Modify WinXP read-ahead file settings Increase switching speed

Windows XP and later operating systems have added pre-reading capabilities (also known as "preloading"), which improves system performance and speeds up system boot and file reading. These read-ahead files are stored in the %systemroot%\\Prefetch directory with the *.pf extension. These *.pf files include the details of the loaded file and the loading order.

Each application, including the Windows XP startup process, will leave a corresponding pre-read file in the PrefetCh directory. The pre-read file describes the loading order of each module at the application or startup. The naming method is based on the name of the application's executable file, plus a hexadecimal value describing the full path of the executable file, plus the file extension. Pf, for example, QQ.EX-0065A2A1.pf. Whenever a user launches a program, it automatically leaves a record in the corresponding *.pf file in the Prefetch directory. However, the pre-read file that Windows XP starts is always the same name, NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.PF, which contains the record of the file loaded at startup.

When the next time you start the system or run a program, Windows will refer to the corresponding *.pf file and load all the files recorded in it into memory instead of loading them one by one as in the previous one. file. In addition, Windows will use the *.pf file of the launcher or program to develop an optimized disk allocation scheme. The information about this scheme is stored in the Lyaout.ini file.

Is clearing the read-ahead file an accelerated start? the answer is negative. WINDOWS automatically performs read-ahead optimization on a regular basis. If the read-ahead file is emptied, the system must re-create the pre-read file for all running programs. Obviously this is not wise. Because the process of creating a file will increase the system burden and reduce the startup speed. So if you modify the read-ahead file settings to improve the speed of the computer switch machine? Please see the following settings:

First, prohibit the program from generating index files

The read-ahead file causes the system to start slowing down because it is caused by reading the index file generated when the program is run. Therefore, we only need to prohibit the generation of PF files.

Enter “msconfig” in the "Run" window and press Enter to open the System Configuration Utility window, switch it to the "Services" tab, and then click on the "Task Scheduler" item. The previous check cancels and saves the settings, which can be used to prohibit the creation of index files.

Second, only read the system file

Since Prefetch saves the index information of the system and application, from the perspective of improving the startup speed, remind everyone that you can only set the system file to read. While skipping the application's index file reading process. To do this, you can run “regedit” after opening the registry editor, select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Memory Management\\PrefetchParameters, double-click on the right side of "EnablePrefetcher", you can see the value is 3 , that is, read system files and applications, we can change it to 2, that is, only pre-read Windows system files.

Third, shut down automatically clear the pre-read file

We can also automatically clear the contents of the pre-read folder when shutting down, in order to speed up the next boot speed. Open Notepad and enter del %systemroot%\\Prefetch\\*.* /q in it to save the file as a del.bat file. Then open the "Run" window, enter gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the Group Policy Editor, select "Computer Configuration & mdash; Windows Settings & mdash; Script", double click on the right side of the "Shutdown" item. Click the “Add” button in the window that opens to add the del.bat file. In this way, when the system is shut down, the group policy will call del.bat in the background and run the commands to clear the contents of the pre-read folder, thus improving the speed of the next startup.

Through the above operation, I believe that the pre-reading file only plays its original function and is no longer an obstacle to booting.