I experienced some disk corruption a while back which was successfully corrected 
by Check Disk after several attempts ultimately using the Recovery Console. Fortunately 
all is well now and has been for months. I presume some bad blocks were marked and 
kicked out of action. 

I was hanging on for deeper problems any moment for a long while, but the system 
has been so stable for so long now, I'm starting to relax again (though keeping regular 
backups all the same).

The only remaining symptom is a persisten message at logon which states:

"your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small"

I can't get rid of this. I can change the total paging file size as I will on the 
Performance Options dialog box (Advanced page from the Settings button in the Performance 
section of the System Properties dialog box).

I've set it to zero. I've moved it to an external drive temporarily, moved it back. 
Just can't lose this message.

I'm thinking that the paging file is on a reserved part of the disk, in contiguous 
space, and that some of it was corrupted and has been flagged as such by Check Disk. 
For this reason XP detects a faulty paging file and ceates a temporary one. It says 
as much when you try and change the properties of the paging file anyhow.

Has anyone any tips on how to recreate the paging file permanently in a way that 
will avoid this message? Or for that matter a vague notion as to what might be going 
on (I have a vague one, but no knowledge per se, and hours of research on-line have 
yielded no return).

Where can one read about the inside story on paging file management on XP, instead 
of some mamby pamby walk through steps that I've already tried (using available dialog 
boxes and buttons and settings).

Can I nuke my paging file, and create it anew? Will that make this mesage go away? 
Can I diagnose the cause of this message any further?

I'd be so pleased to learn more about these things ...

