Solved How long to start populating Prefetch folder?

[OvenMaster]

Because I got a new motherboard, I had to do a clean reinstall of Win 7 Pro 32-bit SP1 on June 9. Here it is June 21 and my Prefetch folder has zero program entries. In addition, possibly related, from the time I boot my PC until all the hard drive thrashing is finished is 2 min, 15 sec. Soluto said that a full 58-65 seconds of that was Avira Free loading and scanning at boot. It also takes a long time to launch any other programs, no matter what they are. Virus and malware scans are clean.

I've done a site search for this. I checked the Registry for that key value that tells Windows to prefetch everything, and I do not use CCleaner to clean out old prefetch entries. I have checked the Prefetch folder for content at random times and there's never any new entries there, even days after booting and running (I run Folding@Home 24/7).

What gives? Any ideas? I'd appreciate some insight.

 

[Layback Bear]

I have read many post on this form where people are having problems of all kinds using Avira.

I recommend removing Avira using their on line method and installing this for a test.

Microsoft Security Essentials - Microsoft Windows

If you are using Ready Boost I recommend not using it and install more ram. Your motherboard is fully capable of up to 32 gigs with 4 ram slots. All ram should be matching ram.

 

[OvenMaster]

I've been considering moving back to Avast because of good performance reviews.
AFAIK, ReadyBoost is used for external drives. I have none.
How will installing more RAM help? I'm maxed out using Win7 32-bit.
I've even wondered if I should revert to IDE mode and MS drivers for my hard drives instead of AMD AHCI drivers.
I"m trying to figure out what I did wrong at some point, because I never had this trouble with my old ASRock board...

 

[MilesAhead]

Try setting BOTH EnablePrefetcher and EnableSuperfetch registry settings to 3. That's how MS sets them as default. I find my prefetch populates quite quickly. I often delete the program prefetch just for grins. The boot prefetch(which is in the readyboot subfolder) I don't bother to clear unless I made changes to the startup programs. You get one slow boot if you delete ReadyBoot contents. Then it's cached.

 

[OvenMaster]

I'll try that later.

I've also done a bit more online research and I've discovered that there is no layout.ini file in my prefetch folder... or anywhere else on my computer, for that matter.

 

[Layback Bear]

Well I didn't notice that in your system specs (32) bit. Sorry about that. That just means it would be a good time to go to Windows 64 bit.

 

[Kaktussoft]

Same problem with http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorial...ation-conflicts-performing-clean-startup.html ? Revert to normal boot after testing!

 

[DavidE]

I'll try that later.

I've also done a bit more online research and I've discovered that there is no layout.ini file in my prefetch folder... or anywhere else on my computer, for that matter.

Try this to rebuild the layout.ini prefetch file.

a) Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow
b) Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
c) Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
Note: This will rebuild the layout.ini file, even if it has been deleted from %windir%\Prefetch.

Source: layout.ini is missing in my Prefetch folder. - Microsoft Community

 

[OvenMaster]

I'll try that later.

I've also done a bit more online research and I've discovered that there is no layout.ini file in my prefetch folder... or anywhere else on my computer, for that matter.

Try this to rebuild the layout.ini prefetch file.

a) Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow
b) Type the following command, and then press ENTER:
c) Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks
Note: This will rebuild the layout.ini file, even if it has been deleted from %windir%\Prefetch.

Source: layout.ini is missing in my Prefetch folder. - Microsoft Community

I had run the ProcessIdleTasks thing automatically every four days via Task Scheduler and it never rebuilt layout.ini.

But I did manage to fix it.

Turns out that MilesAhead had the clue. I checked my Registry as he suggested, and all entries had a value of "3".

Then I opened up Services. Superfetch was marked as "Manual" and "Stopped". I started the Superfetch service, changed startup to Automatic. Ran a few programs and immediately found them in Prefetch. I rebooted, ran ProcessIdleTasks, and voila: a normal Prefetch folder with a fresh layout.ini!

I think I can mark this one solved, gents. Thanks for the help!

 

[Kaktussoft]

System service SUPERFETCH startup=automatic. That's default setting

 

[OvenMaster]

System service SUPERFETCH startup=automatic. That's default setting

That's right. But for me, I found it set at Manual, and stopped.
Since I had no Prefetch entries since the day I installed Win7 on June 9, I can only assume that's how it's been... since June 9.

 

[MilesAhead]

I think I was running mine set at Automatic Delayed Start.. once I cached the boot files. Boot files are fairly static. So you don't really need to gather stats right at boot time. It's just a bit smoother.

 

[OvenMaster]

Well, thanks to your clues leading to my turning on Superfetch, Soluto says that my boot time has gone down from
2 minutes 15 seconds to 1 minute 39 seconds. I'd say that shaving 36 seconds - 27% - off my boot time is well worth leaving it on!

 

[MilesAhead]

Yes, the boot fetch only requires one boot to get the info. Regular app fetch requres more stats. At least on my machines it seemed like less churning to put the service at Auto Delayed Start. Since the boot up info is obtained the first time after say, deleting ReadyBoot or making changes to the startup apps. The boot prefetch is worth doing even if you disable the regular app prefetch. Both registry settings to '2' caches only the bootup. I found that worked well in Vista. But for me on W7 the defaults actually seem to work best. Of course other factors may come in such as booting from SSD etc.. I have plain Jane Sata II for a system drive.

 

[OvenMaster]

Down to 1 minute, 9 seconds. and this is with a used, ancient (2007) WD SATA II spinner, no less.