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Windows XP - Improve the speed when working with encrypted files

November 4, 2013
Updated: December 6, 2021
Quick overview:

If you have installed Windows XP on a NTFS hard disk or converted the hard disk to this file system during setup, the EFS is also available to you. Literally translated, it means encryption file system. It has the task of encrypting data from one user, which is then unreadable for others. You can easily encrypt files via the file properties.

These EFS files then have a kind of cache (Cache). To improve the speed when using EFS, you can increase this cache.

Win XP - Set KeyCacheValidationPeriod value

1. Click one after the other on Start > Execute and type the command regedit to enter. The Registration editor.

2. Double-click to navigate through the keys one after the other HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\EFS. In the right-hand pane, right-click on a free area and select New > DWORD value.

3. They baptize this self-proclaimed value with the name KeyCacheValidationPeriod. Now double-click on it and enter 10800. This is the duration in seconds in which Windows keeps the EFS files in memory in order to be able to access them more quickly if they are used frequently. This value corresponds to 3 hours.

This tuning tip only provides performance if you are constantly working with encrypted files.

Founded Windows Tweaks as a teenager in 2001, his helpful PC tricks made it Germany's most visited Windows site (at the time Sandro looked like this). He then went on to write for international publications such as PC-Praxis, Computerbild, PCWorld in the USA, IMTEST.de and Hifi.de. Sandro's main job is as Global Product Marketing Lead and Consultant for various global tech companies, including Microsoft, AVG, Avast, Nero, TeamViewer, Swiss IT Security Group and now currently in the fintech sector for Gendigital. But he can't get rid of his passion and shares his tweaks here again. Privately, he enjoys traveling the world and loves Asia, especially Japan, Singapore and Korea, but also natural places like Iceland and the Nordics. You can reach Sandro via e-mail.

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