What is windows PREFETCH folder and .pf?

albanga

I was wondering if somebody could give me a little insight into a directory in Windows XP.

I was just typing a document when my processor became very burdened, i opened task manager and saw that a process called Lucoms~1.pf was running and using 100% of my processor and about 50MB of ram. I then ran a search on the file and found it in the \Windows\Prefetch folder.

Upon looking in this folder i found some interesting files on all sorts of things in my system?

I also did a search on the .pf extension and it said its some sort of compressed file extracted and used with various compression utilities. This just sounds strange considering i was typing a document at the time.

I was just wondering if anybody had some more insight into this? And can i delete it so it doesn't overburden my system again.[/b]

Trailerisf

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,11862487~mode=flat

May help you discover the use of the file.



The Prefetch directory serves a valuable purpose by analyzing files that you use at startup and when you run programs. Contrary to what some well-meaning but technically inaccurate articles suggest, this does not copy the files themselves. It creates an index to the location of those files on the hard disk, including the order in which they’re loaded. This allows Windows and Windows programs to start very quickly after the first time you use them.

The Prefetch directory has one additional salutary function when used in conjunction with the built-in defragmenting tool. Every three days, during idle times, this utility rearranges program code, moving it to the outside of the disk to make it more efficient when loading (to force Windows to perform this optimization without having to do a full defragmentation, use the Defrag.exe command with the -b switch. For instance: defrag c: -b).

albanga

Thanks for that. I guess I wont be deleting it after all

Megadeth4168

albanga wrote:

Thanks for that. I guess I wont be deleting it after all

About 2 years ago I didnt know what the prefetch folder was either and I ended up deleting it and it just kept coming back. I finally had to ask around to find out what it was.

Non-Profit Techie

it can be a safe haven for annoying spyware

RussS

Non-Profit Techie wrote:

it can be a safe haven for annoying spyware

hahaha - too many times I see people sanitise their machine only to have spyware return. They usually comment, "well I used all the remopval tools and checked the registry for start-ups. Invariably they miss the start-up group in the start menu and the prefetch folder.