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How does Windows clear the page file?

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by rr94117

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I'm familiar with the registry setting that causes Windows to "clear" (Microsoft's term) the page file on shutdown. But what exactly is meant by this? Is the file completely overwritten with random bits? 0's? 1's? How many passes are executed? These points are of interest to those of us concerned with data security.

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by slayer_

Besides, your page file would be unintelligible collection of bytes. Without knowing the extract pattern to look for, it would be nearly useless to someone. If they have access to your computer, and access to your swap file, they have access to the REAL files as well, your security breach would have to be pretty severe, and in such a case, the swap file would be an extremely low priority to a potential data thief.

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