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hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 12:57 pm
by simonmlewis
I have a 13gb hiberfil.sys file.
I've tried to switch hibernation off, then on again in CMD, but that isn't clearing it down. I'm also unclear why it's such a large file.

How do I clear it down, and perhaps set a max limit on it?

This is in Windows 8. I am logged in as an Administrator.

http://windows7themes.net/quickly-delet ... space.html
This tells you how to turn it on and off, but if you turn it on again, it's 13gb file 'returns'. Sure I am not running 13gb worth of data to be storeD? I have hardly anything open.

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 4:39 pm
by requinix
Like the pagefile, the hibernation file will be as large as Windows deems necessary. If you don't want that file around then disable Hibernation.

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 4:44 pm
by simonmlewis
But why must it be 13gb?! That enormous. Sure 3-5gb is sufficient?

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2013 5:22 pm
by Eric!
Don't use windows.

In a command prompt you can type
powercfg -h off

This should remove the file automatically. To turn hibernation back on
powercfg -h on

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 12:08 am
by requinix
simonmlewis wrote:But why must it be 13gb?! That enormous. Sure 3-5gb is sufficient?
Apparently not. I have 8GB RAM but a 6.5GB hibernation file. Your system is different.

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 4:54 am
by simonmlewis
I have 16GB RAM.
So I guess it's just a slight reduction on the RAM size.
What a waste of storage.

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2013 7:31 am
by twinedev
While you may not have much running at the moment, the storage file needs to be able to hold the entire contents of your physical ram. If you run a detailed defrag program, you (at least to on older system) would also see that the file is one continuous set of blocks to store the file. You have to remember that when it goes to dump the ram to the hard drive, all of windows "processing" has stopped, so it needs to have that location ready.

Re: hiberfil.sys - why is mine over 13gb?

Posted: Mon Dec 02, 2013 8:17 am
by simonmlewis
It turns out my machine doesn't need it at all. So my IT Support people have disabled it.
Much better. And still starts up in 10 seconds.