Disabling Superfetch Service

Hello,

I was looking at my new m11x and wondering why i had a process that was always at the top of my list when it came to memory usage.

I figured out that if i disabled the service called "Supoertrend" if freed up alot of Physical Memory.

Will this end up being a bad thing when it comes to system performance? It may make my games run a little better, but i don't want to keep it disabled if its going to end up slowing overall system down.

Any thoughts/threads on Supertrend?

 

it will not slow down the system performance that bad, when you have this service activated, it's fetching all the programs you use so the next time you want to use them they will start more quickly (if you double click word.exe it will start instantly, so you wont have to wait more time for it to start), but doing this operation requires a constant hdd read/write that its not good for your battery life and your hdd life because the service is monitoring the programs you use and then the next time you restart your computer the service writes some info of this programs you used to the ram memory,to make this happen.

If you disable this service, the first time you run a program it will start not as quick but if you close it and want to run it again, you will notice that will start like having the superfetch activated, you save ram, hdd life, battery and your system wont be affected in performance.

sorry for my english =)

 

so....it would probably be a wise idea to disable it. Correct?

 

Supertrend? Not a service I am familiar with. If you meant Superfetch then you might want to review this:

Myth Busted: Why Disabling SuperFetch on Vista and Windows 7 Is a Bad Idea TuneUp Blog about Windows

WindowsXP days... ok sure... today with W7, no thanks. Just my opinion of course.

I do suggest disabling Windows Search - Windows Search service is Windows Indexer - unless you frequently use windows search to search your own files on your drive, its nothing but a waste of resources.

You might also want to review this site:
http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/Archive/servicecfg.htm

 

yes! is a wise idea and also disabling windows search (only if you dont use this feature) your hdd will thank u!

 

windows search-----GONE!! I never used that crap anyway!!

 

always wondered why it would say 60MB free when i got 8GB ram

 

and thats superfetch. It means everything is working as it should.

 

No, it would *NOT* be wise to disable it.

SuperFetch is a Windows service that takes unused RAM, and fills it with the applications that you are most likely to use. On a very simplified and basic level, you can think of it as a gigantic pre-loaded read cache. The intended goal is that applications that you use most frequently will load immediately, because they will already be loaded in memory.

It does this by:

1) Using only unused RAM. If you run a program that requires some RAM occupied by SuperFetch, then SuperFetch will immediately release that RAM for other programs to use.

2) Tracks what programs you run most frequently in the recent past, so it knows which programs you are most likely to run in the future. If you've loaded Google Chrome 100x in the past 5 days, then it is likely you are going to load Google Chrome again relatively soon.

3) Filling the cache runs as a low priority process. That basically means it operates only at idle. If other programs need the CPU, HDD, or RAM, then it will release control of those resources until they are idle again.

There really is no downside to running SuperFetch. There is only upside. So there is no point in disabling it, unless you are looking to intentionally ignore potential performance improvements that Microsoft built in to the Windows Vista / 7 OS.

 

I was just thinking about that, as long as it frees up alot of the used RAM when I start a game like Empire or BFBC2 it would be great

 

SuperFetch isn't for everyone. I prefer a fast boot time. It drives me nuts listening to a mechanical hard drive grind away, loading up piles of stuff from the hard drive into memory that I may or may not actually need.

After you start a program for the first time when SuperFetch is disabled, it might take a couple of extra seconds but after that, it stays in memory anyhow so the advantage of SuperFetch isn't as big as some people make it out to be. The disadvantage is a lot more hard drive thrash.

 

Agreed on the HDD noise can be a pain - fortunately, at least on my two systems this is not an issue. I dont see any 'abnormal' drive activty nor hear any. But, you're right Webb. Each to their own I guess.

@ OP
I suggest testing. Try with it off for a week, see how the system runs. Then enable it again and try again for another week. By the end of the two weeks you should know which you prefer - if any.