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[s. sengupta Profile Website]

XP's memory manager module includes a prefetcher component that runs at system startup and fetches commonly used programs to speed their execution. This component slightly increases the amount of time to start the OS. Although Microsoft doesn't recommend disabling the prefetcher, you can disable this component (e.g., for troubleshooting purposes or to speed boot time) by performing the following steps: Start a registry editor (e.g., regedit.exe). Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters subkey. Double-click EnablePrefetcher, set its value to 0, and click OK. Close the registry editor. When you reboot the system, the prefetcher won't execute.

[spike777 Profile]

Before anyone does anything to xp - prefetching, please go to microsoft TechNet website & read about prefetching. Most folks assume it works like any cache-buffer, it doesnt. Its main function is not about "most used programs" Its about basic I/O system needs. Your performance will suffer greatly if you disable it. XP also (by default) does a mini-defrag/reorganize every 3 days of the prefetch cache & disk. That means if you overide the default settings & wipe it yourself, your doing more harm then good. The prefetch never gets a chance to "learn", when you wipe it, it has to start from scratch.

[TRIPLATE Profile]

.....very well put Spike777...i experimented with it for a couple weeks and found much better response if left alone.Some things are better off per design.Although Xp DOES need to be cleaned up for speed reasons....to bloated as is...

[XJan87 Profile]

The bootvis tool can speed up the prefetcher a little, which is a better way to speed boot up than entirely disabling it.