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| The Windows operating system includes processes which allow its Disk Defragmenter tool to
rearrange the programs on the hard disk in an optimised manner so the most-used programs will tend
to open more quickly. In Windows XP, the process works in conjunction with a Windows system
folder called Prefetch, a file therein called Layout.ini and a sub-routine
called Task Scheduler. The Prefetch folder is also a feature of Windows Vista. However, this article is
largely dedicated to the optimising system for Windows 98, 98SE or Me as it was tweakable in a way which is not
possible in XP or Vista. In fact, the systems for XP and Vista are not mentioned again until tip 10 at the foot
of the RH column. So, if you are an XP or Vista user curious about Prefetch and defrag
optimisation, skip straight down to tip 10. If you are a 98 or Me user, read on. |
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| In Windows 98, 98SE and Me, the defrag optimising process was controlled by a small applet called Task Monitor (taskmon.exe) which worked in conjunction with a Windows system folder
called Applog and a file called optlog.txt. |
|
| The purpose of taskmon.exe in Windows 98, 98SE & Me was to enable Windows'
Disk Defragmenter tool to go beyond ordinary defragging and carry out some performance tuning. Taskmon did that by remembering how many times you opened each program, and proceeded to give that, and other
information, to the Disk Defragmenter tool so that, when you defragged your hard drive, your main
programs would be defragged optimally (i.e. substantially combined but not into one single place on
the hard disk but split into a few component parts according to actual requirement priority). That
as opposed to being defragged contiguously (i.e. all in one place on the hard disk). Furthermore, the programs you used most
frequently would be optimised (i.e. prioritised) the most. |
|
| This optimisation partly explains why an old Windows 98SE machine could open key programs
like Word, Excel, Internet Explorer and Outlook Express so quickly. However, over time, the TaskMonitor
function gets overwhelmed by its own cleverness, with
the result that some of the programs you use the most might not be optimised at all. While
others, just as badly, will be flagged as ineligible for optimisation when they are actually
eligible. Furthermore, the record file that TaskMonitor builds up can become exceedingly
unwieldy with time and this may affect system performance and stability. For those reasons,
it is a very good idea to occasionally declutter TaskMonitor, letting it start from scratch
again with a clean slate. And, in fact, once TaskMonitor has established a new, current, program-usage
profile for Disk Defragmenter to use, it is very advisable to then disable TaskMonitor, thus saving
on running resources and avoiding a growing risk of instability. The following steps will
show you how to exploit the value of TaskMonitor to its maximum. |
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| 1. Back up first |
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| This project involves alterations in the Windows Registry (indirectly), and in a system
folder and a system file (directly). The risk of any corruption is extremely slight.
However, if your system is currently clean, working perfectly, and configured the way you like
it, now would be a very appropriate time to back up the registry and also to make a restorable image
of your entire C: partition.
You will get a reminder about backing up, later, in Tip 1, when you eventually reach it (i.e. half way down the RH column). |
| |
| 2. Disable TaskMonitor |
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| First, if you normally have the similarly named Task Scheduler enabled (as well as TaskMonitor), and one of
the tasks the Scheduler is set to run is Disk Defragmenter, start by disabling Task Scheduler
to avoid any possibility of a conflict between Disk Defragmenter and TaskMonitor while this
project is in hand. |
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| TaskMonitor is an invisible program that is started by the Windows Registry each time the PC
is booted. Taskmon can only be disabled by altering the relevant registry entry. But
that can be done safely and remotely, by anybody, via the msconfig tool (aka System Configuration Utility).
