Turn Off Superprefetch

Superprefetch is a tool that allows Windows to pre load or 'cache' programs into memory for quicker loading later. Programs are normally loaded from you hard disk which is much slower to read from then RAM, whilst in theory this makes loading your favorite programs quicker, in practice it keeps your hard disk busy long after Windows has loaded and gives the machine a perceived lag until it completes it's work.

To turn Superfetch off, it involves a bit of a registry tweaking.
There is a way to disable superfetch by setting the following registry key to a value of 0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters\EnableSuperfetch
A value of 1 prefetches boot processes, 2 prefetches applications and 3 is for both.

In Windows 7 and Vista you can disable it from 'services', simply set startup type to 'Disabled' and then click 'stop'


Opinions are divided over whether turning it off is a good or bad thing, my personal experience is from as cold boot, the pc will be ready to use much quicker without it, as the hard disk activity will cease sooner. If you have an SSD you may find your experience may differ.

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