Optimize Windows Read-Ahead to speed up the system for

. I know that there is a service called prefetcher in the Windows XP/2003 operating system. This is a new system background data read-ahead mechanism adopted by Microsoft, which can improve system performance and speed up. Windows XP/2003 startup speed, pre-read programs are stored in the prefetcher directory under the system folder (Figure 1), the file name format is similar to the following: FOXMAIL.EXE-2B721FDE.pf (this is Foxmail Read-ahead file). Although Windows XP/2003 uses a pre-reading mechanism, the default settings are conservative. We can define the pre-reading mode of the program ourselves and greatly improve the performance of the system.
Figure 1
Click "Run" in the "Start" menu, enter regedit in the "Run" dialog box, open the Registry Editor, and expand the following branches in the registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MacHINE\\SYSTEM \\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\Session Manager\\Memory Management\\PrefetchParameters, in the right window, change the key value of the DWord value "EnablePrefetcher" to what you need (Figure 2). The EnablePrefetcher key can be selected from 0, 1, 2, and 3, where the key value is "0" to turn off the pre-read function; the key value is "1" to pre-read only the application; A value of "2" indicates that the startup item is only prefetched; and a key value of "3" indicates that both the application and the startup item are prefetched. It is recommended to set the key value of EnablePrefetcher to "3" for computers with mainstream configuration, and "1" for computers with poor configuration. For old machines such as PII, it is recommended to set the key value of EnablePrefetcher to "0". Because the pre-reading mechanism has been "heartless" for such an old computer.

Figure II
In addition, we can recommend every two months or so to clear the prefetcher directory once. This is because frequent deletions and installation of various software will leave a lot of dead links for pre-read files in the prefetcher directory (the software has been deleted, but the pre-read files of the software remain), and the system At startup, the software corresponding to the pre-read files of these dead links will still be read, and the resources and time will be consumed. Please rest assured that after deleting the pre-read file, Windows will automatically pre-read the file for you at the next startup, and your system will "take off" again!