Windows XP - Is your operating system properly optimized?

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 > Execute... 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 remembers frequently used files and programs and cleverly loads them into the main memory during the start-up process. You will notice this with Windows Media Player, for example. If you load it for the first time directly after installing Windows, it will take some time to load. At some point it takes a fraction of a second - although this also depends on the computing power! If you think you can speed up the WinXP startup process by switching off the prefetcher, you are mistaken. The prefetcher feature can even speed it up. If you disable it, the process will be slower. Windows then takes 5 seconds longer to start. So activate this setting - if you have not already done so:

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.