Windows XP Prefetch Clean And Control – 3893 days old

[Tuffie]

This one sounds like a winner for XP

Tool for flushing the Prefetch log and controlling the Prefetch Parameters.

What Is Prefetch?? -

Taken From Microsoft Website -
"Windows XP monitors the files that are used when the computer starts and when you start applications. By monitoring these files, Windows XP can prefetch them. Prefetching data is the process whereby data that is expected to be requested is read ahead into the cache. Prefetching boot files and applications decreases the time needed to start Windows XP and start applications."

This information is logged and stored on your hard drive taking up space and requiring a process to be kept running monitoring which applications are being run. This has a performance impact on your PC. Disabling the Prefetch function or at least only enabling it for the Boot Files will allow you to free up some system resources and preserve some disk space.

http://www.jester2k.pwp.blueyonder.c...ester2kpcc.htm

[Alakazam]

Hmmmm, I'll have to take a look at that one Tuffie, I usally clean out the prefetch a couple of times a week and this looks like a real easy way to accomplish that task.

[Tuffie]

I do the same thing Zammy using Spybot,but this program seems to handle it better,and keep the necessary one's for boot files

[whipat]

Tks Tuff, gonna go take a look but I do the search files and folders thing and whatever comes up under prefetch I delete, been doing it for a year with np.

[muckshifter]

Of everything you can do to optimize Windows XP, one of the simplest is just to use it. As you launch and exploit applications, Windows observes your behavior and updates a dynamic file called Layout.ini. After every three days, when it senses that the computer is idle, it rearranges the locations of programs on the system hard drive to optimize their launch and execution.

XP also speeds up and the boot process and optimizes the launch of programs by using prefetching. Windows observes the code and programs that are used immediately upon bootup and creates a list of data to prefetch very early in the boot process. Similarly, as individual programs are launched, Windows keeps track of different files and components are accessed. The next time the application is accessed, Windows prefetches the necessary items to expedite the application's launch.

The prefetch optimizing code exists both within the XP kernel and the task scheduler service. The kernel keeps track of pages that are referenced by a given process immediately after the process is created. The service transforms the recorded pages into prefetch instructions for that process. The next time the process is created, the kernel executes the prefetch instructions, speeding up the creation of the process.

Disk optimization and application/boot prefetching work in tandem. That is, when XP optimizes file system for faster program access, the data it recorded for the application and bootup prefetch processes is factored in to determine optimal file placement on the disks.

Now ... how do I turn off prefetch in my CPU?

The most useful new feature is improved data prefetch, in which the processor observes the patterns of memory accesses and fetches data it thinks you'll want before you actually request it so that it's ready when you are. In the Athlon XP, data prefetch works at the hardware level as well as the software level, so applications that were not written to take advantage of data prefetch can still benefit from it. The improved data prefetch also takes better advantage of high-bandwidth memory, so DDR SDRAM is much more useful to the Athlon XP than it was to the previous version of the Athlon.

Ok ... not disrespect to Tuff here, that little program can be very useful ... but ... be aware you also may be turning off vital monitoring.

If you have an AMD 1.8gig/512 ram or above then, I suggest you leave prefetch alone.

[Tuffie]

Some good info Muck's,but it did mention to keep the boot prefetch.I think a lot of people here delete some,after it builds up to a certain point.I had something similar in 98se,but the cache can get pretty large if unattended altogether.Saving the history can speed things up also,but if you leave it set for 30 days or more,it can slow things down.I guess a lot is common sense,and how big your system is as you mention

[muckshifter]