Using disablelastaccess {1|0}
The disablelastaccess parameter is designed to reduce the logging impact of updating the last access timestamp on folders and directories. Disabling the Last Access Time improves the speed of folder and file access.
Last Access Time details:
Each file and folder on an NTFS volume contains an attribute called Last Access Time. This attribute defines when the file or folder was last accessed, such as when a user lists folders, adds files to a folder, reads a file, or makes changes to a file. The most up-to-date Last Access Time is stored in memory and is eventually written to the disk in two different locations. One is within the file's attribute, which is part of its MFT record. The second is in the index of the directory that contains the file.
The Last Access Time on disk is not always current. This lag occurs because NTFS delays writing the Last Access Time to disk when users or programs perform read-only operations on a file or folder, such as listing the folder's contents or reading (but not changing) a file in the folder. If the Last Access Time is kept current on disk for read operations, all read operations become write operations, which impacts NTFS performance.
Note that file-based queries of Last Access Time are accurate even if all on-disk values are not current. NTFS returns the correct value on queries because the accurate value is stored in memory.
NTFS typically updates a file's attribute on disk if the current Last Access Time in memory differs by more than an hour from the Last Access Time stored on disk, or when all in-memory references to that file are gone, whichever is more recent.
For example, if a file's current Last Access Time is 1:00 P.M., and you read the file at 1:30 P.M., NTFS does not update the Last Access Time.
If you read the file again at 2:00 P.M., NTFS updates the Last Access Time in the file's attribute to reflect 2:00 P.M. because the file's attribute shows 1:00 P.M. and the in-memory Last Access Time shows 2:00 P.M.
NTFS updates the index of the directory that contains the file when NTFS updates the file's Last Access Time and detects that the Last Access Time for the file differs by more than an hour from the Last Access Time stored in the directory's index. This update typically occurs after a program closes the handle used to access a file within the directory. If the user holds the handle open for an extended time, a lag occurs before the change appears in the index entry of the directory.
Note that one hour is the maximum time that NTFS defers updating the Last Access Time on disk. If NTFS updates other file attributes such as Last Modify Time, and a Last Access Time update is pending, NTFS updates the Last Access Time along with the other updates without additional performance impact.
Note that using the disablelastaccess parameter can affect programs such as backup and Remote Storage that rely on this feature.
This parameter updates the HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate
registry key.
fsutil
isn't involved in the processes of renaming or otherwise operating on individual files. You should be asking "What is the behaviour of the NTFS installable filesystem driver when renaming files?". For best results, you need to be specific about which version of Windows NT you'd like to know about, too.