How To: enable & disable Page File Encryption

enable & disable Page File Encryption

Hello, welcome to my first post! 

Today, I would like to talk about setting up a Page File Encryption in Windows 7 and Vista.  But first - what is a Page File Encryption?  Why should you enable this option? 

Sensitive information might be temporarily stored on your computer in the virtual memory pagefile.  For this exact reason, it is a good idea to enable this setting so that the virtual memory pagefile cannot be read.

Enable Page File Encryption

Warnings

  • Enabling this option might slow down the computer.  This will depend on your system.  Some computers handle this well, while others don't.  Should you see a significant slow down in computer performance, please see "Disable Page File Encryption".

Step 1 Search > cmd.exe and run as administrator

Step 2 Type: "fsutil behavior set encryptpagingfile 1" and press enter

Step 3 Restart the computer for the encryption to become effective

Disable Page File Encryption

Tips

  • Doing this will increase the risk of losing sensitive information and getting into the wrong hands.  However - the one benefit to this is that it will speed up computer performance.  
  • By default - the system already has this option disabled.
  • Note enable is 1 and disable is 0.

Step 4 Search > cmd.exe and run as administrator

Step 5 Type "fsutil behavior set encryptpaginfile 0" and press enter

Step 6 Again, restart the computer for this to become effective

What articles would you like to see?

I'm new here, with this being my first article and all.  I could share an endless amount of information in regards to computer security, privacy and provide general computer tweaks.  However - I have so many ideas buzzing around my head.  So - what does everyone on here want to see in my articles? 

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2 Comments

Cool stuff, I didn't know Windows had a page file encryption utility in it :). I would rather not use the pagefile because of how much RAM computers have now. Anyone with 3GB of DDR2 or over should be able to run without a pagefile assisting. Even if it is enabled, it shouldn't be used until the RAM is full (if you monitor it, the pagefile is still getting used even if your RAM is clear for some reason ).

A great idea that I got from a friend that I used to use for Linux was to connect an SD card to my computer and throw my swap partition on there, encrypted. It made transfer speeds fast and I had protextion. Now I just use full drive encryption.

I'm looking forward to seeing more posts from you. If you haven't seen my world yet, check it out.

Thanks for the comment, Alex.
It is good to know that my article has taught someone something new.
I appreciate both the feedback you have given and the advice.

In regards to the Null Byte World - I have being following your articles for some time now. You are actually the one who inspired me to create my own world also :-) so good luck with your world!

I will make sure to reference some articles of yours to my posts.

Chris

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