To do this, click Start > Run > type in msconfig > OK > Tools menu > System Configuration
Utility > Startup tab > untick TaskMonitor (see Fig 1). If there is no such
entry for TaskMonitor on your machine, that means its entry in the Registry has been removed
by somebody at sometime. In that case, you have two choices. One is to ignore this
article completely and simply leave Disk Defragmenter to work as it always has on your machine,
rearranging your programs contiguously, rather than optimally, which is still of value. |
|
| The other option is a lot more trouble because it will mean manually putting TaskMonitor's
entry back in the registry. Any search engine would find you the instructions for doing
that but, first, check that the necessary program 'taskmon.exe' is actually on your machine, in the
C:\Windows directory. Otherwise you will be wasting your time. |
|
| However, assuming you can satisfactorily see TaskMonitor, as per Fig 1, untick the
box in front of it > Apply > OK > close Msconfig > at the window asking if you want
to restart the computer now, click OK (but only after ensuring you have closed any other open
programs, including disconnecting from the internet if currently connected). Note that,
after this reboot, or after subsequent reboots involved during this project, you may see a message
on screen saying Windows experienced an error accessing the registry and will carry out a restart
to fix the problem. Don't worry about this, just leave Windows to reboot automatically
and sort itself out. In any case, provided you have backed up the registry as per step
1 above, you have the reassurance that you can restore it at any time if need be. |
| |
| 3. Unhide your system files and folders |
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| If system files are not normally visible on your PC, they need to be derestricted temporarily.
To do this, open My Computer > View menu > Folder Options > View tab > at 'Hidden
files', enable 'Show all files' > at 'Hide file extensions for known file types', remove
the tick > Apply > OK. |
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| 4. Create shortcuts to Applog and Optlog |
|
| During this project, you will be accessing a system folder called Applog, and a file inside
it called Optlog.txt, a fair number of times. To avoid lots of tedious drilling down to
them every time, put a temporary shortcut to both items on your desktop. To do this, double-click
on the icons for My Computer > C: drive > Windows > Applog. If the Applog folder
is missing, or is completely empty, that means TaskMonitor has never been operational on your
machine. If that is the case, you might as well forget about this article and just continue
defragging the way you always have. On the other hand, if there is stuff in the Applog
folder, find the file Optlog.txt > right-click on it > Create Shortcut (see Fig 2)
> find the new shortcut (probably at the bottom of the window) > using the mouse's right-button,
drag the shortcut > drop it on the desktop > Move Here. Back at the Applog
window, go up one level to hide the contents of Applog > right-click on Applog > Create
Shortcut > find the new shortcut and use the right-hand mouse button to drag it onto the
desktop > Move Here. |
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| Make the shortcut to Optlog.txt open in a maximised window automatically, to make this
columnar text file easier to read. To do so, right-click on the shortcut > Properties
> Shortcut tab > at Run, change 'Normal Window' to 'Maximized' from the drop-down menu
> Apply > OK. (Top tip: you can do this for any shortcut you would like to open
in a maximised window every time, such as the Internet Explorer shortcuts on the desktop, Start
menu and Quick Launch bar.) |
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| 5. Identifying any unoptimised applications |
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| Double-click the shortcut to Optlog.txt to open the file. It will have a list of applications
in it showing the order in which they will be optimised and how many times you have used each
one. The file will look somewhat similar to the view in Fig 3 except the "Uses"
column will be in hundreds, if not thousands, rather than the single digits seen in Fig 3.
