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Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?



 
 
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  #46  
Old April 14th 04, 10:36 PM
Lester Stiefel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 21:25:17 -0400, Bill wrote:

mrtee wrote:

You are correct, prefetch is supposed to clean (purge) itself
every 3 days, at least in everything I have read, and that is what it
does on my system.


Right, and if I don't install PerfectDisk it does exactly that - clean
up the folder every three days.

I ran without any third party defrag utilities for about a year and no
problems, until I tried PerfectDisk v6.

On another note, I find it slightly disturbing that several people here
have denied that XP is supposed to manage the prefetch folder. Makes me
wonder what other misinformation they're passing along to newbies who
don't know any better.

By any chance do you have GoBack installed?


Nope, I use System Restore if necessary. In fact, very few programs are
installed right now because of this issue.

I have about a dozen other apps that I want to install, but I'm waiting
until I resolve this issue or dump PD. :-/


I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
of the browsers as it slows these down.
--
Lester Stiefel
Proverbs 1:7-9 Be careful to pay attention to valid
teachings
Ads
  #47  
Old April 14th 04, 10:36 PM
Lester Stiefel
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

On Tue, 13 Apr 2004 21:25:17 -0400, Bill wrote:

mrtee wrote:

You are correct, prefetch is supposed to clean (purge) itself
every 3 days, at least in everything I have read, and that is what it
does on my system.


Right, and if I don't install PerfectDisk it does exactly that - clean
up the folder every three days.

I ran without any third party defrag utilities for about a year and no
problems, until I tried PerfectDisk v6.

On another note, I find it slightly disturbing that several people here
have denied that XP is supposed to manage the prefetch folder. Makes me
wonder what other misinformation they're passing along to newbies who
don't know any better.

By any chance do you have GoBack installed?


Nope, I use System Restore if necessary. In fact, very few programs are
installed right now because of this issue.

I have about a dozen other apps that I want to install, but I'm waiting
until I resolve this issue or dump PD. :-/


I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
of the browsers as it slows these down.
--
Lester Stiefel
Proverbs 1:7-9 Be careful to pay attention to valid
teachings
  #48  
Old April 14th 04, 10:37 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

Lester Stiefel wrote:

I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
of the browsers as it slows these down.


You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching in
any of the operating systems?
  #49  
Old April 14th 04, 10:37 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

Lester Stiefel wrote:

I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
of the browsers as it slows these down.


You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching in
any of the operating systems?
  #50  
Old April 15th 04, 03:55 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #51  
Old April 15th 04, 03:55 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #52  
Old April 15th 04, 04:02 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #53  
Old April 15th 04, 04:02 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #54  
Old April 15th 04, 05:13 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #55  
Old April 15th 04, 10:04 PM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #56  
Old April 16th 04, 02:53 AM
ğmrteeĞ
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

I think that he turned off internet caching.

Found this on the Raxco site;=20
"Layout Files (Windows XP Only) - These are file which the operating =
system will defragment and optimize. On Windows XP, the operating system =
(OS) will place certain files to increase the boot speed of your system. =
These files are listed in the \\Windows\prefetch\layout.ini file. =
PerfectDisk does not optimize these files since the OS will simply move =
them every three days to where it has determined to be the optimum =
location. Any attempt to defragment these files would be a waste of =
system resources" at =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...oot_Defrag.htm

Same info at: =
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows...able_Popup.htm

I hope that Greg jumps in sometime with an answer for you.

--=20
Just my 2=A2 worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
"Bill" wrote in message =
...
| Lester Stiefel wrote:
|=20
| I noticed a similar problem with the "hide this folder" and
| hide this drive" features of explorer in xppro. When PD6 is
| installed, and you do a smart defrag pass, somehow the
| program segments that deal with this are stopped or removed
| ( you can't access these), btw I do not use prefetch in any
| of the browsers as it slows these down.
|=20
| You lost me there at the end. Did you mean you don't use prefetching =
in
| any of the operating systems?
  #57  
Old April 18th 04, 02:04 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

R. McCarty wrote:

I missed the original post, so I'm speculating here.


No problem, I'll repeat info as needed.

Perfect Disk doesn't factor into the Prefetch operations,
it only uses the Layout.Ini file to do the file placement.


That's what it's supposed to do, but it's doing something to prefetch on
my computer as it's been almost two weeks now and I have dozens of
obsolete PF files in the prefetch folder which are up to two weeks old.

