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Is it possible to move a Windows hibernation file to a different drive?
For instance, if I have Windows installed on C:, I want its hibernate file be on D:.

I wanted to about hibernation file (hiberfil.sys), not the page file.

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    How about an updated answer on how to move it in Windows 10? There’s a comment from @Jason below with a 404’ed link.
    – JDługosz
    Jan 25, 2017 at 8:26

4 Answers 4

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Edit: Now I know how you got those pagefile-related answers! >smile<

Sorry, but you can't relocate the HIBERFIL.SYS file to any partition other than the boot partition. This is because it's needed very early in to boot process to resume from hiberation and the boot loader (NTLDR) code, needing to be compact and optimized, doesn't have the ability to load the HIBERFIL.SYS from an arbitrary location. (Think about how much code it would take to do that... accounting for reparse points, software RAID sets, the potential that another installable filesystem driver might be needed besides NTFS. Somebody had to draw the line somewhere... smile)

It would be nice if you could move it, but no such luck.

Here's what people consider the "definitive" Microsoft statement on this issue: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.11.windowsconfidential.aspx

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  • @Evan: check out the revisions of this question: serverfault.com/revisions/34017/list
    – p.campbell
    Jun 30, 2009 at 19:57
  • @pcampbell: Hahaha! That's excellent... I should revise my answer to talk about the pagefile! Jun 30, 2009 at 20:03
  • I wouldn't say that NTLDR isn't "smart" its optimized to be to called before the real OS loads- thus has limitations
    – Jim B
    Jun 30, 2009 at 22:19
  • @Jim: I was saying "smart" as in "it lacks the code". Wasn't making a value judgement about the quality of the code. Anthromophormizing code is probably a bad idea. Jun 30, 2009 at 22:21
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    To bad, I were looking for this as well as 16GB hibernate file on the SSD is quite much. Works perfectly fine in Unix-system though.
    – Hultner
    Jun 29, 2011 at 11:37
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No it's not possible to move the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys). It must be on the system partition.

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If you are running Vista or later, the bcdedit can edit the hibernation file's location. I have moved it to another partition successfully.

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    Instructions on how to accomplish this would have earned you a vote up.
    – boatcoder
    Jun 27, 2012 at 19:42
  • Nevertheless, he's right. Most people reading this now are using 7/8 and are getting the wrong information.
    – Jason
    Aug 13, 2014 at 1:10
  • @boatcoder Since Jason's URL expired, I tried VisualBCD and did it. Now to change the dump (write) path. I am trying to unlock the handle on a live system instead of disabling it first.
    – Mark C
    Dec 27, 2021 at 5:33
  • Sym-link didn't work. Patch required. superuser.com/a/1082931/31491
    – Mark C
    Dec 27, 2021 at 9:08
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No, hiberfil.sys cannot be moved. This file is accessed by ntldr which does not have this capability. But the problem is deeper than that. On the NT platform drive letter assignments are stored in the registry, which is not be available until much later in the boot process. When ntldr is about to read hiberfil.sys it doesn't even know the drive letter of the system partition, much less any others.

The pagefile can be moved. It is not needed until much later in the boot process when the registry and an almost complete file system is available.

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  • The page file isn't necessary at all for the boot process.
    – Chris S
    Oct 27, 2011 at 14:42

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