XP automatically updates the date and time stamp with information about the last time you accessed a file. Not only does it mark the file, but it also updates the directory the file is located in as well as any directories above it. If you have a large hard drive with many subdirectories on it, this updating can slow down your system.

To disable the updating, start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate. If the value exists, it??s probably set to 0. To change the value, double-click it. You??ll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK.

If the value doesn??t exist, you??ll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You??ll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK. When you??re done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation.

The Master File Table
The Master File Table (MFT) keeps track of files on disks. This file logs all the files that are stored on a given disk, including an entry for the MFT itself. It works like an index of everything on the hard disk in much the same way that a phone book stores phone numbers.

NTFS keeps a section of each disk just for the MFT. This allows the MFT to grow as the contents of a disk change without becoming overly fragmented. This is because Windows NT didn??t provide for the defragmentation of the MFT. Windows 2000 and Windows XP??s Disk Defragmenter will defragment the MFT only if there??s enough space on the hard drive to locate all of the MFT segments together in one location.

As the MFT file grows, it can become fragmented. Fortunately, you can control the initial size of the MFT by making a change in the registry. Making the MFT file larger prevents it from fragmenting but does so at the cost of storage space. For every kilobyte that NTFS uses for MFT, the less it has for data storage.

To limit the size of the MFT, start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsMftZoneReservation. If the value doesn??t exist, you??ll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsMftZoneReservation and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You??ll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen.

The default value for this key is 1. This is good for a drive that will contain relatively few large files. Other options include:

- 2??Medium file allocation
- 3??Larger file allocation
- 4??Maximum file allocation

To change the value, double-click it. When the Edit DWORD Value screen appears, enter the value you want and click OK. Unfortunately, Microsoft doesn??t give any clear guidelines as to what distinguishes Medium from Larger and Maximum levels of files. Suffice it to say, if you plan to store lots of files on your workstation, you may want to consider a value of 3 or 4 instead of the default value of 1.

When you??re done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation. Unlike other registry changes, which take place immediately for maximum benefit, NtfsMftZoneReservation works best on freshly formatted hard drives. This is because XP will then create the MFT in one contiguous space. Otherwise, it will just modify the current size of the MFT, instantly fragmenting it. Therefore, it??s best to use this if you plan to have one drive for data and another for applications.

Short filenames
Even though NTFS can support filenames with 256 characters in order to maintain backward compatibility with DOS and Windows 3.x workstations, Windows XP stores filenames in the old 8.3 file format as well as its native format. For example, if this article is named ???Increase XP NTFS performance.doc,??? Windows XP will save this file under that filename as well as INCREA~1.DOC.

To change this in the registry, start the Registry Editor. When the Registry Editor window opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Filesystem

In the right pane, look for the value named NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation. If the value exists, it??s probably set to 0. To change the value, double-click it. In the Edit DWORD Value screen, enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK.

If the value doesn??t exist, you??ll need to add it. Select New | DWORD Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation and press [Enter]. Double-click the new value. You??ll then see the Edit DWORD Value screen. Enter 1 in the Value Data field and click OK. When you??re done, close Regedit. Your registry changes will be saved automatically. Reboot your workstation.

Other ways to speed drive access
There are other ways to speed drive access that aren??t NTFS-specific. These include:

Caching??If your XP workstation has more than 256 MB of RAM, you might be able to increase hard drive access speeds by tweaking the amount of RAM cache that XP uses. For more information about how to do this, see the article ???Squeeze more performance out of Windows XP with CachemanXP 1.1.???

Striping??If you have more than one hard drive on your system, you can use XP??s striping feature to have the file system store data across multiple drives. This feature works best with SCSI drives, but it can work with multiple ATA drives as well. You??ll make the change using the Logical Disk Management service in the Computer Management utility.

Defragmenting??Even though NTFS is more resistant to fragmentation than FAT, it can and does still fragment. You can either use XP??s built-in defragmenter or a third-party utility such as Diskeeper.
Disable Compression??Compressing files may save space on your workstation??s hard drive, but compressing and decompressing files can slow down your system. With the relative low cost of hard drives today, investing in an additional hard drive is better than compressing files on a workstation.

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