The .pf files are occasionally purged by Windows XP.


Yes, XP takes care of the folder just fine and has done so for the last
two years when I just used MS Defrag.

However, as soon as PerfectDisk was installed XP stopped cleaning up the
folder.

To give you some background, I first installed PerfectDisk v6 almost a
month ago to try it out. It seemed to work great, defragging very well,
offline defrags put the MFT and Pagefile in good spots, etc.

But a week after installing it, I glanced at the prefetch folder and
noticed that old files were in there dating back to the day I installed
PerfectDisk. Some PF that pointed to PD setup and dozens of instances
of Rundll32 files. That's when I realized something was wrong with
prefetching.

So I checked all the settings in PD and then went looking for info on
prefetching. I read everything I could find on the net, including
Raxco's website.

I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I did a second clean install of XP,
updates, and then installed PD and some usual programs like Agent,
Eudora, etc. After a week, same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch
folder and I'm forced to clean up the folder myself.

So I tried another clean install of XP, updates, and install PD and some
programs. Used different PD setting this time, having PD manage all of
the Layout.ini files instead of the default. Once again after a week,
same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch folder.

Now I did read a thread about PD not disabling prefetch:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...isk%2Bprefetch

"PerfectDisk doesn't disable prefetch. What PD does is to disable the
partial defrag that WinXP is performing approximately every three days
to attempt to make sure that the files in the prefetch folder are
contiguous."

And that seems to be what is happening on my system. However, if PD
stops the 3 day partial defrag, and XP's prefetch just keeps building
more and more PF files, then there is an obvious issue here with the
prefetch folder growing out of control.

Perhaps if PD would clear the Prefetch folder and change the prefetching
to "boot files" ONLY in the Registry
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters) to Enableprefetcher=2 then
it would stop building PF files and just keep the Layout and
NTOSBOOT-BOODFAAD files, then it would do its job.

But while this keeps the prefetch folder nice and tidy, it effectively
reduces performance because prefetching of applications is no longer in
effect. Boot times will be the same, but opening programs will be
slightly slower.

So I tried using the setting to let Windows manage the files, which
changes the Registry key
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\OptimalLayout)
back to OptimalLayout=1, however that still does not let XP clean up the
folder, partial defrag does not start to work without reinstalling
Windows again.

Stand alone computer - let perfect disk manage all files


This is the odd part. I have PerfectDisk in the same config as this
user, yet his computer seems to manage the prefetch folder just fine
whereas mine just keeps adding more and more PF files without cleaning
up the older entries.

I've tried uninstalling PerfectDisk, but whatever changes it makes, are
not undone by removing PD. Only a clean install of Windows seems to fix
it.

I posted this in hopes that Greg Hayes of Raxco Software would see it,
but apparently he hasn't posted here in about a month, nor in any other
group in over two weeks according to Google.

Perhaps he's on holidays...
  #58  
Old April 18th 04, 02:04 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

R. McCarty wrote:

I missed the original post, so I'm speculating here.


No problem, I'll repeat info as needed.

Perfect Disk doesn't factor into the Prefetch operations,
it only uses the Layout.Ini file to do the file placement.


That's what it's supposed to do, but it's doing something to prefetch on
my computer as it's been almost two weeks now and I have dozens of
obsolete PF files in the prefetch folder which are up to two weeks old.

The .pf files are occasionally purged by Windows XP.


Yes, XP takes care of the folder just fine and has done so for the last
two years when I just used MS Defrag.

However, as soon as PerfectDisk was installed XP stopped cleaning up the
folder.

To give you some background, I first installed PerfectDisk v6 almost a
month ago to try it out. It seemed to work great, defragging very well,
offline defrags put the MFT and Pagefile in good spots, etc.

But a week after installing it, I glanced at the prefetch folder and
noticed that old files were in there dating back to the day I installed
PerfectDisk. Some PF that pointed to PD setup and dozens of instances
of Rundll32 files. That's when I realized something was wrong with
prefetching.

So I checked all the settings in PD and then went looking for info on
prefetching. I read everything I could find on the net, including
Raxco's website.

I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I did a second clean install of XP,
updates, and then installed PD and some usual programs like Agent,
Eudora, etc. After a week, same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch
folder and I'm forced to clean up the folder myself.

