This policy setting determines whether the virtual memory pagefile is cleared when the system is shut down. When this policy setting is enabled, the system pagefile is cleared each time that the system shuts down properly. If you enable this security setting, the hibernation file (Hiberfil.sys) is zeroed out when hibernation is disabled on a portable computer system. It will take longer to shut down and restart the computer, and will be especially noticeable on computers with large paging files. Countermeasure: Enable the Clear virtual memory page file when system shuts down setting. This configuration causes Windows Server 2003 to clear the page file when the computer is shut down. The amount of time that is required to complete this process depends on the size of the page file. It could be several minutes before the computer completely shuts down. Potential Impact: It will take longer to shut down and restart the server, especially on servers with large paging files. For a server with 2 gigabytes (GB) of RAM and a 2-GB paging file, this policy setting could increase the shutdown process by 20 to 30 minutes, or more. For some organizations, this downtime violates their internal service level agreements. Therefore, use caution before you implement this countermeasure in your environment.

[enabled/disabled]

(1) GPO: Computer Configuration\Windows Settings\Security Settings\Local Policies\Security Options\Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile (2) REG: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management!ClearPageFileAtShutdown