fastopen MS-DOS Command

Type: External (3.3 and later)

Syntax:

FASTOPEN d:[=n][/X]

Purpose: Keeps track of the locations of files for fast access.

Discussion

FASTOPEN locates files on a fixed disk by searching your disk`s directory structure in a predetermined search pattern. After running FASTOPEN, each time you use a file or directory, the program will make a record (in memory) of the file`s name and location. The next time you specify that file, DOS will look first in the last known location. This reduces the time needed to access files. This command is used only on fixed disks and can be used on up to four fixed disks at one time. For each fixed disk, you enter the number of files you want to keep track of (from 10 to 999 files). If you do not enter a number, DOS will keep track of 10 files. FASTOPEN uses about 40 bytes of memory for each file or directory location it keeps track of. You can use this command to set the number of files to track only once. If you want to change the FASTOPEN settings, restart your computer. Option /X – Uses expanded memory for FASTOPEN buffer space.

Example

To keep track of 30 files on drive C, enter fastopen c:=30