How to Enable or Disable Page File Encryption in Vista and Windows 7
Information
This article will show you how to enable or disable encrypting the virtual memory page file in Vista and Windows 7.
Encrypting the page file prevents malicious users from reading data that has been paged to a NTFS disk, but will also add processing overhead for file system operations.
You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do this tutorial.
OPTION ONE
Through the Local Group Policy Editor
1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. In the left pane, click on to expand Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates, System, File system, and NTFS. (see screenshot below)
3. In the right pane, right click on Enable NTFS page file encryption and click on Edit. (see screenshot above)
4. To Enable Page File Encryption
A) Select (dot) either Not Configured or Disabled. (see screenshot below step 6)
B) Go to step 6.
5. To Disable Page File Encryption
NOTE:
This is the default setting.
A) Select (dot) Enabled. (see screenshot below step 6)
6. Click on OK. (see screenshot below)
7. Close the Local Group Policy Editor window.
8. Restart the computer to apply.
OPTION TWO
Using a Elevated Command Prompt
1. Open a elevated command prompt (Run as administrator).
2. To Enable Page File Encryption
A) In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below and press Enter.
fsutil behavior set encryptpagingfile 1
B) Go to step 4.
3. To Disable Page File Encryption
NOTE:
This is the default setting.
A) In the elevated command prompt, copy and paste the command below and press Enter.
fsutil behavior set encryptpagingfile 0
4. Close regedit, and restart the computer to apply.
