Microsoft's new operating system has many settings that allow you to work quickly, such as memory settings. However, in some cases these values change automatically, meaning that a drop in speed is to be expected. This article deals with these secret Windows settings. I recommend that you check them often:
Check boot defragmentation in XP
Boot is the startup process of an operating system. During this time, files and drivers are loaded that are necessary for the operation of Windows. However, these files can get quite mixed up, which is why the computer takes longer to load them. This is known as boot fragmentation. Windows XP has the option of eliminating this disorder through boot defragmentation. This feature is activated by default. In some cases it is switched off for unexplained reasons. How to check the setting:
1. Click one after the other on Start > Ausführen… and type in the command line that appears regedit followed by Enter.
2. The editor for editing the Windows registry. Navigate through the keys in this one after the other HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Dfrg\ BootOptimizeFunction. Now double-click in the right-hand pane on Enable and enter it in the line that appears Y in. If this is already in place, you don't need to worry.
The prefetcher setting in XP
Windows XP merkt sich oft benutzte Dateien und Programme und lädt diese bereits geschickt beim Startvorgang in den Arbeitsspeicher. Dies bemerken sie z.B. am Windows Media Player. Laden sie ihn die ersten Male direkt nach der Windows Installation, so benötigt er einige Zeit um sich aufzubauen. Irgendwann geht das im Bruchteil einer Sekunde – wobei dies auch von der Rechenleistung abhängt! Wer meint, er kann den Startvorgang von WinXP durch abschalten des Prefetchers beschleunigen, der täuscht. Das Prefetcher Feature lässt sogar diesen beschleunigen. Falls sie es abschalten wird der Vorgang langsamer ausgeführt. Windows braucht dann 5 Sekunden länger zum Starten. So aktivieren sie diese Einstellung – falls nicht schon geschehen:
1. Carry out step 1 of the first trick
2. The program for editing the Windows registry appears. Navigate through the keys one after the other HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\ PrefetchParameters and double-click in the right-hand pane on EnablePrefetcher. Make sure that the window that appears shows a 3 is entered. If not: Make up for this and confirm with Ok.
Small addition: The frequently used files are stored in a special folder, which will fill up unnecessarily after a while. I recommend emptying it every 2 weeks. Proceed as follows: Open My Computer and navigate to your Windows directory. Double-click on the Prefetch folder and delete the entire contents. Our reader, Thorsten Wisser, has written a script specifically for deleting the Prefetch folder, which deletes the contents of the Prefetch folder and creates a log file. You don't get more convenience than that:
– Download the script for deleting the prefetch folder
Important: If the deleted files do not write themselves back to the Prefetcher directory, there is a problem that can be solved by BootVis. Follow these steps this manual to use BootVis correctly.
NOTE FOR NEW PUBLICATION: This article was produced by Sandro Villinger and comes from the Windows Tweaks archive, which has been built up since the late 1990s.
