Prefetch Folder in Windows

  • Thread starter Thread starter John Bannon
  • Start date Start date
J

John Bannon

Greetings,

Can anyone please tell me what the "Prefetch" Folder is.
I am running Windows XP and have only just noticed this
file and it appears to contain a lot of .pf files. I
think understand what they do but I do not understand
where, how or who initiates them.

Thanks in anticipation,


JB
 
John said:
Can anyone please tell me what the "Prefetch" Folder is.
I am running Windows XP and have only just noticed this
file and it appears to contain a lot of .pf files.
Click to expand...

The Prefetch folder contains records of the load pattern of each
program load made. It records files accessed and their timing. Then
every three days, when the system has an idle period, a rearrangement
of files is made, to bring ones used consecutively together and
optimise layout, so that a set of files that are seen to be needed for
a program to start up can all be accessed in a single sequence (hence
'prefetched'). This speeds up load times .
 
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