Prefetch Solution w/SP2

  • Thread starter Thread starter zag
  • Start date Start date
Z

zag

Some say that 3 days after installing SP2 the Prefetch
folder will reappear. Unfortuntely, it may, or may not.
Go here for the Registry solution... it works well.
Still, remember to periodically clean out the Prefetch
folder or it will start to bog down your boot.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270_11-5165773.html

z ------------------------------------------------------
 
I spent two months looking at prefetch every day at the same time. It will
do a mini-defrag and clean itself without you taking any action. It did
take two month before the two folders older than 30 days were deleted.

Then I went back to watching grass grow and I leave prefetch alone.

David
 
zag said:
Some say that 3 days after installing SP2 the Prefetch
folder will reappear. Unfortuntely, it may, or may not.
Go here for the Registry solution... it works well.
Still, remember to periodically clean out the Prefetch
folder or it will start to bog down your boot.

http://techrepublic.com.com/5100-6270_11-5165773.html

z ------------------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

The whole point of the prefetch folder is to speed up the XP boot and run
time performance of applications.

That article isn't completely accurate in the way the author describes some
of the prefetch behaviors. He seems to be insinuating that XP actually
preloads all of the files for every application that has an associated *.pf
file in the prefetch folder into memory when the XP system is started. This
is not true.

He also seems to be saying that parts of some of the actual files for an
application are preloaded in the prefetch folder, this is also not accurate.
The *.pf files are very small text files that simply describe the file
access patterns in the applications launch sequence. The prefetch process
determines this sequence by how the application launches and then enters
this information in the associated *.pf file. This is why it may take up to
3 days to re-populate the prefetch folder. The prefetch process also
optimizes the way the applications files are accessed, where in the normal
startup process a program may retrieve many pieces of code by accessing the
same file several different times, prefetching allows one access of each
file to retrieve all of the pieces of code at once. This can increase the
start up time of some larger programs by as much as 50%.

The author also gives some bad advice on deleting the contents of the
prefetch folder. If the contents are deleted, it will take XP at least
approximately 3 days to rebuild all of the *.pf and Layout.ini files which
means that during this time, the system will boot slower and start programs
slower. The prefetch folder takes care of this process quiet well by
deleting *.pf files when they have not been used for approximately 7 days.

Reference:

See the Prefetch and Run Time Performance sections of the following
articles.

Windows XP: Kernel Improvements Create a More Robust, Powerful, and Scalable
OS -- MSDN Magazine, December 2001:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/msdnmag/issues/01/12/XPKernel/default.aspx

Microsoft Windows XP Performance:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/evaluate/xpperf.mspx


--
Regards,

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
 
hi Kelly -
I had tried the ProcessIdleTasks solution but it
does not work unless the Registry value for
PrefetchParameters has been set to something other
than (0). Once I set mine to (1) then Prefetch worked
immediately. As for cleaning up periodically, I often
find some very old items that seem to provide no benefit
in being there.
z ------------------------------------------------------

z -------------------------------------------------------
 
Ronnie MVP -
I reread the article in view of your post.
I find the article more credible in what it says
than I do your rebuttal. I find Prefet a useful
adjunct to Windows but I am not a blind believer
that Microsoft does every thing right.
z ----------------------------------------------
 
zag said:
I reread the article in view of your post.
I find the article more credible in what it says
than I do your rebuttal. I find Prefet a useful
adjunct to Windows but I am not a blind believer
that Microsoft does every thing right.
z ----------------------------------------------
Click to expand...

I am also not a blind believer that Microsoft does everything right. My post
was not meant to be a defense of the prefetch process, it can stand on it's
own merits. It was meant to point out technical inaccuracies in the article
about how the prefetch process works. This is irresponsible when the author
knows that users will blindly follow the advice that they are expounding.

Prefetch files can become orphaned, and when they do, they should be
deleted. However, this needs to be done as a deliberate part of a well
thought out maintenance process. To say that the entire folder should be
dumped is like throwing the baby out with the dishwater. :)

Most prefetch folders that I have seen never get any larger than around 2 to
4MB, at the most, and the orphaned *.pf files are easy enough to detect.

--
Regards,

Ronnie Vernon
Microsoft MVP
Windows Shell/User

Please reply to the newsgroup so all may benefit.
http://www.dts-l.org
http://www.mvps.org
 
Ronnie said:
I am also not a blind believer that Microsoft does everything right. My post
was not meant to be a defense of the prefetch process, it can stand on it's
own merits. It was meant to point out technical inaccuracies in the article
about how the prefetch process works. This is irresponsible when the author
knows that users will blindly follow the advice that they are expounding.

Prefetch files can become orphaned, and when they do, they should be
deleted. However, this needs to be done as a deliberate part of a well
thought out maintenance process. To say that the entire folder should be
dumped is like throwing the baby out with the dishwater. :)

Most prefetch folders that I have seen never get any larger than around 2 to
4MB, at the most, and the orphaned *.pf files are easy enough to detect.
Click to expand...

Mine's at 5.17 MB with the oldest file dated 8/26.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I hadn't checked those keys in a great while. As
per cleaning, as I stated the view differ, but I hear you. :o)





hi Kelly -
I had tried the ProcessIdleTasks solution but it
does not work unless the Registry value for
PrefetchParameters has been set to something other
than (0). Once I set mine to (1) then Prefetch worked
immediately. As for cleaning up periodically, I often
find some very old items that seem to provide no benefit
in being there.
z ------------------------------------------------------

z -------------------------------------------------------
 
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