n. A file that contains segments of a program or data temporarily moved out of main memory.
A file that gives Windows the ability to use a portion of hard drive as memory. With the use of a swap file, you can load and run more programs in Windows 95 or 98 than you actually have RAM memory for. A swap file allows Windows 95 or 98 to "swap" chunks of memory containing currently unused information to disk, making room in RAM memory for information you need to run the currently selected program. Using a swap file is slower than holding everything in RAM memory, however.
Or paging file. In Windows, the disk file that holds the active system and application memory pages that are not currently present in main memory (RAM). See also virtual memory.
Every computer contains a memory for data currently being used by the computer. This is called RAM (Random Access Memory). Accessing RAM is much faster than accessing a hard disk. The RAM size is limited, though (e.g. to 256 MB) so if very many and/or very large files are opened, not all of them might fit into the RAM. Then part of the RAM is stored onto the hard drive in a so-called swap file.
the disk space that is set aside for virtual memory
a file set aside to temporarily store information once system memory (RAM) on the computer runs low
a file that windows will use when the memory get full
a file which resides on the hard drive
a large file that is used by the operating system for virtual memory
a large space on your hard drive that is reserved by Windows to be used as extra memory
an area of a computers hard disk that is set aside for moving blocks of data between the memory and the disk
an area on the hard drive used for temporary storage of information
an area on your hard disk used as virtual memory and contains data and information that has been accessed on your hard drive
a very large file to copy that uses time and space in the back-up process so I guess they included an option to miss it out, saving disk space and compression time
Virtual memory that holds a cache of data on the hard drive. It supplements RAM and is sometimes called the page file.
Also called virtual memory, this is a file on your hard disk used as a main memory supplement to make programs think that there is more memory than is actually installed. Program code and data are written to it in chunks called pages and these are swapped into main memory when required.
A hidden file on the hard drive that Windows uses to hold parts of programs and data files that do not fit in memory.
A swap file is an area on your hard disk used as virtual memory. It's called a swap file because virtual memory management software swaps data between it and main memory (RAM). The swap file is often overlooked as a security vulnerability.
In 386 enhanced mode, a disk file used to store portions of running applications that have been temporarily swapped out of memory to make room for other portions. This allows a computer with only 8MB of RAM to act as if it has 16 or 32MB. The trade off is speed. Swapping takes a lot of time because the hard disk is much slower than main memory.
Also known as virtual memory, a portion of a hard drive that is set aside for Windows to use when it runs out of RAM. These files can be either permanent (in a contiguous location on the hard drive) or temporary (placed wherever space is available). Back to the Top
An area of the hard disk that is used for temporary data storage when RAM is low or used up. This is also known as virtual memory. A swap file lets you run more programs than you could with actual memory, but it is slower than using regular memory.
A disk file or partition used to temporarily store information when system memory runs low.
A file on your hard disk called WIN386.SWP that Windows95 uses to store information when you run out of memory. Since a hard disk is slower than memory, a system without a lot of RAM will run out of memory sooner, requiring heavier use of the swap file, thereby resulting in slower performance. Note that if you've upgraded from Windows 3.x, the old filename for the swap file (386SPART.PAR) is preserved.
An area of your hard disk that is set aside for exclusive use by Windows in 386 enhanced mode, or any other program that requires additional memory. This area is used only when your system runs low on memory.
A file used to temporarily store code and data for programs that are currently running. This information is left in the swap file after the programs are terminated, and may be retrieved using forensic techniques. Also referred to as a page file or paging file.