So I tried another clean install of XP, updates, and install PD and some
programs. Used different PD setting this time, having PD manage all of
the Layout.ini files instead of the default. Once again after a week,
same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch folder.

Now I did read a thread about PD not disabling prefetch:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...isk%2Bprefetch

"PerfectDisk doesn't disable prefetch. What PD does is to disable the
partial defrag that WinXP is performing approximately every three days
to attempt to make sure that the files in the prefetch folder are
contiguous."

And that seems to be what is happening on my system. However, if PD
stops the 3 day partial defrag, and XP's prefetch just keeps building
more and more PF files, then there is an obvious issue here with the
prefetch folder growing out of control.

Perhaps if PD would clear the Prefetch folder and change the prefetching
to "boot files" ONLY in the Registry
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters) to Enableprefetcher=2 then
it would stop building PF files and just keep the Layout and
NTOSBOOT-BOODFAAD files, then it would do its job.

But while this keeps the prefetch folder nice and tidy, it effectively
reduces performance because prefetching of applications is no longer in
effect. Boot times will be the same, but opening programs will be
slightly slower.

So I tried using the setting to let Windows manage the files, which
changes the Registry key
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\OptimalLayout)
back to OptimalLayout=1, however that still does not let XP clean up the
folder, partial defrag does not start to work without reinstalling
Windows again.

Stand alone computer - let perfect disk manage all files


This is the odd part. I have PerfectDisk in the same config as this
user, yet his computer seems to manage the prefetch folder just fine
whereas mine just keeps adding more and more PF files without cleaning
up the older entries.

I've tried uninstalling PerfectDisk, but whatever changes it makes, are
not undone by removing PD. Only a clean install of Windows seems to fix
it.

I posted this in hopes that Greg Hayes of Raxco Software would see it,
but apparently he hasn't posted here in about a month, nor in any other
group in over two weeks according to Google.

Perhaps he's on holidays...
  #59  
Old April 18th 04, 02:04 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

R. McCarty wrote:

I missed the original post, so I'm speculating here.


No problem, I'll repeat info as needed.

Perfect Disk doesn't factor into the Prefetch operations,
it only uses the Layout.Ini file to do the file placement.


That's what it's supposed to do, but it's doing something to prefetch on
my computer as it's been almost two weeks now and I have dozens of
obsolete PF files in the prefetch folder which are up to two weeks old.

The .pf files are occasionally purged by Windows XP.


Yes, XP takes care of the folder just fine and has done so for the last
two years when I just used MS Defrag.

However, as soon as PerfectDisk was installed XP stopped cleaning up the
folder.

To give you some background, I first installed PerfectDisk v6 almost a
month ago to try it out. It seemed to work great, defragging very well,
offline defrags put the MFT and Pagefile in good spots, etc.

But a week after installing it, I glanced at the prefetch folder and
noticed that old files were in there dating back to the day I installed
PerfectDisk. Some PF that pointed to PD setup and dozens of instances
of Rundll32 files. That's when I realized something was wrong with
prefetching.

So I checked all the settings in PD and then went looking for info on
prefetching. I read everything I could find on the net, including
Raxco's website.

I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I did a second clean install of XP,
updates, and then installed PD and some usual programs like Agent,
Eudora, etc. After a week, same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch
folder and I'm forced to clean up the folder myself.

So I tried another clean install of XP, updates, and install PD and some
programs. Used different PD setting this time, having PD manage all of
the Layout.ini files instead of the default. Once again after a week,
same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch folder.

Now I did read a thread about PD not disabling prefetch:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...isk%2Bprefetch

"PerfectDisk doesn't disable prefetch. What PD does is to disable the
partial defrag that WinXP is performing approximately every three days
to attempt to make sure that the files in the prefetch folder are
contiguous."

And that seems to be what is happening on my system. However, if PD
stops the 3 day partial defrag, and XP's prefetch just keeps building
more and more PF files, then there is an obvious issue here with the
prefetch folder growing out of control.

Perhaps if PD would clear the Prefetch folder and change the prefetching
to "boot files" ONLY in the Registry
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters) to Enableprefetcher=2 then
it would stop building PF files and just keep the Layout and
NTOSBOOT-BOODFAAD files, then it would do its job.

But while this keeps the prefetch folder nice and tidy, it effectively
reduces performance because prefetching of applications is no longer in
effect. Boot times will be the same, but opening programs will be
slightly slower.

