A lot of things go into making a workstation operate at peak
performance. Much of it, such as the amount of RAM in the system, the
CPU speed, or the speed of the system's hard drive, is
hardware-controlled. However, there are other aspects of the operating
system that can impact system performance as well.
One
of the mechanisms that can greatly affect a workstation's efficiency is
the file system used by the operating system to save files. If the file
system is inefficient, then no matter how fast a CPU or hard drive is,
the system will waste time retrieving data. XP's default file system,
NTFS, is more efficient than Windows 9x's old FAT system under normal
circumstances, but you can do more to make it even faster.
Danger!
This article discusses making changes to your server's registry. Before using any technique in this article, make sure you have a complete backup of your workstation. If you make a mistake when making changes to your workstation's registry, you may cause your server to become unbootable, which would require a reinstallation of Windows to correct. Proceed with extreme caution.
NTFS vs. FAT
NTFS has been around since Microsoft introduced the first version of Windows NT. Its goal was to overcome the limitations of the venerable FAT file system, which had been around since the first version of DOS in 1981. Some of the key benefits of NTFS over FAT include:
- Smaller cluster sizes on drives over 1 GB
- Added security through permissions
- Support for larger drive sizes
- Better fault tolerance through logging and striping
Windows XP supports both NTFS and FAT, as well as FAT's newer cousin, FAT32. Chances are that you'll never see an XP workstation running the FAT-related file systems. About the only time you'll find FAT on an XP workstation is if someone upgraded a Windows 9x workstation to Windows XP and didn't convert the file system.
Last access time stamps
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.
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