Every program you use ought to be in Optlog's list - but some will not be there. Peruse
the whole list very carefully, including the 'Programs Ineligible for Optimisation' section
which you will find right at the bottom. Write down the names of any programs you know
you use but are missing from the list. Concentrate only on useful tool-type applications -
if the missing items are large and complex programs like games or works of reference, ignore
them if they are missing. We will come back to your 'missing' list later when we reveal
a mistake made by certain programmers which inadvertently keeps their programs out of the optimisation
list. |
|
| It usually comes as a big surprise to people doing this project when they discover some
of their important applications, programs like, say, Dreamweaver, Image Optimizer or Step-by-Step
Will Maker, just for starters, are not being optimised for defragging, when it was assumed they
would be because TaskMonitor was correctly enabled. But more on that later. For now, just
write their names down. When you have finished noting the missing programs, close the
Optlog window. |
| |
| 6. Emptying the Applog system folder |
|
| To give TaskMonitor a clean slate, it is necessary to remove all the existing contents from
the Applog folder. Rather than just deleting them, move them into a temporary holding
folder in My Documents. They could then be pasted back into Applog in the (unlikely) event
that it needed to be restored to exactly how it was before. To move the contents, double-click
the shortcut to open the Applog folder > Edit > Select All > Edit > Cut > go
to My Documents > create a new folder called Applog Temp > right-click on the new folder
> Paste (to dump the contents of the Clipboard in the new folder). Close all the open
windows > restart the PC again. When the PC has finished booting, double-click the
Applog shortcut to confirm the folder is now completely empty > close the folder. |
| |
| 7. Enable TaskMonitor |
|
| Run msconfig again, return to the Startup tab (as in Fig 1), tick TaskMonitor to enable
it, restart the PC when prompted. |
|
| Some other web articles we have seen assume that is the end of it, having satisfactorily emptied Applog, and that TaskMonitor can be left to repopulate the Applog folder automatically. It is true that it would be repopulated. But it would do so with the same programs missing as before and almost certainly with others being wrongly marked as 'Ineligible for optimisation'. Because of that, we are going to show you how to kick start the entries into the folder manually, and how to observe what is happening in there as you do so, so that any anomalies or omissions can be identified and, where possible, rectified before
letting TaskMonitor take over completely. |
| |
| 8. Repopulate Applog manually |
|
| Programs have to be opened twice before TaskMonitor will log them in the Applog folder.
So, open and then close, twice, any three of Windows' generic programs, such as Notepad, Paint
and Internet Explorer, as these programs are certain to be recognised by TaskMonitor.
Now, open Applog again and what you will see will be similar to Fig 2, but now with only
the three programs you just opened in there. Close the Applog window (N.B. close fully,
not minimise). |
|
| Now, continue to open and close, twice, all of the other applications you use, whether regularly
or occasionally - except do not bother opening any DOS programs you might still have.
More about DOS programs later, in Tip 5, in the RH column. |
|
| As you continue to progressively open and close twice all your programs, keep peeking into
Applog after every three or four new entries to check they are all appearing in there.
If and when you notice any programs failing to appear, close Applog and open and close the program(s) another two times. If they are still missing, make a note of their names. These will mainly be the same programs that you wrote down as missing under step 5 above. But, as before, do not bother noting them as missing if they are games, or huge works of reference such as encyclopaedias, translators, speech recognition etc., because contiguous defragging would be as good as anything for programs with unusually large image collections or databases. |
|
| When you peek in Applog, you may notice two entries occurring for some programs. This is normal if your machine has more than one partition, or a second hard drive. For example, you may see Winword.lgc and Winword.lgd, or
Firefox.lgd and Firefox.lgc. This is reflecting that the program is installed to one partition (say C) but is
sometimes used to open or save documents on another partition (say D). The file extension lgc means a log associated with the C: drive, while lgd means a log associated with the D: drive. Any such duplications will NOT be repeated in the Optlog summary when it is generated, prior to defragging, and, therefore, these duplications still only count as one program in the total number of programs that are
allowed to be optimised (maximum 50). |
|
| When you peek in Applog, most of the program names will be fairly recognisable, like Mspaint