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, December 16, 2002 at 6:33 pm Posted by triplate (4621 messages posted) I consider this a good explanation of pagefile issues(3 or 4 pages)....maybe its to your liking. On Monday, December 16, 2002 at 6:06 pm, Bernd Wechner wrote: >I experienced some disk corruption a while back which was successfully corrected >by Check Disk after several attempts ultimately using the Recovery Console. Fortunately >all is well now and has been for months. I presume some bad blocks were marked and >kicked out of action. > >I was hanging on for deeper problems any moment for a long while, but the system >has been so stable for so long now, I'm starting to relax again (though keeping regular >backups all the same). > >The only remaining symptom is a persisten message at logon which states: > >"your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small" > >I can't get rid of this. I can change the total paging file size as I will on the >Performance Options dialog box (Advanced page from the Settings button in the Performance >section of the System Properties dialog box). > >I've set it to zero. I've moved it to an external drive temporarily, moved it back. >Just can't lose this message. > >I'm thinking that the paging file is on a reserved part of the disk, in contiguous >space, and that some of it was corrupted and has been flagged as such by Check Disk. >For this reason XP detects a faulty paging file and ceates a temporary one. It says >as much when you try and change the properties of the paging file anyhow. > >Has anyone any tips on how to recreate the paging file permanently in a way that >will avoid this message? Or for that matter a vague notion as to what might be going >on (I have a vague one, but no knowledge per se, and hours of research on-line have >yielded no return). > >Where can one read about the inside story on paging file management on XP, instead >of some mamby pamby walk through steps that I've already tried (using available dialog >boxes and buttons and settings). > >Can I nuke my paging file, and create it anew? Will that make this mesage go away? >Can I diagnose the cause of this message any further? > >I'd be so pleased to learn more about these things ... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, December 16, 2002 at 6:36 pm Posted by triplate (4621 messages posted) www.techspot.com/tweaks/memory-winxp/xpmem-5.shtml.....oops... On Monday, December 16, 2002 at 6:33 pm, triplate wrote: >I consider this a good explanation of pagefile issues(3 or 4 pages)....maybe its >to your liking. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, December 16, 2002 at 10:21 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) Thanks. Not a bad reference, but not great either (as it doesn't solve my problem, but it did point me to lot of neato utilities and pages with more info). The problem stands and now I can though describe it more clearly (having learned a little more). I cannot create pagefile.sys, no matter what I try (and I've been through all the ropes in this article in any MS help file of KB article I could find and any other web page I've been able to find - they all just go through the standard system dialogs. What I need to know is, why doesn't XP create pagefile.sys on my system? It's just not there. I can see hiberfil.sys (which presumeably serves a similar role, storing my machine hibernation memory images - it's a notebook) and all the system and hidden files, but no pagefile.sys. Further, the wonderful utility pagedfrg.exe from SysInternals can't find pagefile.sys (can on other XP boxes near me). It's just not there and won't appear. I have tried setting the paging file size to 0 (to remove it) rebooting, setting it to "system managed" rebooting, still no pagefile.sys. Similarly it won't create it on my external USB drive. There is nothing in the event viewer to provide any clues. Basically I need somehow to coax out of XP the reason WHY it's not creating my pagefile.sys so I could consider a remedy. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, December 16, 2002 at 11:10 pm Posted by czyxzy (594 messages posted) XP appears to be stuck in a kind of time warp... It has a memory of where the pagefile.sys should be, but can't find it... as you can't find it. If XP can't find the file, it can't delete it or change it's location or recreat it or replace it. I think it has a great deal to do with the file being at a fixed position on the disk... a position destroyed via the original problem or marked out by the fix. I had a pagefile.sys problem that had nothing to do with a disk problem but which ended up with the same symptoms as yours. I had to reformat and do a clean reinstall. A repair didn't work. On Monday, December 16, 2002 at 6:06 pm, Bernd Wechner wrote: >I experienced some disk corruption a while back which was successfully corrected >by Check Disk after several attempts ultimately using the Recovery Console. Fortunately >all is well now and has been for months. I presume some bad blocks were marked and >kicked out of action. > >I was hanging on for deeper problems any moment for a long while, but the system >has been so stable for so long now, I'm starting to relax again (though keeping regular >backups all the same). > >The only remaining symptom is a persisten message at logon which states: > >"your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small" > >I can't get rid of this. I can change the total paging file size as I will on the >Performance Options dialog box (Advanced page from the Settings button in the Performance >section of the System Properties dialog box). > >I've set it to zero. I've moved it to an external drive temporarily, moved it back. >Just can't lose this message. > >I'm thinking that the paging file is on a reserved part of the disk, in contiguous >space, and that some of it was corrupted and has been flagged as such by Check Disk. >For this reason XP detects a faulty paging file and ceates a temporary one. It says >as much when you try and change the properties of the paging file anyhow. > >Has anyone any tips on how to recreate the paging file permanently in a way that >will avoid this message? Or for that matter a vague notion as to what might be going >on (I have a vague one, but no knowledge per se, and hours of research on-line have >yielded no return). > >Where can one read about the inside story on paging file management on XP, instead >of some mamby pamby walk through steps that I've already tried (using available dialog >boxes and buttons and settings). > >Can I nuke my paging file, and create it anew? Will that make this mesage go away? >Can I diagnose the cause of this message any further? > >I'd be so pleased to learn more about these things ... