Service Host Superfetch states that the service “maintains and improves system performance over time”. However, the mechanism of the service is not disclosed in detail. The windows that originate Superfetch is Windows Vista. The service constantly runs in the background, analyzes memory processing patterns, and learns which applications are used the most. Over time, SuperFetch marks these applications as “frequently used” and preloads them into RAM. Thus, thanks to the work of SuperFetch, the launch of the application will be much faster, since it was already preloaded in RAM.
By default, SuperFetch fills the free area of RAM with loaded applications. As soon as the operating system needs more RAM (for example, to load an application that has not been preloaded), SuperFetch releases the required amount of RAM. SuperFetch is the successor to the Prefetch service that dates back to Windows XP. However, Prefetch did not analyze usage patterns and did not adjust preloading accordingly.
Do you need service host SuperFetch?
In most cases, SuperFetch really benefits. If you have a modern computer with at least average specs, the SuperFetch service will work fine and not be a problem.
However, SuperFetch can pose some problems:
- Because SuperFetch always runs in the background, the service itself always uses CPU and RAMS resources.
- SuperFetch doesn’t completely eliminate the need to load apps into RAM; it just speeds up the process. Each time a boot occurs, your system will experience the same slowdown as if you were running the application without SuperFetch.
- System startup may slow down because SuperFetch preloads a large amount of data from your hard drive into RAM. If every time you start or restart your computer your hard drive works at 100% load for a few minutes, SuperFetch may be the culprit.
- The effect of using SuperFetch may not be noticeable if Windows 10 is installed on an SSD. Since the SSD is very fast, no preload is required.
- SuperFetch can cause problems in games if your system has 4 gigabytes of memory or less. This issue is relevant for games that use a large amount of RAM, constantly demanding and freeing memory. This behavior can cause SuperFetch to constantly load and unload data.
Is it safe to disable SuperFetch?
Yes, it is safe for the system, but there is a risk of side effects from this action. If your system is functioning properly, it is recommended that you leave SuperFetch enabled. If you are having issues with high hard drive usage, large amounts of memory consumed, or if you notice performance degradation during active RAM operations, try disabling SuperFetch and observe the system. In case of a problem, you can always reactivate the service.
How to turn off SuperFetch Windows 10
Service application
- Services and select the classic application of the same name. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + R, then type msc and click OK.
- Scroll down the list of services and right-click on the Superfetch service, then select Stop.
- Right-click on Superfetch, select Properties. On the General tab, in the Startup type section, select Disabled (or Manual if you want to start the service yourself if necessary).
System registry
- Open the Start menu, enter the regedit query, and select the suggested command to run. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Windows Key + R, then type regedit and click OK.
- Go to the following path I will show you here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SYSTEM / CurrentControlSet / Control / Session Manager / MemoryManagement / PrefetchParameters:
- On the right, you should see the EnableSuperfetch parameter … If it is not there, you have to create it manually: right-click on the “PrefetchParameters” folder and select New \ u003e DWORD Parameter (32 bit).
- Rightclick on the EnableSuperfetch option and select “Edit”. To stop the Superfetch feature, set the current value to “0” and click OK.
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In this article, we will see what SuperFetch is and why it appeared.
We will also see how it can be disabled and if it needs to be done.
In fact, SuperFetch is a service that helps speed up the launch of applications on Windows 7-10.
SuperFetch service what is this service
The most popular right now, Windows 7 runs much faster than its predecessors, much of it owed to the SuperFetch service.
What is this service and what does it give the user?
- In XP the Prefetch service was implemented, and in Vista, the Prefetch service was implemented – the predecessor of the service in question.
- In the next revisions of the operating system, the technology has been improved and polished, and it consists of the following.
- While running an application, the operating system accesses certain files on the hard drive to load them into fast memory (RAM).
- Because the speed of reading information from is several times slower than the speed of accessing a file in RAM (especially if the information on the hard disk is quite fragmented), programs are loaded for a long time.
- The service, during its activity, monitors the most launched programs and remembers the files used when they are loaded into RAM.
- SuperFetch then caches the documents accessed by the frequently called application and places them in a free area of RAM.
- When a user accesses an application, some of the data of which is already in RAM, it loads much faster than before, as the operating system eliminates the need to search the hard drive and load certain information.
Figure. 1 – Windows Services
When the Prefetcher service is not enabled, the following scheme does not work and after calling the program, it begins to search the entire logical partition for the files necessary for its operation and load them or their fragments into the RAM of the computer.
In Windows 10 Task Manager, the service host superfetch is called SysMain, and the description already contains its real name, known to the user since “seven”.
Figure. 2 – Service Host Superfetch in the task manager
Advantages and disadvantages compared to the previous service.
Prefetch – What is it? When introduced?
- The Prefetcher was introduced in XP and has been improved with each version of Windows.
