Windows system uses SuperFetch and Prefetch technologies to improve user experience by loading your programs faster. That’s why your PC takes less time to launch a program for the second time than the first time. Usually, Microsoft Windows gathers the information regarding the program you use and load it smoothly when you open it. However, in some cases, like gaming, this feature doesn’t perform well. So, you may need to disable these services to have a better experience.
What Is SuperFetch?
As mentioned above, this is a technology used by windows to launch your programs faster. Moreover, it lets your system respond faster. Generally, it loads the required data of the program you want to open to the memory. However, those who use SSD can’t get benefited from this service.
What Is Prefetch?
It is the same technology as SuperFetch, but it enhances the launching process of a program. It stores the required data of applications that you use frequently. As such, you will notice that the programs in your system will start quickly than before.
The Problem with These Technologies:
Since SuperFetch technology collects the data of most used applications and stores that in RAM, it uses your memory. So, it stores some data of your applications in the Prefetch folder and loads the application smoothly. But when you need to launch larger applications, these technologies don’t work. Instead of improving the performance, they decrease the performance of these applications. Moreover, it is not suitable for SSD systems because they are faster and have a lower writing limit than HHD.
Therefore, some users may need to disable these technologies for better performance. If you have an SSD and facing problems due to these services, then you can consider deactivating them.
Disabling SuperFetch:
To disable this windows service, follow these steps.
- Go to the Run dialogue box and type services.msc in that. Then press the OK button to open the services manager.
- Then find SuperFetch on that window and double-click on it to open its properties.
- If it is enabled, you can click the Stop button to stop it. But it will start again when you restart your PC.
- If you want to disable it completely, then go to the drop-down menu under Startup Type and select the Disabled option.
- After that, press the Apply and Close button to save the settings. Then close the services manager and restart your PC.
Disabling Prefetch:
The following steps will guide you on disabling the Prefetch service.
- Open registry editor by searching Regedit in the Windows search box.
- Then you need to go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >system>CurrentControlSet >Control>Session Manager>Memory Management>PrefetchParameters.
- Now, double-click on the EnablePrefetcher option and enter a value between 0 and 3 in the text box. The number 0 disables the Prefetcher, 1 enables it for applications, 2 enables it for boot files, and 3 enables it for applications and boot files. So, to disable this service, you will need to enter 0 and press the OK button.
Although both SuperFetch and Prefetch are designed to improve the overall performance, they won’t work for larger applications. So, you can follow the above steps to disable these technologies.