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 4:43 am Posted by Chuck (2 messages posted) Have you recently installed service pack 1? I had this same problem and after a week I discoverd that you can not install service pack 1 over the installed program Intel Application Accelerator. I uninstalled that program, resarted my machine then re-installed it and the probelm was solved. Typical Microsoft crap....Good Luck On Monday, December 16, 2002 at 11:10 pm, Zeb wrote: >XP appears to be stuck in a kind of time warp... It has a memory of where the pagefile.sys >should be, but can't find it... as you can't find it. If XP can't find the file, >it can't delete it or change it's location or recreat it or replace it. I think it >has a great deal to do with the file being at a fixed position on the disk... a position >destroyed via the original problem or marked out by the fix. I had a pagefile.sys >problem that had nothing to do with a disk problem but which ended up with the same >symptoms as yours. I had to reformat and do a clean reinstall. A repair didn't work. > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 4:51 am Posted by triplate (4621 messages posted) For what its worth, i have NO pagefile on this machine and it runs perfectly.....but, i only use it for surfing etc....no games, just a few utilities...Xp will create a pagefile when and if it needs to anyway....no help to your prob,just FYI. On Monday, December 16, 2002 at 10:21 pm, Bernd Wechner wrote: >Thanks. Not a bad reference, but not great either (as it doesn't solve my problem, >but it did point me to lot of neato utilities and pages with more info). > >The problem stands and now I can though describe it more clearly (having learned >a little more). > >I cannot create pagefile.sys, no matter what I try (and I've been through all the >ropes in this article in any MS help file of KB article I could find and any other >web page I've been able to find - they all just go through the standard system dialogs. > >What I need to know is, why doesn't XP create pagefile.sys on my system? It's just >not there. I can see hiberfil.sys (which presumeably serves a similar role, storing >my machine hibernation memory images - it's a notebook) and all the system and hidden >files, but no pagefile.sys. > >Further, the wonderful utility pagedfrg.exe from SysInternals can't find pagefile.sys >(can on other XP boxes near me). It's just not there and won't appear. > >I have tried setting the paging file size to 0 (to remove it) rebooting, setting >it to "system managed" rebooting, still no pagefile.sys. > >Similarly it won't create it on my external USB drive. > >There is nothing in the event viewer to provide any clues. > >Basically I need somehow to coax out of XP the reason WHY it's not creating my pagefile.sys >so I could consider a remedy. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 3:43 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) "When this happens, the OS boots and uses only the temporary file, which slows performance to snails pace" According to: http://www.cybercomsys.com/win2k.htm I can't swear that it does, and yest my PC runs fine, though on occassion I do wonder if it's as fast as it should be (PIII 800 MHz etc) but more to the point don't like the uncertainty of this strange issue I guess - why can't I get a page file? is a question that bugs me some ;-) [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 3:46 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) I don't think I have the Intel Application Accelerator installed. How can I tell? Can't see it on "Add or Remove Programs". Problem is I may well have installed it a few months ago, but memory is vague (this problem has been around for months, I've just ben slack about adressing it). I did install Service Pack 1, that I know and can see. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 3:49 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) I'm loathe to reformat and reinstall I have to admit, and wonder if we can't get XP out of its time warp. It must store this memory of a ghost page file somewhere - in the registry? somewhere else? that can be nuked with enough knowhow ;-). Latest efforts are revealing: Effort 1: How to Delete the Pagefile.sys File in Recovery Console http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;q255205 http://www.cybercomsys.com/win2k.htm In the recovery console I try: del pagefile.sys No matching files were found. copy boot.ini pagefile.sys Access is denied. This "Access is denied" is telling! Wonder why? I mean two web pages recommend justthis procedure, including MS themselves, so it should work. Effort 2: Pagefileconfig.vbs http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/proddocs/pagefileconfig.asp Pagefileconfig.vbs won't run in the recovery console (needs cscript), but at a Command prompt in XP: cscript pagefileconfig.vbs /delete /VO c: INFO: No pagefile exists on volume 'C:' cscript pagefileconfig.vbs /create /I 256 /M 512 /VO c: ERROR: Page File for the specified volume cannot be created. This is pretty much the same feedback. The pagefile doesn't exist, yet it's unable to create a new one. Perhaps I can coax pagefileconfig.vbs into revealing an error code or something in the way of "why the heck not?" Indeed a time-warped ghostly page file it seems! [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 8:51 pm Posted by Chuck (2 messages posted) You should have it. You should see it if you go to add/remove programs. You would also have a folder called Intel under your programs directory. Good luck On Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 3:46 pm, Bernd Wechner wrote: >I don't think I have the Intel Application Accelerator installed. How can I tell? >Can't see it on "Add or Remove Programs". Problem is I may well have installed it >a few months ago, but memory is vague (this problem has been around for months, I've >just ben slack about adressing it). > >I did install Service Pack 1, that I know and can see. