Prefetching is the reason Windows XP Boots faster.

Prefetch Files Part 1. Prefetcher Guide: Part 2. Defragging the Prefetch File: Part 3. Cleaning out the Prefetch Files: Part 4. Repairing the Prefetch Folder: Prefetch Parameters The Prefetcher's configuration is stored in the Windows Registry at ?HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters. ?The EnablePrefetcher value can set to be one of the following: 0 = Disabled 1 = Application launch prefetching enabled 2 = Boot prefetching enabled 3 = Applaunch and Boot enabled (Optimal and Default) The recommended value is 3. "EnablePrefetcher"=dword:00000003 Note: Ignore the option for Hexadecimal or Decimal under "Base" when choosing to input 1, 2 or 3. The Windows Prefetcher Guide: Windows XP Prefetching by default is already optimized. There are no tweaks that do anything but hurt performance. Anyone making any claims otherwise does not understand how Windows Prefetching works. They also do not provide documented and accurate reproducible testing to prove that some "tweak" does work. This nonsense has been copied off one site to another. It is completely impossible for unused entries in the Prefetch folder to slow a system down. ?Prefetch files are trace files that simply include a list of files and their locations that are used by an application when it loads. Nothing is preloaded or cached in memory before you attempt to load an application. Prefetching is the reason Windows XP Boots faster. The Prefetch folder and the ?layout.ini? file will Defragment itself every 72 hours, and will self clean older Prefetch files from your system. You will hardly ever see more then 130 Prefetch Files in your Prefetch Folder.? ??