for Paint, or Winword for Microsoft Word. A few, however, will be hard to identify. These are often associated with peripherals you run, like a printer, scanner and OCR. And Windows itself likes to drop a few cryptic ones in there too. It is quite easy for a list of more than fifty programs to quickly build up. However, only the most-used fifty of those can qualify for optimisation. |
|
| It is important to remember, all the time, to keep closing the Applog window after looking
in it, before running any more applications. Otherwise there is a risk of suffering a
General Protection fault ("blue screen of death") if you start any programs with this particular
system folder still open. |
|
| Continue opening and closing, twice, all the applications you commonly use, all the time noting any
that fail to appear in Applog. When you have finished, close all windows and restart the
PC again. |
| |
| 9. Regenerate the Optlog.txt file |
|
| Once you are through opening and closing all the applications you commonly use, and have restarted the PC, it is time to make Windows create a new Optlog file to replace the one that was deleted when you emptied Applog earlier under step 6 above. This text file will list the programs that are eligible for optimising and, probably, some that are supposedly ineligible. To create the file, open, but do NOT run the Disk Defragmenter. Click Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. |
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| When the Disk Defragmenter window opens, you should hear your hard drive chuntering away and may
see the PC's activity light flashing on and off. This is Windows updating the Optlog.txt file. This may go on for half a minute or more. Wait until you are certain all activity has ceased. Then, taking care not to accidentally click the OK button (as that would start a defrag, for which we are far from ready), click the Settings button > check there is i) a tick in the box next to 'Rearrange program files so my programs start faster' (very important, otherwise the Taskmon log will be ignored), ii) no tick against 'Check the drive for errors' (as that would run ScanDisk as well as Defrag, which would take forever) and, iii) a dot against 'Every time I defragment my hard drive' > OK > Exit (to close Disk Defragmenter), taking great care to press 'Exit' and not 'OK'. |
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| After closing Defragmenter, click the shortcut to Optlog.txt and you will see something
not too dissimilar from Fig 3. Scroll to the bottom of your Optlog file to the section
'Programs Ineligible for Optimisation'. With luck, there will not be any in there but,
if there is, write down the name(s). If the code in front of the application's
name is S, that means the footprint of the program's file in Applog is too small to make it
worthwhile for Defragmenter to try to optimise the file, since it will already open as quickly
as it can. However, we have found programs can somehow end up in there inadvertently in
which case they can be rescued. |
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| To see if a program can be relocated from the 'Ineligible' section to the main 'Eligible'
part of the list, try this technique. It is largely a repeat of things you have already
done. Thus, close all open windows, run msconfig, disable TaskMonitor, restart the PC,
open the Applog folder, find the name of an 'Ineligible' program, right-click on it to delete
it. If there is more than one entry for the same program, delete them all. If you
had more than one 'Ineligible' program look for the others and delete them as well. Close
all open windows and restart the PC. Run Msconfig, re-enable TaskMonitor, restart the
PC. At the desktop, or Programs' menu, click the shortcut(s) to the 'Ineligible'
programs to open and close each one four times. Close all open windows, open Disk
Defragmenter, but do NOT run it. Wait a minute or so while the Optlog file is being updated,
then 'Exit' the Defragmenter window. |
|
| Having finished the above, open the Optlog file and, fingers crossed, hope to see that the
file(s) concerned have leapfrogged from the 'Ineligible' section into the main
'Eligible' section. If any are still showing as Ineligible, there is nothing more you
can do about them. They will have to stay where they are. But don't worry about
it, they will still be defragged satisfactorily, merely contiguously rather than optimally. |
| |
| 10. About the 'Missing' Programs |
|
| The reason certain programs never appear in the Applog folder has nothing to do, as has
been suggested on other web sites, with them being non-Microsoft programs. It is because
they are either DOS programs (which are never monitored) or, more commonly these days, because
thoughtless authors have given their programs names which are excessively long (thus preventing
them from being monitored). If you examine the names of the 'missing' programs you have
written down, you will probably discover their names all have more than eight characters.
