How to make Windows XP Boot Faster

The myth of decreasing Windows XP boot times by using the “prefetch” feature in Windows XP is gaining traction again after being mentioned in popular tech blogs. 

Let us show their tip first and then we will go ahead and debunk this Windows XP myth.

We will show you how to make Windows XP boot faster by changing the prefetch values in your Windows Registry.

Note: The slower your system is larger the application, the more Windows PreFetch helps.So if you have a 64MB RAM on your machine, your system will experience reduced Prefetch benefits due to insufficient RAM. You need to have atleast 128MB for optimal Prefetching performance.

Step # 1: Press Start –> Run and type in regedit or press + R and then type in regedit

Step # 2: Once the registry editor launches, navigate all the way using this path

HKey_Local Machine –> System –> Current Control Set –> Control –> Session Manager –> Memory Management –> Prefetch Parameters

Step # 3: Click on Prefetch Parameters. On the right hand side window of Prefetch Parameters, right click on EnablePrefetcher option, Modify and in Value Data, change it from 3 to 5. You are all set

Debunking the Pre-Fetch myth In Windows XP

In the above walkthrough, we showed you how to change the Prefetch value from 3 to 5. The myth being propagated is that changing this value would significantly decrease the Windows XP boot times and improve performance.

Reality Check:

In Windows XP, the PreFetch component is part of the Windows Memory Manager. What the prefetch component does is that it helps lessen the time taken to start the operating system and improving application load times. By default, Prefetching is enabled in your Windows XP operating system and has the optimal setting enabled which is 3. According to Microsoft, the list of different possible values for the EnablePrefetcher registry key are:

0 = Disabled
1 = Application launch prefetching enabled
2 = Boot prefetching enabled
3 = Applaunch and Boot enabled (Optimal and Default)

As you saw in the walkthrough, the default value is set to 3 in Windows XP. What this means is that values such as 4, 5, 6 etc do not exist and are useless. So, leave the PreFetch value at the default value of 3 which is already optimzed for maximum performance on your Windows XP machine.

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