VB and VBA Users Source Code: Tip: Changing the size of the Windows icon cache
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VB/VBA Source Code
Tip: Changing the size of the Windows icon cache
By:
Andrew Baker
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Date:
Thursday, September 01, 2005
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1977
Category:
Files/Directories/IO
Article:
What does the icon cache do? ---------------------------- ---------------------------- You're probably familiar with the way a hard drive cache works. Because a workstation can access information from RAM faster than it can from a hard drive, it copies file information to a temporary location in memory. When the operating system needs access to a file, it checks the cache first, loading the file quickly if it's in cache or physically reading the file from the hard drive if it's not. The icon cache works much the same way. Rather than physically accessing XP's Iconcache.db database to display every icon on your workstation, XP first checks the icon cache in RAM, and then looks to the database file if it can't find the icon in RAM. By default, Windows XP doesn't reserve a lot of memory for icon caching. By sacrificing a little bit of RAM, you can speed up perceived workstation performance. Speeding things up ------------------ ------------------ You'll make the changes in the system registry. Start the Registry Editor by selecting Run from the Start menu, typing regedit in the Open text box, and clicking OK. When the Registry Editor opens, navigate through the left pane until you get to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Explorer. In the right pane, look for the value named "Max Cached Icons". If the value exists, it's probably set to 500, which is the default value for the key. To change the value, double-click it. You'll then see the Edit String screen. Enter the required value (I usually use 2000 or 5000) in the Value Data field and click OK. If the value doesn't exist, you'll need to add it. Select New | DWord Value from the Edit menu. The new value will appear in the right pane, prompting you for a value name. Type "Max Cached Icons" and press [Enter]. Make sure you separate each word with a space. The proper value is "Max Cached Icons", not "MaxCachedIcons". Note, you will probably find it easier to change the "Base" property to "Decimal" while entering value for this key.
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