Description of the KeepPageFile= setting for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003

This article describes the functionality of the KeepPageFile= setting for the Unattend.txt file and for the Sysprep.inf file under Windows Server 2003. This setting is mainly used in conjunction with Sysprep.exe to control how mini-setup configures the pagefile when a hard disk image that has had Sysprep run against it is applied to a target computer.

When the KeepPageFile= setting is added to the Sysprep.inf of a computer that is being used to create a master image of the OS, mini-setup behaves differently depending on the value of the KeepPageFile= setting.

• If the value is null (blank), the system regenerates the pagefile on the target system based on the target system's memory configuration, regardless of the current pagefile settings. It is also safe to delete the Pagefile.sys file from the master image to reduce the size of the master image.
• If the value is a non-null value (see Important note below) , the system behaves as follows:
  • If the target system's memory configuration is less than or equal to what was configured on the master system, no action is taken and the pagefile is left alone.
  • If the target system's memory configuration is greater than the master system's memory configuration, the pagefile is resized accordingly.

Important: If KeepPageFile is a non-null value in Sysprep.inf, do not delete Pagefile.sys from the master image. The Pagefile.sys must be left intact on the master computer and in the image for the settings mentioned earlier to work correctly. Deleting Pagefile.sys causes the system to regenerate the pagefile based on the memory configuration of the master computer (regardless of the target computer's memory configuration), and may affect performance if the target computer is configured with more RAM than the master computer.