- This component of the system is responsible for the rapid launch of the operating system itself and the applications necessary for its operation.
- Already from the name of the service, it becomes clear that it selects and writes into RAM the information needed to instantly launch system and application processes even before they are called.
What should be written to RAM, the service knows even at the stage of loading Windows.
- In order to reduce the number of calls to the hard drive when calling the application, Prefetcher monitors the data exchange between the hard drive and RAM and RAM with the swap file, which is performed at the program start stage until it is fully loaded.
- The cache manager records the tracked operations in the appropriate file and based on this data a map of links to files and even directories used when opening applications or starting processes is created. Link mappings are files of type * .pf located in the Prefetcher directory of the system directory.
- After several launches of the application, the service collects a complete picture of its data (and constantly corrects it, if necessary) and loads the maps specified in the file into RAM.
- As a result, the launch of the corresponding utility will be done much faster due to the disappearance of the need for Windows to place the working files in RAM.
- System Prefetcher folder and cleanup in Windows
What is this mysterious prefetch folder in Windows 7? Can you just delete it or just empty it?
This might interest you:
How to install Windows 7 on a GPT disk: detailed instructions
What is service host superfetch?
Superfetch works the same way, except for offloading information from RAM to virtual memory when the physical amount of RAM is insufficient and writing the paging file information back to volatile memory.
In addition to files with link maps, Super Sample forms configurations of launched applications.
These configuration files contain information about how often and under what conditions the program is started, as well as the preset data used, and keep track of how much information has been flushed by the program itself into virtual memory.
Once the application is finished, all the information that was in the swap file when it was closed is loaded there in order to reduce the time it takes to launch the software the next time it is called.
Despite this advantage, both services are present in and later editions of the operating system.
With 2 or even 4 GB of RAM, these functions can do more harm than good, as the reselected data will take up some of the already very limited amounts of RAM.
Service configuration parameters
By default, in any Windows SuperFetch is enabled for applications and operating systems. In total, the service can take one of the four values stored in the registry:
When this option is enabled, on computers with a small amount of RAM (2 to 4 GB), the launch speed of the operating system and of the applications for which the link map was created will increase, but this may affect computer performance.
If you open the Service Management MMC snap-in and look at the SuperFetch launch options, they are slightly different from what the Windows registry offers:
- Autostart (delayed) – start the service after loading all system files and drivers;
- Automatic – with the operating system;
- Manual – the service is activated at the request of Windows or a program (in this case, only the first option is relevant);
- Disabled – does not start under any circumstances.
Control how a service is started by using a snap-in
It is recommended that a beginner change the method of loading the service through the MMC if the options given to start SuperFetch are sufficient.
This is done by myself in the following steps below.
- We maintain the key combination Win + R.
- Enter services.msc and press Enter.
Figure. 3 – Command interpreter window
- We call the “Properties” of the service via its context menu.
- In the “Startup type” line, select the desired value, and apply the new settings.
Figure. 5 – Service properties
Here you can also stop/pause the service by clicking on the corresponding button.
You can also control SuperFetch via “Task Manager” … To do this, this system tool must be launched and go to the “Services” tab.
In the list of services (all installed in the system are displayed, not just active ones) we look for SysMain.
Thanks to its context menu, you can start, stop and restart the service if it crashes.
Figure. 6 – Control of SuperFetch activity via the Task Manager
Configuring SuperFetch via Registry Editor
The system registry provides more control over how SuperSample works.
Thanks to it, you can control the degree of acceleration of the operating system or turn it off completely.
- We run the Regedit command through the search line or the Win + R command line processor, as before.
- In the open interface of Registry Editor, expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section.
- Access its SYSTEM subsection
- Open the CurrentControlSet directory and follow the Control \\ SessionManager \\ Memory Management path.
- Extending Prefetch Parameters
- Find the EnableSuperfetch key and open the window to change its value by double-clicking or using the context menu.
Figure. 7 – Opening the properties of the key
- Change it to the one of your choices:
- 0 – disabled;
- 1 – Superfetch only works for applications;
- 2 – acceleration is applied only to Windows components;
- 3 – enabled for programs and operating systems.
Figure. 8 – Edit window for the EnableSuperfetch key
- Click “OK” and restart.
The new configuration will take effect after a restart.
How to get rid of it, everyone decides for themselves, depending on their own needs in the rapid launch of applications and the power of the computer (amount of RAM).
Superfetch service host – What is this service?
what is this service and should you turn it off?
SuperFetch is a kind of service which is an application for preloading different types of programs. In other words, scanning your system for actively used utilities, after launching, adds them to the computer’s memory. This is done in order to maximize the speed of loading applications for further work with them.
