Registry Guide for Windows

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Registry tweaks, tricks & hacks to optimize, enhance and secure Microsoft Windows.

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Home > Windows > File System

(Windows NT/2000/XP) Popular
When Windows accesses a directory on an NTFS volume, it updates the LastAccess time stamp on each directory it detects. Therefore, if there are a large number of directories, this can affect performance.

This tweak can be easily applied using WinGuides Tweak Manager.
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Open your registry and find the key below.

Create a new DWORD value, or modify the existing value, named "NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate" and set it to "1" to prevent the LastAccess time stamp from being updated.

Restart Windows for the change to take effect.


(Default)	REG_SZ	(value not set)
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate	REG_DWORD	0x00000001 (1)


	HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSyst...

Registry Settings

System Key: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
Value Name: NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate
Data Type: REG_DWORD (DWORD Value)
Value Data: (0 = disable, 1 = enable)

Disclaimer: Modifying the registry can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. We cannot guarantee that problems resulting from modifications to the registry can be solved. Use the information provided at your own risk.

Last Modified: August 5, 2002