lazserus
Sep 8th, 2011, 1:32 PM
For those unfamiliar with CCleaner, it is a small program that cleans your computer of temporary files. It can empty your Recycle Bin, delete temporary Internet files and cookies, delete old cache files and so on. Using the default settings is well and good, but if you want extra security you can change the settings from simple deleting to delete and overwrite. This helps remove data from your computer better than simply deleting files. (See this (http://forums.armageddononline.org/destroy-old-data-t29989.html) thread for details on data destruction.)
CCleaner is a tool commonly used by those thinking they can simply wipe old history from their computers with a single click. For the most part this is true, and CCleaner is definitely a tool I would recommend to everyone. While I endorse CCleaner, I will be the first to tell you it is not an answer-all to deleting data. This thread, however, is not so much about recommending CCleaner to people but about a single offered option I suggest everyone check.
I do not recommend users play with the Advanced settings of CCleaner unless they know what they're dealing with, though the first option in the list should be checked by anyone using the application.
http://img290.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=504121337_prefetch_122_563lo.jpghttp ://img847.imageshack.us/img847/290/prefetch.jpg
Whenever you purge your computer of temporary files, it is wise to also remove prefetch files. What is a prefetch folder/file?
Each time you turn on your computer, Windows keeps track of the way your computer starts and which programs you commonly open. Windows saves this information as a number of small files in the prefetch folder. The next time you turn on your computer, Windows refers to these files to help speed the start process.
The prefetch folder is a subfolder of the Windows system folder. The prefetch folder is self-maintaining, and there's no need to delete it or empty its contents. If you empty the folder, Windows and your programs will take longer to open the next time you turn on your computer.
Although Microsoft claims this folder is self-maintained, more than a decade's experience working with Windows systems tells me this isn't exactly true. One of the first things I was taught when I got into the Information Technology field—back when I was working on Windows NT 4 systems—was that there is a Microsoft world and a real world. I was taught how to Microsoft thought systems worked using their software, then I was taught how the real world works . . . also using their software. Prefetch files are useful if you use the same programs daily with the same settings, and you never ever alter Windows settings. Keeping these prefetch files will certainly make your bootup process a little swifter. But if you're like me, and you're constantly installing and uninstalling software, changing Windows settings and drivers, etc., then all the prefetch folder does is take up space.
Unless you have a ton of items set to load on startup, today's computers will boot into Windows in a flash, so the prefetch folder is completely unnecessary. The load time difference between having a prefetch folder filled with items and having an empty one is no more than one (1) second with today's computers. Thus the bugger just takes up space. And if you never purge the thing, a lot of space it will consume! Windows will not remove prefetch files on its own, therefore this "self-maintaining" claim is utter bullshit. All this means is it will create its own prefetch files, never remove unused ones. And when cleaning customer computers, I've removed gigabytes upon gigabytes of prefetch nonsense.
In conclusion, check the option to remove old prefetch data in CCleaner and be done with it. I don't know the algorithm used by Piriform, but I assume it has something to do with date last used. It may not clear all prefetch data from the folder, nevertheless the old, unused garbage will be tossed out.
CCleaner is a tool commonly used by those thinking they can simply wipe old history from their computers with a single click. For the most part this is true, and CCleaner is definitely a tool I would recommend to everyone. While I endorse CCleaner, I will be the first to tell you it is not an answer-all to deleting data. This thread, however, is not so much about recommending CCleaner to people but about a single offered option I suggest everyone check.
I do not recommend users play with the Advanced settings of CCleaner unless they know what they're dealing with, though the first option in the list should be checked by anyone using the application.
http://img290.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=504121337_prefetch_122_563lo.jpghttp ://img847.imageshack.us/img847/290/prefetch.jpg
Whenever you purge your computer of temporary files, it is wise to also remove prefetch files. What is a prefetch folder/file?
Each time you turn on your computer, Windows keeps track of the way your computer starts and which programs you commonly open. Windows saves this information as a number of small files in the prefetch folder. The next time you turn on your computer, Windows refers to these files to help speed the start process.
The prefetch folder is a subfolder of the Windows system folder. The prefetch folder is self-maintaining, and there's no need to delete it or empty its contents. If you empty the folder, Windows and your programs will take longer to open the next time you turn on your computer.
Although Microsoft claims this folder is self-maintained, more than a decade's experience working with Windows systems tells me this isn't exactly true. One of the first things I was taught when I got into the Information Technology field—back when I was working on Windows NT 4 systems—was that there is a Microsoft world and a real world. I was taught how to Microsoft thought systems worked using their software, then I was taught how the real world works . . . also using their software. Prefetch files are useful if you use the same programs daily with the same settings, and you never ever alter Windows settings. Keeping these prefetch files will certainly make your bootup process a little swifter. But if you're like me, and you're constantly installing and uninstalling software, changing Windows settings and drivers, etc., then all the prefetch folder does is take up space.
Unless you have a ton of items set to load on startup, today's computers will boot into Windows in a flash, so the prefetch folder is completely unnecessary. The load time difference between having a prefetch folder filled with items and having an empty one is no more than one (1) second with today's computers. Thus the bugger just takes up space. And if you never purge the thing, a lot of space it will consume! Windows will not remove prefetch files on its own, therefore this "self-maintaining" claim is utter bullshit. All this means is it will create its own prefetch files, never remove unused ones. And when cleaning customer computers, I've removed gigabytes upon gigabytes of prefetch nonsense.
In conclusion, check the option to remove old prefetch data in CCleaner and be done with it. I don't know the algorithm used by Piriform, but I assume it has something to do with date last used. It may not clear all prefetch data from the folder, nevertheless the old, unused garbage will be tossed out.