SuperFetch Explained

SuperFetch simply preloads and makes programs you use more often quick to access. It also enables background programs, defragmenting for example, to run in the background while you do your work.

For those using older versions of windows, SuperFetch, no doubt, sounds like what Prefetcher does on their computers. In case you are probably one of them, your guess is right; SuperFetch is an enhancement of Prefetcher. Put differently, Superfetch is still Prefetcher, but this time with some minor upgrades and is now under a different name.

However, SuperFetch is a little bit more intelligent than prefetcher is. It brilliantly keep tracks of the programs you use more often and stores them in the RAM so that they can be accessed within a very short time than usual compared to if it were to be accessed from the hard disk.

SuperFetch prioritizes the programs you are currently using over background tasks, but your background tasks still run even when the computer is on idle. When the background task is complete, SuperFetch brings back the data you were working with to system memory.

If you are running on vista, you probably must have noticed in Task Manager how much RAM space is used up when you open some applications that are not supposed to take up a lot of memory. Your RAM may take a dive from 4BG to a whooping 2GB of free space. Some people are deeply troubled by this. However, this is one of the visible signs of SuperFetch doing its job.

Prefetcher in XP uses a very small amount of RAM, but SuperFetch uses up a lot of RAM. Nonetheless, it gives up its RAM space when the computer needs it. When SuperFetch is not disabled, which is what we recommend, the task manager displays only RAM that is populated and gives no indication of how much space is left.

How to Disable SuperFetch

SuperFetch is great but some people would prefer to disable it. Gamers may find its behaviour undesirable and may seek to disable it. Now, we do not advice that this feature be disabled on your computer. However, to disable this feature click the start menu- > type in service msc in the start search- > a service window opens up; search for SuperFetch by scrolling up or down-> Double-click on SuperFetch to open up the properties-> Change the startup type from automatic, this is normally by default, to disable - > Apply and click OK.

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-By Dominic

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