If you didn't know, Windows Vista operates external hard drives that are connected via USB differently than internal drives. Write caching is disabled so that you can safely remove the drive at almost any time. This is a great feature for USB flash drives that are frequently inserted and removed from your computer. But, if you have a large hard drive in an external enclosure that you never disconnect from your computer, write caching is also disabled, which can decrease performance. So, let's change that around a little, shall we?!

Today, I'm cialis usa going to show you a tweak that will increase the performance of your external hard drive by turning the write cache back on, as well as, activating an advanced performance. Let’s get started!

1.) First, in Vista, right click on the Computer icon on your desktop and select Manage.

2.) Click on Device Manager from the side menu.

3.) Next, expand the Disk Drives option and locate your external drive from the list.

4.) Once you've found it, right click on the drive and select Properties.

5.) Under the Policies tab, select Optimize for Performance.

6.) Next, checkmark both the options of "Enable write caching on the disk" and "Enable advanced performance," as shown below:

7.) Hit OK and then restart your computer.

That's all you have to do. Now, go on and enjoy your increased performance!

December 18th, 2007

Posted by George Ou

December 16th, 2007

Posted by Ed Bott

Today, I come bearing good news for all you Windows XP users out there! If you recall, it wasn't too long ago that I gave you a little update on the new Service Pack 3 for XP. I wasn't able to give you an exact release date for it, but I told you it should arrive in the first half of 2008. Well, I just received word that it may be moving along a little faster than we all thought. Yep, on December 12, 2007 (just this past Wednesday), the Release Candidate 1 for the Windows XP SP3 was released and it is now available for download. Check it out!

Are you a little confused as to what a Release Candidate is? Well, it's basically a test code that is given out to various people who have been helping with the testing process thus far. It's always a good thing when a new application reaches this point, because it means the full version will be along shortly. Now, I want to make it very clear that what I'm talking about today is not the full version of the XP SP3. You can download the Release Candidate 1 for yourself, but it is not the final version. cialis prices I just want to make sure everyone understands that!

If you do want to give it a try, you can download the SP3 Release Candidate 1 from this Web site. Just click on the Download Now link and follow the directions. I've read some reviews and it looks like there are still several flaws in the SP3, but you can at least get a feel for what it will be like and what will change on your computer. I don't really recommend that you download it quite yet, but if you just can't wait any longer, feel free to do so. Otherwise, the official version should be released in the early part of next year. As always, I will continue to keep you updated as new information on this becomes available. Just keep your eyes and ears open!

fsutil is quite powerful, it should only be used by advanced users who have a thorough knowledge of Windows XP. In addition, you must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the Administrators group in order to use fsutil.

 

The following table lists the fsutil subcommands.

 

Comm and Description

 

behavior

Queries, changes, enables, or disables the settings for generating 8.3 character-length file names, accepting extended characters in 8.3 character-length file names on NTFS volumes, updating the last access timestamp on NTFS volumes, how often quota events are written to the system log, and the amount of disk space reserved of the MFT Zone.

 

dirty

Queries whether volume's dirty bit is set. Sets a volume's dirty bit. When a volume's dirty bit is set, autochk automatically checks the volume for errors the next time the computer is restarted.

 

file

Typically used by support professionals. Finds a file by its security identifier, queries allocated ranges for a file, sets a file's short name, sets a file's valid data length, or sets zero data for a file.

 

fsinfo

Typically used by support professionals. Lists all drives, queries the drive type, queries volume information, queries NTFS-specific volume information, or queries file system statistics.

 

hardlink

Creates a hard link. A hard link is a directory entry for a file. Every file can be considered to have at least one hard link. On NTFS volumes, each file can have multiple hard links, and thus a single file can appear in many directories (or even in the same directory with different names). Because all of the links reference the same file, programs can open any of the links and modify the file. A file is deleted from the file system only after all links to it have been deleted. After you create a hard link, programs can use it like any other file name.

 

objectid

Typically used by support professionals. Manages object identifiers, which are used by Windows XP to track objects such as files and directories.

 

quota

Manages disk quotas on NTFS volumes in order to provide more precise control of network-based storage. Disk quotas are implemented on a per-volume basis and enable both hard- and soft-storage limits to be implemented on a per-user basis.

 

reparsepoint

Typically used by support professionals. Queries or deletes reparse points, which are NTFS file system objects that have a definable attribute containing user-controlled data, and are used to extend functionality in the input/output (I/O) subsystem. Reparse points are used for directory junction points and volume mount points. They are also used by file system filter drivers to mark certain files as special to that driver.

 

sparse

Manages sparse files A sparse file is a file with one or more regions of unallocated data in it. A program will see these unallocated regions as containing bytes with the value zero, but there is actually no disk space used to represent these zeros. In other words, all meaningful or nonzero data is allocated, whereas all non-meaningful data (large strings of data composed of zeros) is not allocated. When a sparse file is read, allocated data is returned as stored and unallocated data is returned, by default, as zeros, in accordance with the C2 security requirement specification. Sparse file support allows data to be deallocated from anywhere in the file.

 

usn

Typically used by support professionals. Manages the update sequence number (USN) change journal, which provides a persistent log of all changes made to files on the volume.

 

volume

Manages a volume. Dismounts a volume or queries to see how much free space is available on a disk.

 

 Note

 

To view help for the available subcommands at the command prompt, type fsutil, type the subcommand, and then type cialis prescription online help (that is, fsutil subcommand help).

 

Fsutil: behavior

Fsutil: dirty

Fsutil: file

Fsutil: fsinfo

Fsutil: hardlink

Fsutil: objectid

Fsutil: quota

Fsutil: reparsepoint

Fsutil: sparse

Fsutil: usn

Fsutil: volume

Command-line reference A-Z

 

 

Pasted from <http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/fsutil.mspx?pf=true>