So, what is swap files? Are files stored on the computer hard disk drive that is used as a temporary location to store information that is not currently being used by the computer RAM ( Random Access Memory). By using a swap file a computer has the ability to use more memory than what is physically installed in the computer. However, users who are low on hard disk space may notice that the computer runs slower because of the inability of the swap file to grow in size.

It is perfectly normal for the swap file or page file to grow in size, sometimes growing several hundred Megs in size. And by default the swap files are hidden.

What we can do to? We know that the more fragments in the partition where system being installed (normally C drive), the slower the computer will be. For instance in Win 95/98 system, when there is not enough physical memory for the running programs, there will be a swap file named WIN386.SWP generated under the directory C:\WINDOWS. Obviously, Virtual Memory Manager will frequently read and write the hard disk, resulting in lot of fragments. So we can change the swap files to other partition to avoid this problem: go to Start, Control Panel, double click System, click Performance \ Virtual Memory, select "Let me specify my own virtual memory settings", then select the drive (except C drive), click OK to finish the setting. But the drive you select must be larger than 100MB. Hence, the swap file will be changed to another partition, that is to say, the fragmentation comes along with the swap files will only locate in the drive you design, but not the program drive, greatly optimize PC performance.

However, it is important to realize that this information may vary depending on the operating system of your computer.