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Two tips to make your computer run faster

October 1, 2011 By 21 Comments

PC Running FastWe all know that sinking feeling… the computer that used to spring to life in a few seconds seems to take forever grinding its way to a reasonable state of usability. No doubt you will have searched for an answer and found the usual tips about uninstalling unnecessary programs, especially those that start automatically.

What you will not have found are the following two tips that that I have found to be helpful and have a significant effect on bootup time. They apply to all versions of Windows from XP to 7: deleting the icon cache files, and deleting the Prefetch folder.

[Note: this post was written by Dr Guy Laurel And Hardy The Great McGonigle Simmons a.k.a. ‘DrTeeth’]
There are two performance enhancing features that sometimes do not work as they should.

For these tips one should unhide all files(*) and show extensions(*) – these are amongst the first things I do when installing windows anyway.

The first item involves the icon cache file: sometimes this becomes corrupt and loses the ability to improve the boot-up time. One can tell if that has happened as the file should have the same date and time as when the computer was last booted. If it does not, it is broken. Sometimes I have found that ‘fixing’ the problem with Win 7 even though the date/time is correct can help.

Icon cache Win 7

All one has to do is delete the icon cache file, which is found in /Documents and Settings/Username/Local Settings/Application Data on Win XP. The file used to be recreated automatically on booting In Win XP, but that behavior was changed in a service pack. Now, one has to change the desktop’s color depth from its current setting to the other and back again; then logout and then login. Only after that will one find a new and uncorrupted cache file created. I do this color depth change on other Windows versions versions even though it may not be necessary.

The next tip involves the Prefetch system: this feature saves traces of the files used when windows boots and programs load, in \windows\Prefetch. The booting trace is always called NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.pf in every version of windows. It gets updated at every boot in Win XP and approx. every week in Vista and 7.

My Prefetch folder - deleted boot trace
My Prefetch folderAlso, by default, windows uses its in-built defragger to reorder the files traced so that they are close to each other on the hard disk for best performance. When this happens, every three days or so when the PC is idle, the date/time stamp of the LAYOUT.INI file gets updated. One should also find a new *.pf file created whenever a program is loaded. This reordering can be done on demand by running “rundll32.exe advapi32.dll, ProcessIdleTasks” (without quotes and with admin privileges in Vista and 7). The final thing to check is that when a program is run, a corresponding *.pf file should be created.

It does help if one monitors the prefetch folder that this saddo did just to see how it works normally.

Now you should know what to look for and find, in a properly functioning prefetch system.If any of the above behavior does not happen, one needs to reset the prefetch system. One has to delete the prefetch folder…it will be created at the next boot and all should work normally. The system in XP seems particularly prone to failing. Just deleting the files in the prefetch folder will not do anything and is NOT a performance enhancing trick like some other sites would have you believe. Sometimes one finds that the boot trace does not happen when it should. That file can be deleted on its own as it is created at the next boot.

(*) In my articles I will not spoon feed.  Google is THE best technical resource on the web (which did not exist in my early days of Windows 3.1 and DOS 5). I recommend that you use it.


 
 
 
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  • bcase
  • kell

    Apparently I do not have an icon cache ???? on my XP system.

    Yes, unhide all files and show extensions in place – as always.

  • eric

    I don’t know who this author is supposed to be, but these are two things that will hurt the performance of your computer.

    Deleting the icon cache just means that the next time your computer needs to load an icon, it has to re-read it from the file and put it back in the cache, which takes extra time.

    Same for the prefetch folder: deleting it will only cause programs to load more slowly and force Windows to rebuild the prefetch.

  • DrTeeth

    These tips will not damage the performance of the PC if applied *for the reasons given*. Of course deleting the prefetch folder on a PC where it is working is stupid. As I *clearly* stated in my article, the tip is for a system that is *demonstrably* broken.

    Of course deleting an iconcache file when it is doing its job is silly, I clearly gave the signs to look for to indicate that the file is not doing its job…on XP it should have the dat/time stamp of the last boot (as near as dammit). I have come across systems where the date stamp is MONTHS or more in the past.

