Reigning in Superfetch

[MilesAhead]

I found a nice article that shows how to control Superfetch behavior
in Vista. I was setting the Superfetch service to Automatic, but
stopping it about 10 minutes after booting. This let it cache the
bootup files to avoid slow boots while preventing it from running up
my HD excessively.

Anyway, setting it to cache only boot files seems to quiet it down.
I don't have to remember to stop the service now. Here's the link:

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/change-superfetch-to-only-cache-system-boot-files-in-vista/

See if it works well for you too.

[atifsh]

i didn't done anything but after sp1, and few hrs of vista usage i never have hard disk Excessive usage...

[MilesAhead]

I don't have SP 1. I prefer my service packs preinstalled if possible.

[Chewy]

http://www.labnol.org/software/tutorials/slipstream-vista-sp1-bootable-windows-vista-dvd-integrated/2750/

[MilesAhead]

http://www.labnol.org/software/tutor...tegrated/2750/

That's not what I mean. I like the machine to come with the OS as I'm going to run it preinstalled.. the theory being, if they installed it that way on lots of machines, it may work. I don't want to join the "SPn broke my PC" crowd.

I weakened and bought this PC without a service pack because I liked it and it didn't look like they'd come with SP1 installed for quite a while.

[Junkie_ball]

That's not what I mean. I like the machine to come with the OS as I'm going to run it preinstalled.. the theory being, if they installed it that way on lots of machines, it may work. I don't want to join the "SPn broke my PC" crowd.

I weakened and bought this PC without a service pack because I liked it and it didn't look like they'd come with SP1 installed for quite a while.

That theory is one i've never thought of very interesting and true. The only thing i would suggest about not installing SP's is hackers are always finding ways around the current systems. These service packs can enforce (and unfortunately sometimes weakens) security making it harder for a hackers to access a system.

[MilesAhead]

That theory is one i've never thought of very interesting and true. The only thing i would suggest about not installing SP's is hackers are always finding ways around the current systems. These service packs can enforce (and unfortunately sometimes weakens) security making it harder for a hackers to access a system.

I'm a believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Put the SP on your machine if you like.
It's a Personal Computer(tm) after all.

Me, I'll run mine my way.

[MilesAhead]

in any case

In any case, with or without SP1 you can control Superfetch prefetcher
behavior using the registry settings in the article. I have mine set to
only cache system boot files. After a couple of days here's the contents
of my Windows\Prefetch folder:

----------------------------------------

C:\Windows\Prefetch>dir /s

Directory of C:\Windows\Prefetch

06/12/2008 11:42 PM <DIR> .
06/12/2008 11:42 PM <DIR> ..
06/12/2008 07:45 PM 332,116 AgAppLaunch.db
06/15/2008 12:48 PM 603,944 AgGlFaultHistory.db
06/15/2008 12:48 PM 2,271,306 AgGlFgAppHistory.db
06/15/2008 12:48 PM 1,615,693 AgGlGlobalHistory.db
06/15/2008 12:08 PM 925,143 AgGlUAD_P_S-1-5-21-3386167141-463410202-172149392-1000.db
06/15/2008 12:08 PM 943,996 AgGlUAD_S-1-5-21-3386167141-463410202-172149392-1000.db
06/14/2008 02:20 PM 861,996 Layout.ini
06/15/2008 10:48 AM 1,482,858 NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.pf
06/15/2008 12:59 AM 508 PfSvPerfStats.bin
06/10/2008 05:46 PM <DIR> ReadyBoot
9 File(s) 9,037,560 bytes

Directory of C:\Windows\Prefetch\ReadyBoot

06/10/2008 05:46 PM <DIR> .
06/10/2008 05:46 PM <DIR> ..
06/15/2008 11:48 AM 20,971,520 ReadyBoot.etl
1 File(s) 20,971,520 bytes

Total Files Listed:
10 File(s) 30,009,080 bytes
5 Dir(s) 328,572,764,160 bytes free

If you set the registry then delete the files in \Windows\Prefetch you'll
get one slow boot as the prefetcher fetches the system boot files.
Apparently it will still cache your startup files. I notice ReadyBoot
has grown to 20 MB. But the prefetcher isn't analyzing in the background
running up my HD now. Seems to be working pretty well.