On Fri, 7 May 2010 23:28:16 +0000, Ratsneve wrote:
> Does Windows 7 Registry now optimize itself to the point that periodic defragmentation using a third party utility is no longer of interest?
>
> Historically, the Registry would grow and grow in size and one could thin it down, remove no longer used empty areas and compress the file sizes down. Significant file size savings was suppose to decrease start and program start times.
>
> Is there still concern about this with Windows 7? Thanks.
No, there is no concern and there never was any real concern. Access
to the registry is random, and therefore defragging it has always been
meaningless.
Moreover, it doesn't grow very much, and making it smaller is also
insignificant (for the same reason--access to it is random).
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP (Windows Desktop Experience) since 2003
Ken Blake