If you are using the nfts filesystem in windows xp you might know this registry hack to speed things up a little bit. The default mode is that every time you alter a file a timestamp will be saved which is for most users completely useless. Some backup programs or synchronizers use this feature but most others don’t.
If you are not using a program that needs the timestamp you can easily edit the registry key in vista to speed up your system. Hit Windows + R, type regedit and press enter. Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Right-click the key NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate and change the value of it to 1. While you are there you could also disable the creation of files in Dos format (8+3) by altering the value of the key NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation to 1 as well.
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Not sure whether this works in Vista, but in XP you can also do that on the command line without the need to modify the registry directly:
fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1
and
fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1
Providing a 0 instead of the 1 activates the features again.
I try that out the next time I boot into Vista.
MrBuddha yes it is working
On Windows Vista, updating last access timestamps is disabled by default, so the “trick” doesn’t do anything useful.
You can use “fsutil behavior query” to check that this is true.