    Please guys, read the article properly and to not see what you think it says as I agree with you.

    DrTeeth

  • DrTeeth

    @ kell

    Hi,

    The default location of the file (‘IconCache.db’) on an XP system is C:\Documents and Settings\\Local Settings\Application Data.

    If the file is not present, it must have been deleted some time ago. This file used to be created automatically on a reboot. If the file is definitely not present try this: change your desktop colour bit depth (it does not matter from what to what) and apply the change, do the same again to get it back to its original setting, log out and log in again.

    If it ain’t there you have a strange system. The next thing I would try is to create another user and see if the file is created for them. If it does not appear for the new user, I’d consider reinstalling. Never come across a system with NO iconcache.db before.

    DrTeeth

  • J.L.

    Far superior tips include deleting unnecessary startup items, uninstalling useless bloatware, cleaning out temporary trash, and defragmenting your system (excluding SSDs).

  • DrTeeth

    @ J.L.

    Those tips you listed are not original and they all work. They were mentioned in the first paragraph, second sentence of my article.
    What is the point of placing such well known stuff on an excellent site like this? This site does not seem to be about rehashing old stuff.

    My article was to spread the word about two tips that you will not see anywhere else (unless you got a particular copy of one of the best selling computing mags in the UK where I got star letter of the month for these tips). Nor will you find any information on how to tell if the two systems mentioned malfunction.

    I doubt if there are many people out there who would know what to look for to tell if the prefetch system stopped working, let alone what to do to fix it.

    DrTeeth

  • jim

    people on XP need to flippin upgrade already

  • ghostwalker

    Nope, when you can show us there’s a newer windows version that works faster than win xp, we’ll upgrade. Win 7 is more secure than xp, agree, but for those who know how to protect/tweak their pc, it isn’t that important.

  • jim

    You’ve got to be kidding me ghostwalker. For those that are actually IT smart, don’t want to run an 11year old OS. Stop acting like a stubborn 60yr old & just update. You are the reason IE6 is still around!

  • Mr Sharma. S’il vous plaît

    a bit unhelpful for dummies when Dr? will not spoonfeed.

    could not find icon in win 7 as link is for XP?
    gave up on prefetch
    these are the counterproductive results of such help.

    respectfully yours.

  • D

    For those that are actually IT smart, don’t want to run an 11year old OS

    Pros use whatever gets the job done.

  • ghostwalker

    @ jim, please try to calm down. It’s just an opinion. I assure you that I ditch IE6 a long time ago (so long I don’t remember when). My PC has Win 7 (it has its own good features. Does this count that I’ve already upgraded ?) & XP dual boot + virtual machines + some very old but good softwares + the newest but also good softwares. That means I use what I think is best for me (not other people), and I don’t upgrade something just because it’s old.
    PS: 60, omg, I’m not that old. I’m enjoying nineteen and a half years of this wonderful life. Reading news, testing softs, listening to music and picking on my brother until both of us laugh are so much fun to feel old :)

  • jim

    @ghostwalker: Understood. True, it is just your opinion. You’re absolutely allowed to have that – so no argument there. I’m just saying…XP is way past it’s time. I will also agree that if you protect your network & are actually IT smart then yes no reason to not use XP still. So…there I do stand corrected.
    I just come across too many people who claim that they “know their stuff”, but in all actuality..they don’t. Since I do not know you, you may be one of those(who actually do) =).

    Now, I just find Win7 to be such a huge upgrade over XP, which is obvious. I don’t care about security features in Win7, since I turn that stuff off too. I haven’t run an antivirus since dialup days back when AoL was “the internet” (basically). I’ve dabbled in just about every major section of IT you could imagine. I’m very lucky to be one of those who continue to yearn towards anything IT. Anyway, after years & years of running most well-known Linux distros, I actually came back to Win7. I was quite impressed. Of course, there are cons to it, but overall, it’s not too shabby. Anyway, I’ll let this go..