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 9:15 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) No it's not installed, no Intel directory there and not on Add/Remove programs. It is an Intel Pentum III so yes, maybe I should have it - will look into it later. But right now, can rule out that causing the problem. But it is a funny problem really, a kind of ghost pgaing file in XTs memory. I may start some registry mining expeditions and see what I can find ... [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 17, 2002 at 10:04 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) Well, I patched pagefileconfig.sys and can determine it fails to create a paging file because: ERROR: Page File for the specified volume cannot be created. Error number: -2147217407 Error description: Generic failure Error source: SWbemObjectEx Which doesn't help any. I can't find and info anywhere on the web on this error number and what it might mean. Aaargh. Anooyances all right. Any clues? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Wednesday, December 18, 2002 at 2:38 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) Oh this error code in hex is: 0x7FFBEFFF which also doesn't yield anything on MSDN, MSKB or Google. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Thursday, January 9, 2003 at 10:49 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) I have made some more progress. Still a mystery. I see no pagefile.sys in the Windows explorer. I have "show hidden files and folders" set and "Hide protected operating system files (recommended)" not set. Like this I can see pagefile.sys on another box. Yet, if I try to follow the instructions in: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;255205 to delete the pagefile the response to "copy boot.ini pagefile.sys" is "Access denied". I downloaded a diskexplorer and examined the MFT and sure enough, there's a pagefile.sys in the MFT! I can't edit the MFT alas, have no software to do such a raw disk edit. I'd like to rename pagefile.sys to pagefile.sos maybe to see if it shows up. Short of that analysing the MFT entry is a lot of work. I can see from the MFT entry that it is in the root directory, and that it has the DOS attributes ash (archive, system, hidden). Watching the MFT entry while the computer is running, I notice sometimes it seems to carry a $50 security descriptor, other times not, mostly not. What possible reasons could there be, for a file to be in the MFT like this, and obstinately invisible and innaccessible to even the procedures outlined in the knowledge base article above? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, January 13, 2003 at 11:11 pm Posted by Bernd Wechner (16 messages posted) No-one's following this thread anymore it seems, or we're way over everyone's head! Anyhow, I half fixed the problem! I did a good deal of research into NTFS, MFT and Index Allocations and manually using a good disk editor renamed pagefile.sys to pagefile.sos. This has to be done in two places as far as I can tell. In the MFT entry for pagefile.sys at the $30 (FILENAME) attribute and in the directory (index allocation) found under the $90 (INDEX ROOT) attribute for the root directory (MFT entry #5). Rename it with a sledge hammer, and reboot, and now all is well. I could create a pagefile using pagefileconfig.vbs, and life's back to normal. Almost. I now have a file called pagefile.sos, which exists, and yet, is completely and imprenetrably invisible to the XP explorer and the DOS window and the Recovery Console. Now, how do we remove such a file (never mind how it comes to be and what nuderlies it's profound invisibility)? MY best guess is to wipe the MFT record completely, and then run a chkdsk to recover the orphaned clusters ... but that seems a little risky to be frank - shall I play with fire? Or is it worth hanging on to it, to learn one day just how such a file can be so adamantly invisible - which attributes in the MFT or directory entry are to blame? It clearly isn't the name! I've changed that ;-). Now I can finally use some decent software again and I no longer get a silly message when I log on about my missing pagefile. Any pointers wildly appreciated of course. I may potter along researching a little. A little knowledge is a good thing - though expensive to acquire! [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Sunday, August 6, 2006 at 8:04 pm Posted by Bob (1 messages posted) FYI Had the same problem you did and changed the directory that xp looks at for the page file in as I didn't know how the rename the file as you did. Seems to work so far, without your post I still would be nowhere!! Thanks to edit that directory: Pagefile too small or Missing Start/Run/Regedit: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement There you will find these entries: PagingFiles:Reg_Multi_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys. (make this C:\p\pagefile.sys )TempPageFile:Reg_Dword:0x1 On Monday, January 13, 2003 at 11:11 pm, Bernd Wechner wrote: > >No-one's following this thread anymore it seems, or we're way over everyone's head! > >Anyhow, I half fixed the problem! > >I did a good deal of research into NTFS, MFT and Index Allocations and manually using >a good disk editor renamed pagefile.sys to pagefile.sos. This has to be done in two >places as far as I can tell. In the MFT entry for pagefile.sys at the $30 (FILENAME) >attribute and in the directory (index allocation) found