I have a Unix distro that has its own paging file, but I want to switch over to a partition so that it can be utilized by all three systems.

avisitoritseems

Posted 2019-03-11T23:27:04.813

Reputation: 84

1Are you asking if you can configure Linux and Windows to create a page file on the same partition? – Ramhound – 2019-03-12T00:06:58.190

I'm wondering if I can save space by having a single page file that is used by every operating system. – avisitoritseems – 2019-03-12T11:45:12.173

No; That isn’t possible; Linux and Windows handles things differently – Ramhound – 2019-03-12T11:46:36.753

What about sharing a page file partition between two different Linux distros using different filesystems? Since the partition would be its own filesystem (is it supposed to be unformatted?) it would be fine, correct? – avisitoritseems – 2019-03-13T10:50:42.377

note that Linux and Unix are not the same – phuclv – 2019-08-03T02:36:33.647

Answers

Yes

When I was still using Windows 98 I tried some driver that allows me to mount Linux swap partitions on Windows. Then I moved WIN386.SWP to that new partition. It was so long ago so I couldn't recall the name but it seems that was SwapFs

swapfs-3.2.zip swapfs-3.2.rar is a driver for Windows that let you use a Linux swap partition for temporary storage like a RAM-disk. It is possible to put Windows page file on it and it has support for Plug and Play and Power Management so that standby and hibernation works. SwapFs is implemented as a disk filter driver.

Nowadays using swap file on Linux is so much easier than ever, hence you can try putting the Linux swap on a Windows partition (NTFS or FAT32). Mounting other Linux file systems like ext2/3/4 or btrfs on Windows may also work. But in any case you must make sure that the FS driver is loaded before the swap file is mounted

Is it possible to use a partition for a paging file across multiple Unix distros and a Windows partition?

Answers

Yes