Virtual memory support in Windows NT uses a system page file to swap pages from
memory of different processes onto disk when they are not being actively used.
On a running system, the page file is opened exclusively by the operating system
and is well-protected. To ensure that any sensitive information from process
memory is not left on the hard drive and thus not available to a user booting
the PC with another operating system, apply the following Windows NT / Windows
2000 / Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory
Management
Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
Note that this protection only works with a clean shutdown. The
ClearPageFileAtShutdown is part of the normal shutdown process when this value
is set. Valuable for shared PCs or if you have something very valuable needing
protection.
Article not looking right or info is missing? Let us know so that we can fix it: .
