[kwkarth]

Are you guys referring to indexing services by any chance?

 

[wallijonn]

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...e/prfeatgd.asp :
"I/O Can Be Overlapped with Device Initialization

Using Windows® 2000, each disk input/output (I/O) may require the disk head to move to some new location and the disk to rotate to some degree. The result is that typical desktop disks can only complete 80 I/Os to100 I/Os each second. Laptop disks are often even slower. This poor I/O rate lengthens the boot time considerably for Windows 2000.

Windows XP improves this poorly organized I/O process by "prefetching" much of the operating system at the same time that devices are being initialized. In this way, the I/O can be overlapped with the device initialization process. The effect is that code being executed, and data that must be read during the boot, can be scattered about the disk with no perceptible effect on startup time performance.
Dynamic Determination of Code and Data Needed During Boot

By observing successive boots of the system, Windows XP can dynamically determine the code and data needed for the boot and can optimize the placement of these files on the disk. When the computer boots, Windows XP can issue large I/O requests that can be handled efficiently with high throughput. Moreover, the operating system can find opportunities to issue these requests so that they will overlap in time with device detection and initialization. This is done in a way that will not add to the overall boot time. This allows for subsequent processing to occur with the operating system substantially resident in memory, and dramatically decreases the time needed for the system to boot.

Note A fresh installation will require three boots before the observation and optimization for fast boot is complete. "

File indexing is just "last time accessed" timestamping. It makes for faster searches.

For video, I have read that many people prefer cluster sizes of 32k. Unfortunately, defrag will not work on cluster sizes larger than 16k.

 

[kelly]

Here's my wish list for the HTPC thus far. Any (constructive) comments appreciated:

motherboard: asus p4p extreme
cpu: p4 2.4-2.6C (800mhz bus)
heatsink: thermalright slk-900-u
fan: panaflo 92mm
hard drive: seagate baracuda ST340016A (40 gig)
video card: ati radeon 9200+ dvi, 9500+ better engine, 9700+ 3d>2d
video card heatsink: zalman (passive)
soundcard: m-audio revolution 7.1
capture card: flyvideo
dvd drive: samsung sm-352b (quiet combo dvd/cdrw)
case: coolermaster or lian-li (black aluminum)
case fans: 3+ panaflo 80mm
power supply: seasonic 300

 

[kwkarth]

Still would like an answer to my question Mav.
Thanks!