The Win32_PageFileUsageâWMI class represents the file used for handling virtual memory file swapping on a Win32 system. Information contained within objects instantiated from this class specify the run-time state of the page file.
Methods
Win32_PageFileUsage has no methods.
Properties
Win32_PageFileUsage returns 9 properties:
'AllocatedBaseSize','Caption','CurrentUsage','Description','InstallDate','Name',
'PeakUsage','Status','TempPageFile'
Unless explicitly marked as writeable, all properties are read-only. Read all properties for all instances:
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage -Property *
Most WMI classes return one or more instances.
When
Get-CimInstance
returns no result, then apparently no instances of class Win32_PageFileUsage exist. This is normal behavior.Either the class is not implemented on your system (may be deprecated or due to missing drivers, i.e. CIM_VideoControllerResolution), or there are simply no physical representations of this class currently available (i.e. Win32_TapeDrive).
AllocatedBaseSize
Actual amount of disk space allocated for use with this page file. This value corresponds to the range established in Win32_PageFileSetting under the InitialSize and MaximumSize properties, set at system startup.
Example: 178
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, AllocatedBaseSize
Caption
A short textual description of the object.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, Caption
CurrentUsage
Amount of disk space currently used by the page file.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, CurrentUsage
Description
A textual description of the object.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, Description
InstallDate
Indicates when the object was installed. Lack of a value does not indicate that the object is not installed.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, InstallDate
Name
Name of the page file.
Example: “C:\PAGEFILE.SYS”
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name
PeakUsage
Highest use page file.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, PeakUsage
Status
Current status of an object. Various operational and nonoperational statuses can be defined. Available values:
$values = 'Degraded','Error','Lost Comm','No Contact','NonRecover','OK','Pred Fail','Service','Starting','Stopping','Stressed','Unknown'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, Status
TempPageFile
If true, a temporary page file has been created, usually because there is no permanent page file on the current computer system.
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property Name, TempPageFile
Examples
List all instances of Win32_PageFileUsage
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage
Learn more about Get-CimInstance
and the deprecated Get-WmiObject
.
View all properties
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage -Property *
View key properties only
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage -KeyOnly
Selecting Properties
To select only some properties, pipe the results to Select-Object -Property a,b,c
with a comma-separated list of the properties you require. Wildcards are permitted.
Get-CimInstance
always returns all properties but only retrieves the ones that you specify. All other properties are empty but still present. That’s why you need to pipe the results into Select-Object
if you want to limit the visible properties, i.e. for reporting.
Selecting Properties
The code below lists all available properties. Remove the ones you do not need:
$properties = 'AllocatedBaseSize',
'Caption',
'CurrentUsage',
'Description',
'InstallDate',
'Name',
'PeakUsage',
'Status',
'TempPageFile'
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage | Select-Object -Property $properties
Limiting Network Bandwidth
If you work remotely, it makes sense to limit network bandwidth by filtering the properties on the server side, too:
Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_PageFileUsage -Property $property |
Select-Object -Property $property
Selecting Instances
To select some instances, use Get-CimInstance and a WMI Query. The wildcard character in WMI Queries is % (and not “*”).
The parameter -Filter runs a simple query.
Listing all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”
Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_PageFileUsage -Filter 'Caption LIKE "a%"'
Using a WQL Query
The parameter -Query uses a query similar to SQL and combines the parameters -Filter and -Property. This returns all instances where the property Caption starts with “A”, and returns the properties specified:
Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT Status, Caption, PeakUsage, AllocatedBaseSize FROM Win32_PageFileUsage WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'"
Any property you did not specify is still present but empty. You might need to use
Select-Object
to remove all unwanted properties:Get-CimInstance -Query "SELECT Status, Caption, PeakUsage, AllocatedBaseSize FROM Win32_PageFileUsage WHERE Caption LIKE 'a%'" | Select-Object -Property Status, Caption, PeakUsage, AllocatedBaseSize
Accessing Remote Computers
To access remote systems, you need to have proper permissions. User the parameter -ComputerName to access one or more remote systems.
Authenticating as Current User
# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'
# authenticate with your current identity:
$result = Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_PageFileUsage -ComputerName $list
$result
Authenticating as Different User
Use a CIMSession object to authenticate with a new identity:
# one or more computer names or IP addresses:
$list = 'server1', 'server2'
# authenticate with a different identity:
$cred = Get-Credential -Message 'Authenticate to retrieve WMI information:'
$session = New-CimSession -ComputerName $list -Credential $cred
$result = Get-CimInstance Win32_PageFileUsage -CimSession $session
# remove the session after use (if you do not plan to re-use it later)
Remove-CimSession -CimSession $session
$result
Learn more about accessing remote computers.
Requirements
To use Win32_PageFileUsage, the following requirements apply:
PowerShell
Get-CimInstance
was introduced with PowerShell Version 3.0, which in turn was introduced on clients with Windows 8 and on servers with Windows Server 2012.
If necessary, update Windows PowerShell to Windows PowerShell 5.1, or install PowerShell 7 side-by-side.
Operating System
Win32_PageFileUsage was introduced on clients with Windows Vista and on servers with Windows Server 2008.
Namespace
Win32_PageFileUsage lives in the Namespace Root/CIMV2. This is the default namespace. There is no need to use the -Namespace parameter in Get-CimInstance
.
Implementation
Win32_PageFileUsage is implemented in CIMWin32.dll and defined in CIMWin32.mof. Both files are located in the folder C:\Windows\system32\wbem
:
explorer $env:windir\system32\wbem
notepad $env:windir\system32\wbem\CIMWin32.mof