Virtual memory support in Windows NT uses a system page file to swap pages from
memory of different processes onto disk when they are not being actively used.
On a running system, the page file is opened exclusively by the operating system
and is well-protected. To ensure that any sensitive information from process
memory is not left on the hard drive and thus not available to a user booting
the PC with another operating system, apply the following Windows NT / Windows
2000 / Windows XP registry hack:
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SessionManager\Memory
Management
Name: ClearPageFileAtShutdown
Type: REG_DWORD
Value: 1
Note that this protection only works with a clean shutdown. The
ClearPageFileAtShutdown is part of the normal shutdown process when this value
is set. Valuable for shared PCs or if you have something very valuable needing
protection.