under the $90 (INDEX ROOT) >attribute for the root directory (MFT entry #5). > >Rename it with a sledge hammer, and reboot, and now all is well. I could create a >pagefile using pagefileconfig.vbs, and life's back to normal. > >Almost. I now have a file called pagefile.sos, which exists, and yet, is completely >and imprenetrably invisible to the XP explorer and the DOS window and the Recovery >Console. > >Now, how do we remove such a file (never mind how it comes to be and what nuderlies >it's profound invisibility)? > >MY best guess is to wipe the MFT record completely, and then run a chkdsk to recover >the orphaned clusters ... but that seems a little risky to be frank - shall I play >with fire? Or is it worth hanging on to it, to learn one day just how such a file >can be so adamantly invisible - which attributes in the MFT or directory entry are >to blame? It clearly isn't the name! I've changed that ;-). > >Now I can finally use some decent software again and I no longer get a silly message >when I log on about my missing pagefile. > >Any pointers wildly appreciated of course. I may potter along researching a little. >A little knowledge is a good thing - though expensive to acquire! [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Friday, December 29, 2006 at 3:58 am Posted by Kevin (2 messages posted) I also had the same problem - searched long and hard for solution... then found it here - thanks. But, not sure which solution worked as I tried two at the same time in sheer frustration. I RENAMED the paging file entry in the registry in all occurrences of CONTROLSET to PPAGEFILE.SYS and changed the MFT entry for pagefile.sys (yes it was there but not being recognised!) to PAGEFILE.SSS - and all is now working as it should. I can now change the pagefile using control panel !!! On Sunday, August 6, 2006 at 8:04 pm, Bob wrote: >FYI >Had the same problem you did and changed the >directory that xp looks at for the page file in as I didn't >know how the rename the file as you did. Seems to >work so far, without your post I still would be nowhere!! >Thanks > >to edit that directory: > > Pagefile too small or Missing > >Start/Run/Regedit: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement > >There you will find these entries: PagingFiles:Reg_Multi_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys. (make >this C:\p\pagefile.sys )TempPageFile:Reg_Dword:0x1 > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Friday, January 5, 2007 at 8:17 am Posted by Mike De.Petris (1 messages posted) I have the same problem after some disk errors and chkdsk. I replace in the registry the name to pagefile.sos any other solution to correct the ntfs? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Saturday, October 20, 2007 at 7:34 pm Posted by Eric Goehl (1 messages posted) Where can I get a Disk Editor that allows me to change pagefile.sys filename? I have tried many and found 2 that at least see the file, but nothing seems to allow me to change its name. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 12:50 pm Posted by Kevin (2 messages posted) I [think] I used DiskExplorer from Runtime Software to change the MFT entry [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Monday, July 28, 2008 at 7:23 pm Posted by LarryV (1 messages posted) I know this is an ancient thread but some Windows issues never get old. I've read all the threads I could find to resolve exactly this problem. Bob's solution was the simplest. I simply pointed the pagefile to c:\windows rather than C: and it was able to create and all is good. Bob did not mention that he had created a folder at c:\p, but I guess that is obvious. It appears that you can direct the pagefile anywhere as long as it is a valid folder and system has full control. On Sunday, August 6, 2006 at 8:04 pm, Bob wrote: >FYI >Had the same problem you did and changed the >directory that xp looks at for the page file in as I didn't >know how the rename the file as you did. Seems to >work so far, without your post I still would be nowhere!! >Thanks > >to edit that directory: > > Pagefile too small or Missing > >Start/Run/Regedit: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement > >There you will find these entries: PagingFiles:Reg_Multi_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys. (make >this C:\p\pagefile.sys )TempPageFile:Reg_Dword:0x1 > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Tuesday, December 2, 2008 at 4:37 pm Posted by Rob (1 messages posted) In case this helps anyone out, i was having the same problem and found a solution here.. http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=5&messageID=1984908&threadID=181616 I was getting the "Your system has no page file" error message every time i booted XP, and no amount of safe mode file permissions, registry tweaks or changing page file size / location was helping. In the end it was obviously due to some dodgy old vst plugin i'd installed earlier yesterday! It appeared to have overwritten TPKD.SYS which is part of an Anti-Piracy driver. Installing the latest driver from here fixed the issue. http://www.paceap.com/download.html [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 1:38 pm Posted by Mike Peters (1 messages posted) This is an old problem, but one that still comes up yet. After lots of searching I came across this thread. Thanks for the suggestion! Works like a charm. This was the last thing before I gave up and reformatted. On Sunday, August 6, 2006 at 8:04 pm, Bob wrote: >FYI >Had the same problem you did and changed the >directory that xp looks at for the page file in as I didn't >know how the rename the file as you did. Seems to >work so far, without your post I still would be nowhere!! >Thanks > >to edit that directory: > > Pagefile too small or Missing > >Start/Run/Regedit: Hkey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement > >There you will find these entries: PagingFiles:Reg_Multi_SZ:C:\pagefile.sys. (make >this C:\p\pagefile.sys )TempPageFile:Reg_Dword:0x1 > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows XP Discussion Forum