Utility to show file access statistics? (Windows)

Question

Is there a utility out there which which keep a log of which files are accessed during the day, and show a report of which files/folders where accessed the most?

Update: Thanks for the answers - I'll look into them. Just wanted to add a bit of context: I'm looking at this really from a performance point of view - I want to know during the average day, which files/folders are causing the most IO work.

Answer 1

Check Process Monitor from Sysinternals.
It can be configured with various filters.

Begin with the following filter configuration,

Menu: Filter, Filter...
      Add: Operation is ReadFile
      Add: Operation is WriteFile

Try to fine tune the filter to your exact requirements, that way it will be less of a load on the system.

Answer 2

Alternatively, you could use the built in Audit feature. Right click on any folder or file, select properties/security/Advanced/Auditing. Add who you wish to audit against, everyone for example. Choose what you wish to audit for and away you go.

The information is collected and available in the Security Log in Event viewer. Here you can create custom views for the information you are interested in. It can also be exported in a variety of formats for further manipulation.