I am using window 7.

Click Computer->Local disk(C):

There are some folders and some files.

such as: pagefile.sys, hiberfil.sys,

Can I delete those *.sys files?

Yes but they'll be remade again when you reboot but they will be empty at the start..

You probably can't (and shouldn't) delete pageful.sys. This is used for virtual memory; i.e. when the memory is getting full, some data that is not likely to be needed is "paged" to disk, and data that is needed is fetched from disk and put back in memory. If deleted the file you could lose data and cause the system to crash. (So, hopefully, it won't let you delete it!)

Somewhere deep in the settings, you can turn of virtual memory, but unless you have many GB os real memory installed, this will probably mean the system can't run some programs- and not many programs at the sae time.

The hiberfile.sys file is used to store the state of the system when you hibernate the machine. If you never want to use hibernation, then you can turn this off in power settings and the file will disappear. (I think windows keeps the file around permanently to ensure there is space reserved for the hibernation data.)

43 minutes ago, Strange said:

You probably can't (and shouldn't) delete pageful.sys. This is used for virtual memory; i.e. when the memory is getting full, some data that is not likely to be needed is "paged" to disk, and data that is needed is fetched from disk and put back in memory. If deleted the file you could lose data and cause the system to crash. (So, hopefully, it won't let you delete it!)

Somewhere deep in the settings, you can turn of virtual memory, but unless you have many GB os real memory installed, this will probably mean the system can't run some programs- and not many programs at the sae time.

The hiberfile.sys file is used to store the state of the system when you hibernate the machine. If you never want to use hibernation, then you can turn this off in power settings and the file will disappear. (I think windows keeps the file around permanently to ensure there is space reserved for the hibernation data.)

i thought they would pop up again on reboot, they are only temporary folders. I  know computers  are your thing, so I won't argue too much. you can turn it off > reboot  > turn it on again. Probably the safest way. http://www.techentice.com/delete-pagefile-sys-in-windows-7/

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by StringJunky

3 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

i thought they would pop up again on reboot

You are quite correct. The difference is that the pagefile is used by the OS while it is running and so is protected. The hiberfile can be deleted but will just reappear unless you turn off hibernation. (I’m not sure if Windows 10 still has an explicit hibernation mode, or if it all comes under “sleep” - I stopped using Windows when Windows 8 was released!)

18 minutes ago, Strange said:

You are quite correct. The difference is that the pagefile is used by the OS while it is running and so is protected. The hiberfile can be deleted but will just reappear unless you turn off hibernation. (I’m not sure if Windows 10 still has an explicit hibernation mode, or if it all comes under “sleep” - I stopped using Windows when Windows 8 was released!)

Yeah, you can type powercfg.exe /hibernate off  in Command Prompt then press Enter. The great boon with W10 now is you just type anything you want  to access in the search box in the task bar. 

Edited February 28, 20187 yr by StringJunky

38 minutes ago, StringJunky said:

Yeah, you can type powercfg.exe /hibernate off  in Command Prompt then press Enter. The great boon with W10 now is you just type anything you want  to access in the search box in the task bar. 

Cool. I didn't know that! 

W10 is a great improvement over W8 (but not enough to make me switch back!)