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#1
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Prefetch files
Have read that it is OK, and will in fact, speed up your
computer to delete all the .pf files in the Prefetch folder in Windows..........does anyone know if this is true? And what will be the consequences of deleting these files? Thanks, Deloy |
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#2
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Prefetch files
Hi,
From what I have read and heard about prefetch, if you clean out the prefetch files, it will speed up the boot, since it will not preload the files you access often. On the other hand, the frequently access files will not open up quickly. From what I have heard, it all depends on how big your prefetch gets that determines the speed of startup. I could be wrong too, but that is what I get from reading up on prefetch and responses I have read in the News Groups about it. Jeff -----Original Message----- Have read that it is OK, and will in fact, speed up your computer to delete all the .pf files in the Prefetch folder in Windows..........does anyone know if this is true? And what will be the consequences of deleting these files? Thanks, Deloy . |
#3
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Prefetch files
Don't bother, the file is constantly changing. In 3 =BD years with XP =
my prefetch folder has never ever exceeded 129 entries. If you clean = out the folder (leave layout.ini) then when you open a program it gets = added to the folder as does every subsequent program - you have gained = nothing. Just let it do its thing. --=20 Just my 2=A2 worth, Jeff __________in response to__________ "Jeff" wrote in message = ... | Hi, |=20 | From what I have read and heard about prefetch, if you=20 | clean out the prefetch files, it will speed up the boot,=20 | since it will not preload the files you access often. On=20 | the other hand, the frequently access files will not open=20 | up quickly. From what I have heard, it all depends on how=20 | big your prefetch gets that determines the speed of=20 | startup. I could be wrong too, but that is what I get=20 | from reading up on prefetch and responses I have read in=20 | the News Groups about it. |=20 | Jeff |
#4
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Prefetch files
There is a free utility called Windows XP Prefetch Clean and Control that
will allow you to clear out all entries and set it to monitor boot files only, applications only, all files or you can disable it completely. "» mrtee «" wrote in message ... Don't bother, the file is constantly changing. In 3 ½ years with XP my prefetch folder has never ever exceeded 129 entries. If you clean out the folder (leave layout.ini) then when you open a program it gets added to the folder as does every subsequent program - you have gained nothing. Just let it do its thing. -- Just my 2¢ worth, Jeff __________in response to__________ "Jeff" wrote in message ... | Hi, | | From what I have read and heard about prefetch, if you | clean out the prefetch files, it will speed up the boot, | since it will not preload the files you access often. On | the other hand, the frequently access files will not open | up quickly. From what I have heard, it all depends on how | big your prefetch gets that determines the speed of | startup. I could be wrong too, but that is what I get | from reading up on prefetch and responses I have read in | the News Groups about it. | | Jeff |
#5
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Prefetch files: Clean and You May Speed PC Performance & Boot!
I've seen a number of differing views on prefetch, and would like to offer
some more and different info on why you might want to clean pre-fetch. It doesn't stay a constant size for all--it can get too full in the equations of some boxes rapidly. I don't think you can hurt yourself deleting pre-fetch--it's going to reconstitute, but you may improve boot or performance. If one takes a look at a number of articles on Pre-fetch, you will come away with the idea that cleaning it or resetting its parameters in the registry may speed not only booting, but performance as well, and you do not compromise opening a program--it will be reconstituted and you have gained something in two significant areas--boot speed and PC performance. Google on Pre-Fetch http://tinyurl.com/65fyt http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270_11-5165773.html and here's a contrarian view to that: http://www.bootdisk.com/bootlist/138.htm Pre-fetch Delete Favorably Impacts Boot Time http://www.theeldergeek.com/prefetch...-_altering.htm http://www.komando.com/tips_show.asp?showID=6737 Mark Russonovitch's (Sysinternals) Take on Pre-Fetch http://www.techsoup.org/forums/index...117&mid=179692 From Kelly's XP: http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_p.htm Prefetch Prefetch is a new and very useful technique in Windows XP. However, after using XP some time, the Prefetch directory can get full and have obsolete links in the Prefetch catalog, which can slow down your computer significantly. The Prefetcher component in Windows XP is part of the Memory Manager, and helps to shorten the amount of time it takes to start Windows and programs. Windows XP "monitors" itself and notices which applications are launched frequently. It gathers information about these applications and what they access with the launch and stores this information in the prefetch folder. It then uses this information to "optimize" access to these files so that they launch faster. Once every three days, by default, Windows XP will perform a partial defragmentation and adjust the layout of the disk based upon current use. The files to be moved are written in the file Layout.ini (found in the Prefetch directory under the System Root directory). Suggestion: Open C:\Windows\Prefetch and delete the obsolete files, reboot. However, if you don't have a real good reason to delete these files, just leave them be. Let the system handle this folder. If system performance is an issue: XP automatically optimizes itself every three days, bootvis forces the optimization to happen now rather than having to wait three days. Fast Boot /Fast Resume Design: A performance trace visualization tool for use with Windows XP systems. Bootvis can be downloaded here. For more information click here. Manage the Windows Prefetcher Service: Go to Start/Run/Regedit and navigate to this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, called "EnablePrefetcher" and set it according to (0 = disabled, 1 = Application launch prefetching, 2 = Boot prefetching, 3 = Both prefetching). To clear the Prefetcher cache, delete all the files in the Prefetch sub-directory (e.g. "C:\Windows\Prefetch"). Prefetch Defined: This directory is used by the defrag utility to help organize the files on your PC for more efficient loading. "I/O performance is strongly influenced by the layout of files on disk. Files and directories that are heavily fragmented or dispersed across the disk will hurt performance. While Windows XP will automatically reposition some files to improve performance, this will generally be done infrequently and will usually include only a small fraction of the files on the disk. Therefore, it is a good idea to defragment the disk following an installation. Once every three days, by default, Windows XP will perform a partial defragmentation and adjust the layout of the disk based upon current use. The files to be moved are written in the file Layout.ini (found in the Prefetch directory under the System Root directory)." Windows XP Performance Boot Prefetching Windows XP speeds up system boot by observing the code and data needed each time the system is booted and prefetching the necessary file contents early in the boot process. This prefetching is not done until the third boot of the system, when sufficient information is available to make the prefetching most effective. The files observed during system boot will be used in the disk layout process mentioned above. Additional information on the prefetcher and the Windows XP boot process can be found at Fast Boot/Fast Resume for the Windows Platform. Application-Launch Prefetching Windows XP also uses prefetching when launching applications. The files and the contents of the files accessed by each new process are observed and recorded. No prefetching can be done for the first launch of an application, so first launches are often considerably slower than subsequent launches. About 85% to 90% of the improvement is realized after just one launch of an application, with the remaining speed improvement coming after the system has had an opportunity to adjust the disk layout with information specific to this application. Benchmarking on Windows XP. hth, Chad Harris "» mrtee «" wrote in message ... Don't bother, the file is constantly changing. In 3 ½ years with XP my prefetch folder has never ever exceeded 129 entries. If you clean out the folder (leave layout.ini) then when you open a program it gets added to the folder as does every subsequent program - you have gained nothing. Just let it do its thing. -- Just my 2¢ worth, Jeff __________in response to__________ "Jeff" wrote in message ... | Hi, | | From what I have read and heard about prefetch, if you | clean out the prefetch files, it will speed up the boot, | since it will not preload the files you access often. On | the other hand, the frequently access files will not open | up quickly. From what I have heard, it all depends on how | big your prefetch gets that determines the speed of | startup. I could be wrong too, but that is what I get | from reading up on prefetch and responses I have read in | the News Groups about it. | | Jeff |
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