mark2 Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 The InquirerSubject: Microsoft claims Longhorn will be, er, fasterThe only reason why its faster is they added a superfetch feature to the prefetcher. If you look at the key:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\Prefetcheryou will notice in windows xpEnablePrefetcher = 3 and you will notice in windows longhornEnableSuperfetch = 1Well, guess what? You can put the EnableSuperfetch = 1 in windows xp and get the same speed.Wow, Microsoft just added a feature that was already there in xp.And it works, I've noticed PSP and other resource hungry apps launch faster.However if you try it/use it back up your registry 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trackrat Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Just gave that a try mark, then I loaded photoshop elements 2 and it was so quick loading I just could not believe it, and open office loads quicker as well.What exactly does the prefetcher do?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 On my XP system, the registry key that contains 'EnablePrefetcher' isHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Anyway, I added a DWORD 'EnableSuperfetch' with value 1 to the key above, and rebooted. But I don't find anything opening quicker than before. Outlook 2003 still takes minutes to open, also Firefox and Thunderbird are as slow as before. If anything, Adobe Reader seems a bit faster than before, but I can't be 100% sure.I think it's a hoax :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 This is a foreign language to me I'm afraid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I think it's a hoax :)Works for me :) you are correct the original quote above is incorrect, you will find it HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParametersHave you run each program a second time ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlanHo Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Brilliant.Before when I double clicked on a jpg image in Explorer it opened PSP which took 16 seconds to open. It now takes 7 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Have you run each program a second time ?A-HA! The 2nd time it is MUCH quicker. Tried to open PSP from a JPG file; the 1st time it took 7 secs, the 2nd time 2.Firefox is faster too, but Outlook is still a hog. I guess it's all that talking with Exchange Server that does it.Great! :) Andsome: would you like me to make a little REG file, so you can just double-click and install it into your registry?Here it isEnableSuperfetch.zipThis ZIP file contains two REG files; one to add the registry entry, and one to remove the entry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 What exactly does the prefetcher do?.About windows prefetch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Have you run each program a second time ?A-HA! The 2nd time it is MUCH quicker. Tried to open PSP from a JPG file; the 1st time it took 7 secs, the 2nd time 2.Firefox is faster too, but Outlook is still a hog. I guess it's all that talking with Exchange Server that does it.Great! :) Andsome: would you like me to make a little REG file, so you can just double-click and install it into your registry?Here it isMany thanks. I am quite happy to try this out. Where do I open it to, and should I export the registry before using it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Thanks pwillener!I've used your reg file now, and what a difference it makes! Much faster :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Well, to be 100% on the safe side, take a system backup before proceding. (I was going to suggest to back up the registry, but then I became aware that I don't know how to back up the registry on XP!)Next, extract the REG file from the zipped up file, e.g. to your Desktop. Then just double-click the extracted file.Sorry, have to run for my dinner appointment B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Registry backup instructionsM$ support Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 What are we going to do with all these seconds gained in programs opening faster?Reminds me of an extensive thread in another forum years ago where the much venerated Pesala (I think) found a way of getting Adobe Acrobat Reader (as it was then) to open in 12 seconds instead of the 15 seconds he was used to.For information, I know pretty much which programs I am going to be using during a run on my machines and, accordingly, I open them at the start of the day while I'm drinking my early morning tea and generally setting things up. At the moment I have five pages of Firefox open with various sites on which I refer to frequently during the day, Open Office, IE (twice only because USPTO and Esp@ce do not work on FF), ACD Labs drawing software. I've no idea how long these things took to open as I consider I have more important things to occupy my mind but, it wasn't very long. I do know, however, that these things are ready and waiting for me at the bottom of the screen to call on them when wanted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Many thanks folks. I have to agree that there is quite a difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark2 Posted August 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 What are we going to do with all these seconds gained in programs opening faster?I think it's a symptom of the times we live in -pops- everything has to be done faster, folks don't seem to have the patience any more, even if we have no use for that extra time we percieve it as time 'saved' and thus a 'good' thing.Personally I'm just an inveterate tweaker, because it's there I'll try it because I can. (mountain climbers and mountains - because they're there) :huh: I haven't yet had to restore an image/backup through killing my system with tweaks.perhaps this needs a new thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 To say I was sceptical when I saw this was an understatement, but having tried it I'm very impressed, Star office acts like somebody set light to it, Pre registry fix, 15 seconds to open a document. Post fix, near instantaneous ! Other programs like adobe & PSP have also benefited, if not to quite the same extent. I'm going to run it for a few days to see if there are any down sides, then it goes on all other XP machines I can get my hands on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Pre registry fix, 15 seconds to open a document. Post fix, near instantaneous !When you've saved all of these 14.99 seconds per program startup, what are you going to do with them? Save them up and go on holiday? :) I'm far from convinced of the benefits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belatucadrus Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 I'm sure that in most cases the benefits are somewhere between marginal and non existent, but Star and OpenOffice have always been much slower to open than Office, that's now fixed and I'm quite pleased about it. I'm also not an inveterate tweaker or overclocker and refuse to blow cash on the latest 64 bit whiz bang, so can I think be classified as reasonably ordinary and if one tiny free registry tweak makes me just a bit happier I'll go with it. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deuces wild Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Many thanks folks. I have to agree that there is quite a difference.I second that! :) Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 dwJust the one second? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
norris209 Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Brilliant. Nice Work. :thumbup: :thumbup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Doing a search for EnableSuperfetch on Google reveals that this is widely discussed in many fora. Many people believe it to be a hoax. But maybe we'll never know...However, I had it in my registry for the past 24 hours, and my system has been far less stable than usual. Hangups and delays in many apps, and some not responding at all.I have just removed it from my registry, and I'm going to reboot now.I have changed the attachment in my earlier post 160004 to contain another REG file that removes the EnableSuperfetch entry from the registry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Mine is still running fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted August 5, 2005 Report Share Posted August 5, 2005 Mine is still running fine.Good :) then I suggest that you keep it; many people have positive experiences with the tweak.I do sometimes have A LOT of apps open, so maybe I am suffering from some clogged memory. I mean the computer's memory, of course :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.