All Service Host Superfetch work occurs outside of user visibility. Remembering the programs that the user uses constantly, he unloads beforehand, even before directly starting the application, his data in RAM, if its volumes allow it. So when you run the program, the calculations will not start from the very beginning, but from the platform created by the service.
Based on this, we can conclude that the visibility of loaded tasks and their actual number may differ. You may have noticed that an app that you use regularly starts up much faster than others with similar load capacity. This consequence is a derivative of the work of SuperFetch.
SuperFetch was released in Windows Vista, after which the service was included in future versions. As technology advances, this solution becomes less and less relevant, you can even turn it off.
Sometimes when this feature is disabled or even enabled, system errors will occur, but rather it is an individual characteristic of certain settings. Accordingly, you must change the state of the service in this case.
In turn, this approach is useful, but it also takes up additional RAM for possibly unnecessary programs at the moment. So you can decide for yourself whether SuperFetch is worth the resources spent or not. In general, it is recommended that you stop the service for low-power computers whose resources do not allow additional, albeit useful, processes to run.
If you are using an SSD drive, you can also disable this feature, as it will not bring much benefit. You can also turn off the PreFetch service, they are included and perform similar tasks. At the moment, in modern computers, SuperFetch has lost its relevance due to its high power, since it is not necessary to download additional information in advance, the launch takes place quite quickly.
There are several ways to disable the Service Host Superfetch service, likewise, you can enable it, namely: using the standard “Services” menu and the registry editor.
The first option is preferable, as the function is provided by the manufacturer and does not require workarounds.
Stopping SuperFetch in Task Manager
Beforehand, you may need to stop this service, especially in Windows 8, to deactivate it sequentially, you can do it as follows:
- Press the Alt + Ctrl + Del key combination or right-click on the taskbar;
- Go to the “Services” tab;
- You should find an item called SysMain in the description, it should say SuperFetch;
- Right-click the item and select Stop.
Disabling the Service Host Superfetch service using the Services window
You must now go directly to deactivating this function. Like all Windows services, you can disable this feature from the menu of the same name, as well as a start.
- Open the Start menu;
- Select the “Control Panel” item;
- Then you should find the “Administration” tile and click on it;
- Click on the “Services” link, you can also access it by pressing Win + R and entering services.msc;
- Find the desired item with the name SuperFetch and double-click on it;
- Select the startup type and set it to Disabled;
- Apply the changes, you may need to restart your computer.
Likewise, you can turn off the PreFetch service if you need to, which is relevant for SSDs. By completing the steps of step 6 on the contrary, you can activate this function in the system.
The following method, which is not preferable to use, but helps some users if there is a problem with the services.msc file.
Disable the SuperFetch service in the registry editor
- Press the key combination Win + R;
- Enter regedit in open tab and press Enter;
- You must go to the path I entered here – HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \\ SYSTEM \\ CurrentControlSet \\ Control \\ SessionManager \\ Memory Management \\ PrefetchParameters;
- Find the EnableSuperfetcher setting, otherwise, create it in DWORD format with the appropriate name;
- You must set the value of this variable to 0 in order to deactivate Service Host Superfetch, the number 3 is suitable for activation;
- To disable the PreFetch service, in the same window, you must select the EnablePrefetcher variable and set it to 0.
By performing these simple steps, you can erase some of your memory, but in the case of computers that have average capacities, you will probably see applications slow down for a few seconds, which is also not critical. In other cases, when the computer is low power and cannot handle an additional service, or vice versa, a powerful machine, then you will only benefit from the deactivation of the function.
If you still have questions on the topic “What is SuperFetch, prefetcher for and how to deactivate these services?”, comment me.
if (function_exists (“the_ratings”)) (the_ratings ();)? \ u003e
There you can see that there is the total amount of physical memory, there is cache memory, it is available and there is free memory. What is the difference between accessible and free? Available memory \ u003d cached + free.
The question arises: what is cache memory and why is it done?
Windows 7 (as well as Vista and Win 8.10) has a special file caching mechanism called SuperFetch.
This is done specifically so that the apps we use most often are saved (cached) in RAM, allowing us to open those apps almost instantly when we access them multiple times. There was no such mechanism in Win XP. Rather it was, but it worked differently.
In newer Windows, starting with Vista, free system memory is cached to serve processes and programs at the right time. It turns out that optimizing RAM is handy enough that it doesn’t sit idle.
Many may fear that the value of “free memory” is close to zero. Don’t be intimidated, because SuperFetch is smart enough to know when a user wants to play, for example, a game.
In this case, the cached memory will be turned into free memory and the player will enjoy the game to the fullest without running out of RAM. However, we are not buying more RAM to cache and we are drastically running out.
Don’t worry, SuperFetch is smart technology, and it all depends on the convenience and speed of your computer. But, I know, there are people who need to try everything, to feel with their own hands, so to speak. I am myself in many ways like above in this article.
