"Prefetch" folder?

DaRuSsIaMaN

DaRuSsIaMaN

Geek Comrade
Ok what is this folder all about? Its path is [drive]:\WINDOWS\prefetch. If I manually delete some malicious executable, then I can also delete the .pf files associated with that .exe from the prefetch folder as well, right? For example, I noticed a new folder called "network" in my program files. In it is this executable network.exe which I searched for in google and it's some malicious trojan thingy, so I deleted the whole folder (adaware & spybot didnt detect it). In the "prefetch" folder, however, there's these files called NETWORK.EXE-020C1601.pf and NETWORK.EXE-061013E8.pf. I should delete those too, right? And what happens if I dont delete them? I found em by just doing a search for network.exe in the windows search thing.
 
Dont just go deleting system files!

Prefetch are files that XP uses to start programs faster.

Windows XP Professional monitors the files that are used when the computer starts and when you start applications. By monitoring these files, Windows XP Professional can prefetch them. Prefetching data is the process whereby data that is expected to be requested is read ahead into the cache. Prefetching boot files and applications decreases the time needed to start Windows XP Professional and start applications.
 
You can safely delete everything IN the Prefetch folder (but not the folder itself).
Generally, delete all the files within the Prefetch folder and perform a defrag and reboot, you'll notice faster load times for a while.
 
wth, how come housecall doesnt work for me? I select the HouseCall kernel and then it just stays stuck on the "Updating and starting HouseCall" page (says that in the Status panel on the left). It says "Transfering Data..." on the main frame or panel or w/e u call it and stays like that forever. Left it like that for half an hour or so. Does that in both Mozilla 1.7.12 and Firefox 1.5.
 
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