted the PC. However, to his surprise, the PC kept using HDD even though the page file was not there anymore. He even tried to delete the file physically, but it did not work.
Windows keep using HDD instead of SSD for Page File when the RAM is full
The solution is straightforward. When a user wants to unhide files, there are two settings— Show hidden files and folders and Show/hide protected operating system files. The option can be seen when you open the File Explorer Options. If you want to delete the page file, then you need to enable this option and then go and delete the file.
Open File Explorer and click on the three-dot menu to open Folder OptionsSwitch to the View tab, and thenClick on the radio button next to the Show hidden files, folders, or drives.Check the box next to Hide Protected operating system file typesGo to the HDD, locate the Pagefile.sys, and Swapfile.sys, and delete themOpen Win + R to open the Run PromptType sysdm.cpl and press the Enter keySwitch to the Advanced tab and click on the Settings button under performanceIn the performance options window, switch to the Advanced tab, and click on the Change button under Virtual memory.Here you can configure the amount of Virtual memory or Page file.
Having done that, your HDD should not be under pressure when the RAM is full, and instead, the PC should deliver better performance with the SSD. I hope the post is helpful and you know how to configure virtual memory on the PC.
Do I need a page file if I have enough RAM?
Pagefiles are still necessary since all operating systems reserve enough swap space before launching a program just in case its RAM is needed urgently. If you have enough storage space, you should allocate 10% or let the system manage it.
What is Swapfile.sys?
It’s a virtual memory file stored on your system drive, along with pagefile.sys and hiberfil.sys. It is generally used to swap out Microsoft’s Store apps. It is super helpful if you use a lot of Microsoft Store apps.
