Is it safe to remove .sys file?

mikelferdinan · 12 May 2018

Hey guys my computer running out of disk space, and i would like to remove some files and its include pagefile.sys , hiberfil.sys and swapfile.sys. Is it safe to remove them? if so how to remove them?

TairikuOkami · 12 May 2018

pagefile.sys is used by Windows to expand RAM. You do not want to disable it.
swapfile.sys is something similar like pagefile, but used for store apps.

You can safely get rid of hiberfil.sys by disabling hibernation.

Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

mikelferdinan said:

my computer running out of disk space

Your Windows has probably upgraded, you might want to run Disk Cleanup.

Open and Use Disk Cleanup in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

You can also compress Windows to re-gain some space.

Compress or Uncompress Windows 10 with Compact OS | Windows 10 Tutorials

EdTittel · 12 May 2018

There are lots of safe ways to reclaim disk space on your OS drive in Windows 10, above and beyond the tutorials that @TairikuOkami cites in his preceding post. If you poke through the TenForums tutorials you'll find some additional items worthy of note as well, including:

Free Up Drive Space in Windows 10

Clean Up Component Store (WinSxS folder)

I also recommend digging into and learning about these tools, all of which can also help to reclaim space on the OS drive
1. DriverStore Explorer (aka RAPR.exe): identifies and supports removal of duplicate and obsolete device drivers
2. UnCleaner: best cleanup tool for temporary and scratch files around
3. PatchCleaner: moves or removes orphaned installer (.msi and .msu) files

I've written extensively on this topic for TechTarget, CIO.com and other websites. TechTarget has pulled all of my posts on this subject together here, if you'd like to read more of that stuff: Disk cleanup Archives - Windows Enterprise Desktop.

HTH,
--Ed--

mikelferdinan · 15 May 2018

I turn off hibernate, thanks for the tips, but i found out winsxs consuming lots of my disk space.

Is it safe to remove .sys file?-sketch.png

I knew i cant just delete them all, but is there a way to reduce it?
Is there any side effect ?

DavidY · 15 May 2018

mikelferdinan said:

I turn off hibernate, thanks for the tips, but i found out winsxs consuming lots of my disk space.

I knew i cant just delete them all, but is there a way to reduce it?
Is there any side effect ?

You can try the options in these tutorials. The first one should give some idea how much you might save:
Analyze Component Store (WinSxS folder) in Windows 10
Clean Up Component Store (WinSxS folder) in Windows 10
It might give you some savings but it won't reduce it totally.

You might want to take a backup image first though.

Plankton · 15 May 2018

mikelferdinan said:

Hey guys my computer running out of disk space, and i would like to remove some files and its include pagefile.sys , hiberfil.sys and swapfile.sys. Is it safe to remove them? if so how to remove them?

What type of computer is this....a laptop or desktop? If it's the later, you can add a extra HDD and use it as a storage drive to save everything to it.

If it's a laptop you have the option of a portable USB external HDD.