For example Dreamweaver.exe (11.3 characters) instead of simply Dreamwvr.exe (8.3). Or
RapidocsClassic.exe (15.3) instead of simply Rapidocs.exe (8.3), and so on. |
|
| Normally, a folder containing a program's executable file is given a descriptive name, which
can safely be longer than eight characters, if required. Consequently, there is never
any excuse for program writers to duplicate that same name length in the actual name of the
executable file. Nor is there ever any logic in doing so because long file names, and
the correspondingly longer path names which result, are very awkward to read in My Computer
or Windows Explorer, especially when using the columnar 'Details' view. Unfortunately,
this malpractice of giving programs file names longer than eight characters, by a minority of
programmers who really ought to know much better, but obviously don't, is an annoyance that
the rest of us, not them, have to live with. There is more about excessively long executable
filenames later, including a radical way around the problem, in Tip 6, in the RH column. |
| 11. Finally! |
|
| If you have made it down to this point, you will be relieved to learn there is nothing much
else to do. TaskMonitor will now be primed as efficiently as possible, and has been started
off with a clean slate so that its records will accurately reflect your current program usage profile. Save a copy of the
current Optlog file in My Documents, as Optlog1.txt, for later comparison purposes. Use
your computer normally for a week or so, then update the Optlog file (by opening, but not running,
Disk Defragmenter). Save it as Optlog2.txt in My Documents. Compare Optlog1 and
Optlog2, and look very carefully for any programs you know you have been using but which show no
increase in the number of 'Uses', or have actually dropped down into the 'Ineligible' section.
This is quite likely to have happened in one or two instances, for no accountable reason. If
so, try... continued in
RH col. |
|
|
| Fig 1 (below) Shows TaskMonitor being disabled temporarily by unticking its
box in the System Configuration Utility's Startup tab. For full details, see step 2
in the LH column. |
|
| |
| Fig 2 (below) Shows typical partial contents of a system folder called 'Applog',
with a temporary shortcut being created, to go on the desktop, to the system file Optlog.txt.
For full details, see step 4 in the LH column. |
|
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| Fig 3 (below) Shows typical partial contents of an Optlog.txt file immediately
after repopulating its list. The first column shows the numerical order in which the programs
will be optimised based on the number of times in the third column that each program has been
opened. The number of 'Uses' in this example are very low because TaskMonitor has just
been restarted from scratch. For more information, see step 9 in the LH column.
You can open Optlog in Notepad if you do not have the Bhaum text editor that was used here. |
|
| Item 11 continued from LH column |
|
| and kick-start them into behaving by opening them four times, now, in the current
session, and re-updating Optlog (after the next reboot) to see if their 'Uses' increases.
If no response, go into the Applog folder, delete the entries only for these few renegade programs,
restart the PC, open and close the programs concerned four times, update Optlog and check they
have returned into the list. Save a copy of the file as Optlog3.txt. Delete the
copies saved previously. The next time you reboot the machine, make a point of using the
erring programs a few times, reboot, update Optlog, and check they are now responding properly.
If not, give up on them! |
|
| Although the ultimate aim of all this is to do a full defrag, that must wait until the
'Uses' column has built back up to representative levels. However, running a thorough ScanDisk now would not be a bad idea in view of all the activity
which has been going on.
Then, after one or two months of normal use, the 'Uses' column will have built up sufficiently
to enable a meaningful defrag to be carried out, with the result that you will then have some
faster-opening programs. |
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Tips |
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1 |
Backups |
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For backing up the registry (connect with step 1 in the LH col), we recommend
WinRescue, an inexpensive shareware program. For imaging drives (also referred to in step
1), Acronis True Image 7 is phenomenal. |
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2 |
Save this page |
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If you intend to do this project, whether now or in the future, save this page
to your desktop so you can refer to it - as you will need to be disconnected from the internet
and working off-line when putting the contents into practice. To save it, from your browser,
click File > Save As, and follow the prompts to save it as a web page complete. |
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3 |
Hiding system files |
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If you will need to unhide system files and folders, as per step 3 in
the LH column, remember, if other members of your family use the same PC, to reverse the process
when you have finished the project. |
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4 |
Desktop shortcuts |
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If you will be creating shortcuts on your desktop to Applog and Optlog, as
per step 4 in the LH column, remember, if other members of your family use the same PC,
to delete the shortcuts when you have finished the project. This will remove the danger
of the Applog and Optlog windows being open at the same time that any programs are run, as that
could result in crashes. |
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5 |
DOS Programs |
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In connection with step 8 in the LH column, 2nd paragraph, note that DOS
programs, such as DOS games, or WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, run independently of Windows and will
not be seen by TaskMonitor. They will not, therefore, appear in the list of programs that
can be optimised by Disk Defragmenter. They will still be defragged, but contiguously,
not optimally. |
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6 |
Programs with long filenames |
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In connection with step 10 in the LH column, programs with names longer
than 8 characters break a Windows' heritage rule for the maximum length of executable file names,
known as the 8.3 rule (i.e. up to eight characters for the file name, and up to three characters
after the dot for the file extension. Programs breaking this rule will not be seen by TaskMonitor and will not, therefore, appear in the list
of programs that can be optimised by Disk Defragmenter. |
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|
It is usually possible to shorten the name of long-named standalone programs
without any ill effect. Using Windows Explorer (or My Computer), browse to the program's
.exe file > right-click on its long name > choose Rename > shorten the name.
