In the Windows system, a paging file is a dynamic file that stores extra data from the RAM (Random Access Memory). It us used when some extra memory is needed to perform some urgent task. However, when this file gets damaged or goes missing then you may face some critical problems even while accessing your system. For such problems, there are few workarounds that can be used to restore normalcy failing which you should use a professional file recovery software to perform file recovery of the inaccessible data.

Think of a situation wherein you have started your Windows 2000 system. After starting the system, it passes the boot phase after which you provide your login credentials. The ‘Loading your personal settings’ dialog box is displayed, which is followed by ‘Saving your settings’ dialog box. However, to your surprise, the desktop does not get displayed. Rather the ‘Welcome to Windows’ logon screen is shown again.

In addition, if the paging file of the operating system is placed in the boot partition, then you may also receive the following error message before the ‘Welcome to Windows’ logon screen is displayed:

“[Limited Virtual Memory]
Your system has no paging file, or the paging file is too small.”

Cause:
There could be the following reasons for the given erroneous situation:
The Windows 2000 boot partition drive letter is not the same as the one that was assigned during the Windows 2000 setup.
The system/boot mirror has cracked because of some miscellaneous reasons, and then it tries to boot to the old shadow drive when it finds the original primary drive is unable to boot.

Resolution:
You can perform either of the following methods to resolve this situation. However, you should be careful as some of the methods involve modifying the system registries.
You should remove the cloned hard disk, if any, that is appended to the system. It is quite possible that this problem started happening after adding the cloned hard disks. Restart the system.
If your system is in a network, then access it using any other system and open Registry Editor and change the following registry entry:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon\Userinit:Reg_SZ:C:\WINNT\system32\userinit.exe
To:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\Current Version\Winlogon\Userinit:Reg_SZ:userinit.exe

If the system access is still unavailable even after using these methods, then you have the option of using a third-party file recovery software. These file recovery tools are based on highly sophisticated mechanisms that help in retrieving all the data without any loss.

One of the best file recovery tools in the data recovery field is Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery that extracts lost or inaccessible files from Windows systems. Supporting various file systems like FAT, exFAT, and NTFS, this file recovery software is compatible with Windows 7, Vista, Server 2003, XP, and 2000.