Technofriends

Want to know which files an application is using and which files are loaded when Windows boots? Then you must use WinPrefetchView, a nifty little utility developed by amazing guys at NirSoft.

If you have used ProcessHacker before, you must be aware that it allows you to figure out which all applications a particular process is using ( in real-time). WinPrefetchView takes it even further, allowing you to get the files which those applications are loading.

Every time an application is initiated and start running in the system, Windows creates a Prefetch file which contains information about the files loaded by the application. The information in the Prefetch file is used for optimizing the loading time of the application when the application is run, next time. WinPrefetchView is a small utility that reads the Prefetch files stored in your system and display the information stored in them.

WinPrefetchView is free to download and use. It can be downloaded from here.

1.) WinPrefetchView doesn’t require any installation or additional DLL files. Once you have downloaded the utility (click here to download), simply run the .exe file – WinPrefetchView.exe

2.) WinPrefetchView contains 2 panes — Upper pane displays the list of all prefetch files in your system, while the lower pane displays list of files stored inside the specific prefetch file. When you select a different file from the upper pane, the contents of the lower pane change accordingly. ( As mentioned earlier, Prefetch file contains the files that were loaded by the application in the previous times that you used it)

3.) WinPrefetchView also shows you a special Prefetch file, with ‘NTOSBOOT-B00DFAAD.pf’ filename, which can show you the list of files that are loaded during Windows boot process.

4.) Using WinPrefetchView you can also delete the selected prefetch file. While the prefetch file can be deleted, do note that it will be re-created again by the Operating System when you run the same program again.

I love the products from NirSoft and below is short run-up of some of the very interesting products which they have given us. All the apps mentioned below are free. ( click on the links to read more about the utilities).

1.) FlashCookiesView which Displays list of Cookie files created by Flash Components.

2.) MessenPass which is one of the Top 10 Password Crackers and allows you to Reveal passwords of instant messenger applications such as MSN Messenger and Yahoo Messenger.

3.) WirelessKeyView which allows you to recover your lost wireless network key.

4.) PstPassword, another very cool utility which allows you to recover lost Outlook PST Password.

5.) WhatInStartup which displays the list of all applications that are loaded automatically when Windows starts up.

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1. [Freeware] AppCrashView lets you view Application Crash Details
2. FlashCookiesView Displays list of Cookie files created by Flash Components
3. DriverView Lists down all the Drivers from your Computer
4. [Freeware] WhatInStartup Lets You See What Programs Start When Windows Boots
5. What Caused The Blue Screen Of Death (View BSOD crash information)