For example, ImageSlicer.exe (11.3) could be shortened to, say, ImageSli.exe (8.3). The
shortened version will be automatically registered in DOS, where it would show as IMAGESLI.EXE
in place of the previous DOS truncation of IMAGES~1.EXE. TaskMonitor will now see the
shortened version and will put it in the list of programs eligible for optimising by Disk Defragmenter.
For proof, see in Fig 3 above, line number 12. |
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Programs still function normally if their names are shortened as above, but
only provided they are of the standalone, non-suite type of program. For example, say
you use Dreamweaver as a standalone program, you could safely shorten it to Dreamwvr.exe, but
not if you are using it as an interdependent part of the larger Macromedia or Adobe suite of programs, because
the cross-links between programs in the suite would be broken. In some cases, shortening
a program's name may stop its own Tips' dialog showing when you open the program (solved by
disabling the showing of tips), or may stop its toolbar Help button from opening the Help file
(solved by using the program's shortcut to Help in the Start menu or, if there is no shortcut
to the Help file in there, by creating one). |
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It should be noted that changing the name of a program would cause a few new
entries to be made automatically in the Windows Registry, referencing the new, shorter name.
The original entries that used the long name would continue, harmlessly, to sit in the Registry.
In addition, the shortcuts on the desktop, and in the Start menu, would need to be re-pathed.
To fix that, right-click on a shortcut > Properties > at Target, change the program's
name from the original long version to the new shorter name > Apply > OK. |
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The circumstances when it would be inadvisable to change (viz. shorten) a program's
name can be summarised as i) if the program is part of a suite of programs ii) if
the program is one you will want to uninstall or upgrade at a later date or iii) if you
use an automated registry cleaner tool on your computer. Having said all that, it is debatable
whether anyone should bother going as far as to change program names, even though we've shown
it can be done. There is probably no real point in worrying about a few unoptimisable, long-named
programs when they are no doubt already opening quickly enough. This is possibly one time to leave well alone and just
accept that all badly-named programs on your 98/Me machine will have to make do with contiguous
defragging instead of optimal defragging. |
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7 |
Percentage fragmented |
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Windows 95 did not have TaskMonitor, but it did give a helpful message on the
lines of "Drive C is 9% fragmented. You do not need to defragment the drive now". |
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In Windows 98, with the advent of TaskMonitor, it became impracticable to indicate
how much a disk was fragmented. This was because the process of optimising a program actually
involves deliberately fragmenting it to a certain degree so that its component parts can be
rearranged in the order they are accessed when the program is opening. Given that up to
50 programs would normally be eligible for rearranging in this way, that could result in a significant
amount of intentional fragmenting. Consequently, showing the percentage fragmented
was dropped in Windows 98's Disk Defragmenter tool, to avoid showing misleadingly high figures.
