XP systems have a Prefetch directory underneath the windows root directory, full of .pf files — these are lists of pages to load. The file names are generated from hashing the EXE to load — whenever you load the EXE, we hash, see if there’s a matching (exename)-(hash).pf file in the prefetch directory, and if so we load those pages. (If it doesn’t exist, we track what pages it loads, create that file, and pick a handful of them to save to it.) So, first off, it is a bad idea to periodically clean out that folder as some tech sites suggest. For one thing, XP will just re-create that data anyways; secondly, it trims the files anyways if there’s ever more than 128 of them so that it doesn’t needlessly consume space. So not only is deleting the directory totally unnecessary, but you’re also putting a temporary dent in your PC’s performance.

Bottom line: You will not improve Windows performance by cleaning out the Prefetch folder. You will, in fact, degrade Windows performance by cleaning out the Prefetch folder. I’ve done performance testing that establishes this definitively. In all the many sites that offer this bogus tip, I have yet to see a single piece of actual performance testing.

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Anyone who says that you must delete this folder seriously does not know what they are talking about! You can safely delete what's INSIDE the directory and no harm will come to your system! The fact that by removing the contents of this folder will not improve performance is not disputed, as you have said, a temporary decrease in performance is the net result!

but what he is saying about prefetch folder is it true ............

we should not delete contents or files from prefetch folder

Thats what I said.......

Not only do these so-called "tweak guides" tell you to clean the Prefetch folder, they also recommend adjusting the registry settings for it! Seriously, if you don't know what it is or does, LEAVE IT ALONE. Not all things set to the default are bad.

I recommend looking in there to delete files that relate to programs you no longer have.

Even if someone does want to clear the folder to free up harddrive space, the gains will be negligible. For instance, my Prefetch folder is only 2.28MB.
It's not worth hurting a system's performance to save a couple of megs, especially considering that 250+GB harddrives are now standard in most computers.

I agree with you all on this. You should not delete the prefetch files, it will not do any benifit to your PC, if anything it will slow it down.
I have been saying this for a long time now but there are a lot of tech sites that recomend you remove them. Why? there is NO BENIFIT to removing them.
I would love to know where this myth of removing the prefetch started. Probably some Linux site

A lot of it spread due to CCleaner which still removes old prefetch files. Something that Windows does automatically.

This is true, the prefetch folder is there to improve your computers performance. If you keep deleting the files you are just shooting yourself in the foot and forcing it to start all over. I hate stupid Windows "tips" like this, and deleting prefetch files is among the worst. Not quite as bad as using those RAM cleaner programs but still. People should really take a moment and think about stuff like this; I'm fairly sure Microsoft knows a slight bit more about how Windows works than some anonymous nerd on a blog.

It's true you don't want to completely clean out the prefetch folder, because like what's been said many times it's there to speed up your computer, but you do want to go through and check occasionally that there aren't programs you don't use or programs you don't recognize that could be spyware or a a virus.

normally u don't need ...... if u got spyware or virus then u can delete like

when we get virus we become more conscious and delete all unnecessary entries data ......scan whole PC

Since your initials are same as mine (lol) & the fact you are DEAD-ON RIGHT, about PreFetch folders?

You get a 5 rating from me today!



* Good job - I love it when folks tell it "how it really is", vs. "onlne urban myths" & dead up misinforming others...

(Keep up the good work, my fellow "AK")

APK

^^ thax .. as earlier i was also in myth to clear prefetch folder when ever i get time means atleast 5-8 times a day then i start searching about it ....

there i get dual response then i post it here ........