So I tried using the setting to let Windows manage the files, which
changes the Registry key
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\OptimalLayout)
back to OptimalLayout=1, however that still does not let XP clean up the
folder, partial defrag does not start to work without reinstalling
Windows again.

Stand alone computer - let perfect disk manage all files


This is the odd part. I have PerfectDisk in the same config as this
user, yet his computer seems to manage the prefetch folder just fine
whereas mine just keeps adding more and more PF files without cleaning
up the older entries.

I've tried uninstalling PerfectDisk, but whatever changes it makes, are
not undone by removing PD. Only a clean install of Windows seems to fix
it.

I posted this in hopes that Greg Hayes of Raxco Software would see it,
but apparently he hasn't posted here in about a month, nor in any other
group in over two weeks according to Google.

Perhaps he's on holidays...
  #60  
Old April 18th 04, 02:04 PM
Bill
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Perfectdisk Stops Prefetch - Greg Hayes?

R. McCarty wrote:

I missed the original post, so I'm speculating here.


No problem, I'll repeat info as needed.

Perfect Disk doesn't factor into the Prefetch operations,
it only uses the Layout.Ini file to do the file placement.


That's what it's supposed to do, but it's doing something to prefetch on
my computer as it's been almost two weeks now and I have dozens of
obsolete PF files in the prefetch folder which are up to two weeks old.

The .pf files are occasionally purged by Windows XP.


Yes, XP takes care of the folder just fine and has done so for the last
two years when I just used MS Defrag.

However, as soon as PerfectDisk was installed XP stopped cleaning up the
folder.

To give you some background, I first installed PerfectDisk v6 almost a
month ago to try it out. It seemed to work great, defragging very well,
offline defrags put the MFT and Pagefile in good spots, etc.

But a week after installing it, I glanced at the prefetch folder and
noticed that old files were in there dating back to the day I installed
PerfectDisk. Some PF that pointed to PD setup and dozens of instances
of Rundll32 files. That's when I realized something was wrong with
prefetching.

So I checked all the settings in PD and then went looking for info on
prefetching. I read everything I could find on the net, including
Raxco's website.

I thought maybe it was a fluke, so I did a second clean install of XP,
updates, and then installed PD and some usual programs like Agent,
Eudora, etc. After a week, same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch
folder and I'm forced to clean up the folder myself.

So I tried another clean install of XP, updates, and install PD and some
programs. Used different PD setting this time, having PD manage all of
the Layout.ini files instead of the default. Once again after a week,
same thing - XP stops managing the prefetch folder.

Now I did read a thread about PD not disabling prefetch:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=e...isk%2Bprefetch

"PerfectDisk doesn't disable prefetch. What PD does is to disable the
partial defrag that WinXP is performing approximately every three days
to attempt to make sure that the files in the prefetch folder are
contiguous."

And that seems to be what is happening on my system. However, if PD
stops the 3 day partial defrag, and XP's prefetch just keeps building
more and more PF files, then there is an obvious issue here with the
prefetch folder growing out of control.

Perhaps if PD would clear the Prefetch folder and change the prefetching
to "boot files" ONLY in the Registry
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contr ol\Session
Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters) to Enableprefetcher=2 then
it would stop building PF files and just keep the Layout and
NTOSBOOT-BOODFAAD files, then it would do its job.

But while this keeps the prefetch folder nice and tidy, it effectively
reduces performance because prefetching of applications is no longer in
effect. Boot times will be the same, but opening programs will be
slightly slower.

So I tried using the setting to let Windows manage the files, which
changes the Registry key
(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Cur rentVersion\OptimalLayout)
back to OptimalLayout=1, however that still does not let XP clean up the
folder, partial defrag does not start to work without reinstalling
Windows again.

Stand alone computer - let perfect disk manage all files


This is the odd part. I have PerfectDisk in the same config as this
user, yet his computer seems to manage the prefetch folder just fine
whereas mine just keeps adding more and more PF files without cleaning
up the older entries.

I've tried uninstalling PerfectDisk, but whatever changes it makes, are
not undone by removing PD. Only a clean install of Windows seems to fix
it.

I posted this in hopes that Greg Hayes of Raxco Software would see it,
but apparently he hasn't posted here in about a month, nor in any other
group in over two weeks according to Google.

Perhaps he's on holidays...
 




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