Windows may not have deleted the old pagefile.sys. Try to :
- set to "No paging file"
- reboot
- delete C:\pagefile.sys (hidden file, and permissions may need to be managed)
- reset to "Custom size"
- reboot
If the setting for the page-file is reset by some program, you could try
using Process Monitor to do Boot time logging of all registry changes
in order to identify the program that changes it.
Just remember that this slows the boot process a lot.
The page-file settings are found in the registry at
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\
.
The value involved might be PagingFiles
, but you can easily check which one
by changing the Virtual Memory settings between System managed and Custom and
refreshing the display in regedit to see what changed.
With this information you can set up a filter in Process Monitor and identify
the process that changes that value in the registry.
The page file is used chiefly for swapping-out programs when the RAM is full.
Its use for the dump is only incidental - a convenient place for Windows to put crash data.
Its size therefore should be at least as large as your RAM.
You should verify if Windows does not allocate a larger file when the specified allocation
is too small, which seems to me a reasonable built-in safeguard for Windows to employ.
Remark: If you have another drive in addition to the SSD, you could move the page file there so as not to reduce it too much.
Another remark: Modern SSDs are rated for many gigabytes per day for up to a decade,
so you really should have no fear of some 32 MB reducing the life-time of your disk.
SSD longevity is no longer an issue unless the SSD is old or of low quality.
For example, a test by AnandTech came up with the following results :
If for example the daily usage is only 5 GB written, the above lifespan should be multiplied by a factor of two. A modern SSD should last for the lifetime of the computer.
I've not experienced this myself, but the dialogue box does say Initial size and not minimum. I'm assuming based on what is happening with your setup is that Windows occasionally decides to shrink the pagefile down from its initial size due to the chronic shortage of disk space.
Best Answer
C:\pagefile.sys
pagefile.sys
and delete it.