How to Delete the Pagefile.sys File in Recovery Console

When you boot into Recovery Console and try to delete the Pagefile.sys file, the file is not present. A directory listing does not show the Pagefile.sys on the root of the boot folder (the drive containing the %SystemRoot% folder).

This behavior occurs because the Pagefile.sys file is not accessible when you are in Recovery Console.

To work around this behavior, copy another file to the Pagefile.sys file. After you copy a file to Pagefile.sys, the Pagefile.sys file is displayed and can then be deleted. To do this, use the following steps:

1. Boot into Recovery Console.
2. Because you boot into the %SystemRoot% folder (most commonly the C:\Winnt folder), type the following command:
   cd \
3. Type the following command to overwrite the existing Pagefile.sys file with Boot.ini:
   copy c:\boot.ini pagefile.sys
4. Type the following command:
   del pagefile.sys
5. After you copy Boot.ini over to Pagefile.sys, Pagefile.sys appears in the directory listing.

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.