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8 |
Optimize limit |
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By default, TaskMonitor enables up to 50 programs to be optimised. That
figure always seems excessive because it results in virtually every program you and Windows
might use, including some really obscure stuff, being embraced. The default figure can
be changed by putting a new key in the registry called MaxApps. A search on the internet
for 'maxapps' will find pages giving full instructions if you are interested. Giving MaxApps
a hexadecimal value of 14 will reduce the actual number from 50 down to 20, which, in our experience,
was ample. |
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9 |
Controlling TaskMonitor |
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In theory, you can leave TaskMonitor running in the background and forget all
about it, apart from disabling it temporarily in order to be able to run the Disk Defragmenter
tool. However, if you re-enable TaskMonitor after defragging, TaskMonitor will continue
building up its record files and these can become excessively massive for no further gain -
though at the risk of system instability developing because Windows continually has to read
and modify those growing records all the time. So, our top tip is, after you have defragged,
leave TaskMonitor off until such time as you feel you would like to build up a new program-usage
profile from scratch, as per the above instructions. Until that time comes, Disk Defragmenter
will simply continue to use the existing usage-profile each time, which, for the most part,
will be adequately efficient. The stability of a Windows 98 system will more than match XP's
after TaskMonitor is turned off. |
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10 |
Windows XP & Vista |
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XP - Windows XP has its own way of optimising programs during the defragmentation
process which works quite differently from the system for Windows 98/Me as described in detail in the LH column of this page. In XP, there is a folder called Prefetch (C:\Windows\Prefetch) which, provided Task Scheduler (a sub-routine of the svchost.exe
family of Windows services) is enabled,
continually builds up a list of programs used by both Windows and the user with a view to enabling
the said programs to start up more quickly as and when needed. The aforementioned Prefetch folder
also contains a text file called Layout.ini which is a volatile, self-optimising list of the used
programs. The information in the INI file is then used by Disk Defragmenter as a guide to which
programs should be arranged where on the hard disk to optimise their availability to Windows and
the user. The Task Scheduler sub-service is running by default in XP but it can be safely
switched off if no other scheduled tasks have been allocated to it on a particular machine.
Stopping Task Scheduler has the effect of freezing the lists and
priority of programs in the Prefetch folder and the .ini file at that point in time. The lists
would not, therefore, go on to reflect any subsequent changes to your programs, like new ones added
or old ones uninstalled. Which might not be ideal for later disk defragmentations. However,
for security reasons, we often operate with Task Scheduler
permanently stopped, after it has generated (or regenerated) an optimal list in the Prefetch folder,
and we have never noticed any adverse effect neither on the performance of the Disk Defragmenter
tool nor on the speed of programs opening. Decluttering the lists in XP's Prefetch and Layout.ini every
so often is something to consider because they can build up massively over time. Deleting the
entire contents of the Prefetch folder is known to be feasible but the consequences are
unpredictable. Thus, any clear-out is probably safest done manually, line by line, a bit at a
time, always leaving intact all the references to the progs you still use, and ditto for the many
meaningless entries you will not understand, some of which are important to Windows' own boot
sequence. Making a disposable copy of the folder and file before undertaking any editing would no
doubt be another sensible precaution to take. XP's Prefetch system can actually be disabled.
Doing that temporarily is one way of establishing if emptying or pruning the folder will have much effect on bootup times or program opening times
during the period it will take the Prefetch contents to build back up. To disable Prefetch means going in the Windows registry, but
it's a simple alteration, just changing a figure 3 to a 0 (zero). For more info, look up +prefetch +registry on
www.bing.com.
Vista - Windows Vista has to work a lot harder in order to appear to be matching the
operating speed of XP, so is more dependant on Prefetch.
However, Vista's Prefetch posses improved self-maintaining capability to compensate so, officially, there should
never be any need to delete it or empty it. The connection with Defrag is also different, of
course, because
Vista's Disk Defragmenter is running and optimising all the time in the background by default, not
on command. So you will never have any need to get into the heavy stuff described just above
for XP users or elsewhere on the page for
Windows 98, 98SE & Me users. |
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