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Microsoft® Windows® > XP
 Advanced

Cleaning the Prefetch

The first step here might be pointing out that the prefetch is a valuable tool and it enables you to start applications faster. Few of us leave their system exactly the same all the time. We're all constantly adding new programs, removing older programs, and generally mucking about. This means that there is bound to be entries entered into the prefetch that are no longer available and so, once in a blue moon, it's good to go ahead and clean them all out. Don't worry about removing important ones — they'll happily be recreated for you when they're needed.

  1. Click the Start button
  2. Click Run...
  3. Type prefetch
  4. Click OK
  5. Highlight everything
  6. Press "Shift + DEL" or "Delete"

That'd be all you needed to do. Once every few months seems to be a good time frame.

OS: XP > Advanced
Date: 11/15/05

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