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  • King

    First tip to speed up your system:
    get windows 7 – I was a fervent windows xp user and would never have upgraded to windows 7 until i bought a new laptop one year back. It was the best performance upgrade i could have. This is due to two things:
    a) you cannot use more than 4gb ram on windows xp – except on the 64 bit version. The latter however is bugged by driver issues and poor support.
    b) support for direct x 11 for gaming. Tell me why would you want better performance if your games look dull.
    Ultimately it comes to this: performance: better ram and processor and support for latest technology. It is just not about better security.

    The two tips mentioned above may solve some startup problems but you miss the point about performance. It is about the hardware and how best to use it. If you have 8 gb of ram and a powerful processor but only windows xp, then no matter how much you delete your prefetchh folder or iconcache or reinstall your os, it would not change your performance to the best your hardware can achieve.

    I don’t want to argue about this but I think this point should be considered.

  • Paul

    When I first saw this article yesterday and read the suggestion about the Prefetch folder I did not think it would be very long before it was contradicted, seems I was right.

    I would not describe myself as ‘IT smart’ but I do know my way around a computer pretty well and would like to offer two comments:

    First, I have only ever used XP as my main OS although I have run various others in VM’s and I have not seen anything, especially from MS, that would make me want to change, if I was to build myself a new PC now the chances are that I would install Ubuntu if I could not get another copy of XP.

    Second, I ran my PC without a Prefetch folder for over two years without any noticeable loss of performance, the only reason I have one now is that I re-enabled Scheduled Tasks which recreated the folder, if not for that I would still not have one.

    People tend to be as individual as computers and what works for one does not work for another, if I read a suggestion that I find interesting I make a backup and give it a try, if it works for me it stays, if not it goes, I would certainly never ‘tell’ anyone what they should or should not do about it.

  • DrTeeth

    @ Paul

    If you really knew your way around a PC, you would know the registry setting to disable the prefetch system ;-) .

    DrT

  • DrTeeth

    A note about these tips: these interventions are not controversial at all when applied for the reasons given.

    Deleting the prefetch folder as a speeding up tip is RUBBISH, as I alluded to in my article. I am talking about the situation where the prefetch system is *demonstrably* broken, not working, kaput and fekaked; therefore having a negative effect on performance instead of its intended intention.

    Similarly with the iconcache, where the system is NOT working (database/cache file corrupt). I gave details of checking if both systems are working correctly.

    Not only are the tips *for the reasons that I mentioned* not controversial (basically because they are not well known at all), they do not do any harm and have ALWAYS been beneficial when applied to *broken* systems.

    I am intimately familiar with the workings of the prefetch system because I use a defragger that will reorder *all* my prefetch files – I choose to use this in preference to window’s defragger. Naturally, I keep an eye on the prefetch system and want to use an up to date layout.ini file for the process. I have been doing this since the latest version of windows was XP…i.e. for years. There are subtle differences between how the prefetch system works in XP and 7 (other than the one that I think I mentioned in my article) – can you find somebody else other than myself who could tell you what they are J?

    I can virtually guarantee that any old and uncared-for XP system will have one or both of the specific issues that I mentioned and will benefit from the information that I provided. If you find a prefetch system on an XP installation that is broken – I will be you anything that the ONLY way to fix it IS to delete the relevant folder.

    You are on safe ground, as indeed am I, and you have nothing to worry about.

    PS. The only items I can find about deleting the prefetch folder fall into two groups a) advocated for speeding up the system (NOT when the system has broken mind you) and b) saying that doing so does not and is a snake oil tip. When the system is working one should not delete the prefetch folder as it has a maximum number of items* that it will contain and deletes the rest.

  • anil

    Thanks for the information. i used to cleanup registry once every month through registry cleaner to run computer faster.

  • http://kelsey-jenney.com/ Kelsey Jenney

    Your information is very useful. Thank you very much. Have a nice day… ^_^