Prefetch

[Shel]

All of the items in my prefetch folder have dates between 11/8/05 and
11/15/05, but I use my computer every day. Is this normal? If not, how
do I fix it?

Many thanks.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

It's not unusual for the pre-fetch folder to have old items. There's no
particular harm in removing entries that seem old to you, but there's
nothing to be gained either. I just leave 'em be.

What people sometimes do is delete all the entries in the pre-fetch folder
every now and then let Windows re-populate it. (Don't delete the folder
itself.) Your computer may start a little slower for a few days until the
pre-fetch gets rebuilt, but you won't have old items hanging around.

 

[Shel]

Thanks, Ted.

But why don't any of the several new programs I have installed and
used since November appear in the Prefetch folder?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Why do you think they should be there? When your PC starts up, Windows looks
in the Prefetch folder to determine how best to load Windows.

 

[Shel]

OK. I didn't realize that Prefetch was only concerned with boot.
Many thanks.

 

[David Candy]

It's not.

 

[John Jay Smith]

prefetch handles boot and other launching programs...

But I found a program to disable it compleatly, since things appear there
that I seldom use...

I have found other techniques to make my computer work always like it has
just been formated and freshly installed with windows. Lightning fast!


"David Candy" <.> wrote in message
It's not.

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Good luck to you friend. Sounds like you're going to need it.

 

[Dr Teeth]

I was just thinking how wonderful life was, when "Ted Zieglar"

It's not unusual for the pre-fetch folder to have old items. There's no
particular harm in removing entries that seem old to you, but there's
nothing to be gained either. I just leave 'em be.

IT IS! It means that prefetch is not working and new entries are not
being created. It is 21:30 hrs in the UK on May 1st, my oldest entry
is dated yesterday at 15:17 hrs. Win XP also clears out old entries
automatically.

**Every** time you run a program, providing it is not just a single
filed executable, an entry **should** appear in the prefetch folder.
Even if you run the same program several times in a row, the timestamp
on the .pf file should change to the latest load time.

The default behaviour of Win XP is to optimise the boot process *and*
program loads; and not just via the moving of files on the hard disk.

Shel, the way I'd fix your problem, which I have had a few times is to
delete the prefetch folder, it will be recreated on the next boot and
a few entries should appear after a few minutes.

--
Cheers,

Guy

** Stress - the condition brought about by having to
** resist the temptation to beat the living daylights
** out of someone who richly deserves it.