Windows NT NTFS volumes store a last access timestamp
for every file and directory. The NTFS driver automatically updates this
timestamp every time a file is accessed, whether for reading or writing. 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.
After browsing directories with large number of files, the NTFS log file gets
filed. NT becomes sluggish or nonresponsive until the file system flushes the
log to the hard disk. To disable Windows NT NTFS last access
timestamp :
Hive: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Key: SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
Name:
NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate
Type:
REG_DWORD
Value: 1
This has no effect on “last modified” timestamp.
