Boost Hard Drive Performance in Windows XP
Windows XP automatically updates the date and time stamp with information about the last time you accessed a file. This updating can slow down your hard drive.
Geek translation: This is a useless feature that can slow down your hard drive.
Click “Start”, “Run” and type in “Regedit”. If you did everything correct your window will look like this…
Click the “OK” button and this window now opens…
Double-click “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” and a whole confusing menu now opens. Don’t worry, just follow these simple steps and it will be a breeze:
1. Double-click “SYSTEM”
2. Double-click “CurrentControlSet”
3. Double-click “Control”
4. Single-click “FileSystem”
If you did everything correct you will now see this window…
Now, right-click on any white space on the right hand side of this window’s box. When you do that, you see a little menu that says “New” expand that menu and select “DWORD Value” and you’ll see this window…
All you have to do is delete the text called “New Value #1″ and replace it with NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate. Your window will now look like this…
Double-click “NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate” and this window opens…
Look at the above screenshot and make sure your window looks exactly the same and click “Ok”. When you are done just go ahead and close Registry Editor.
For most users the advantages of doing this will be minimal at best.
NOTE: Some backup programs and other applications may not work properly if this is enabled.
Larry Miller
Microsoft MCSA