Concerned? The folder never gets over 128 entries in it which averages around 5MB. It is self cleaning at 128 entries. Disabling application prefetching will slow down how long ALL you applications take to load! You should NEVER do this unless you want your applications to load slower. Anyone who is concerned about the ridiculously little disk space this takes up does not understand Windows XP Prefetching.
Nope that is another Myth. Prefetch files are non executable. If a file is an actual malware file (rare) and is located in the prefetch folder, it will have a different extension other than .pf and you should just delete that file NOT the whole contents of the Prefetch folder. Do you delete the Windows folder if you find an infected file? Nope.
Bad idea, this will reduce performance since it cleans the Prefetch folder’s files based on the NTFS last access date for each when they are two weeks old. This is idiotic for a number of reasons, first the folder is self cleaning by Windows XP when it reaches 128 entries and outdated or unused prefetch files in NO WAY negatively effect performance ever. Even worse is if you have the NTFS last access date turned off this will clean the whole folder! Never select this option and it is FINALLY disabled by default in the latest version of CCleaner but should be removed completely. The makers of CCleaner have no concept of how the Windows XP prefetcher works.
Nope it is automatically cleaned at 128 entries.
Windows assigns a value to all prefetch files and only the most used (important) 32 are kept once the 128 limit is reached.
Because the maker of CCleaner has no concept of how Windows Prefetching works. If he spent five minutes talking to a member of the Windows Client Performance team he would know. It only proved his ignorance when he started locking and deleting all topics about it in his forum, only to wait almost ten months to remove it from the default because the evidence was undeniable.
I am surprised Frank did not reference my extensive XP Myths site on this issue which covers it in depth. ;D
Hi Mastertech,
But how about pre-fetch and the elimination of evidence. You won’t stand a chance with the secret life inside Windows, and what goes on the general public is not aware of.
But could not it be that the contents of the PreFetch folder could give you away, if educated people (forensics) would like to search the contents of your computer. Would you stand a chance? To-day with all the external content retaining even your airbag blackbox data can land you in jail for life, elimination of certain data could be vital to your well being, leaving the pre-fetch folder on or the way “delete” works with Windows makes it a dangerous machine. I have nothing to hide, but those that had should stay miles away from any technical apps (computer, printer, cell phone, etc).
Is there ueberhaupt a way to use Windows sothat your privacy is guaranteed?
polonus
What could someone get from your Prefetch information? That you ran the programs you have installed on your PC? I think the personal information in your My Documents folder would be of more interest.
Unless you routinuely run a US DOD level wipe of deleted files then they can find quite a bit out.