How To: Disable The NTFS Last Access Time Stamp In Windows Vista Or In XP
The NTFS(New Technology File System) file system used in Microsoft’s Windows operating systems like Windows Vista, is essentially a huge database that keeps track of all the files on your hard disk.When you create a file, or edit and then re save that file, the NTFS creates an entry and records the date in the Created or Modified timestamp so you can access the Properties sheet of the file and check the Created or Modified entries later.NTFS also creates and keeps track of another timestamp called Accessed.The NTFS driver automatically updates this timestamp every time a file is accessed, whether for reading or writing.The timestamp lists the date on which the file was last accessed and whether the file was opened and read or changed and saved.That means that every time you browse through a folder, view folder contents, NT is busy updating the file timestamps which might be better used for other purposes.Since the Accessed timestamp does not add much useful information, you may want to disable this waste of consider the read/write operation incurred to record it wasteful.
Method 1: Using Windows Vista Registry Editor
Disabling the NTFS last-accessed timestamp improves the NTFS disk performance.
- Start the Windows Vista registry editor by clicking Start, then, Run, and then entering regedit.
- You’ll need to provide administrative confirmation if User Account Control(UAC) is turned on.
- Navigate to the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
- Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, named “NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate” and right-click on the key.
- Select Modify and change the value to 1(1 for enable, 0 for disable).
- Exit Windows Registry Editor.
- Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Method 2: Using FSUTIL command Line Tool
You can easily disable the NTFS last access timestamp in Windows Vista using the FSUTIL command in a single step.Here’s how:
Open a Command Prompt window in Windows Vista by type cmd in the start menu search box and press Enter.Then type the following command line:
FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 1
Note that this might break some backup programs that use the Remote Storage service.If you wish to turn the Accessed attribute back on, simply repeat the command and replace 1 with 0.
FSUTIL behavior set disablelastaccess 0
Easier Method:
Download, extract, and double-click on DisableLastAccessUpdate.reg to merge the registry values into the Windows registry to disable the NTFS last access timestamp in Windows Vista. You can use the included EnableLastAccessUpdate.reg file to rollback the changes.
Disable the NTFS Last Access Time Stamp(Download)
Warning: If you use Windows Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system.It is better to backup your Windows registry data before making any changes. Tomstricks.com is not responsible for any changes you may make to your system.Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
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Written by Tony on April 4th, 2009 with
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