Superfetch (known as SysMain in Windows 10 and Windows 11) is a program loading and prioritization service that has been around since Windows Vista. It sits quietly in the background, evaluating which applications you use the most and how much RAM you're using. Although it's designed to make your computer faster, SysMain is often unnecessary and can be safely disabled to fix high memory usage on your PC.
What is SuperFetch? How to Enable and Disable SuperFetch on Windows?
Superfetch (SysMain) is a Windows Service Host process (“svchost.exe”) whose main purpose is to allocate RAM to frequently used applications and programs. There is only one SysMain running on a Windows computer, which you can see in the Services tab of Task Manager.
To quickly launch your favorite applications, SysMain loads their executables through reusable code blocks called dynamic link libraries (DLLs).
Superfetch (SysMain) is designed to make your computer faster, as it maintains and improves system performance over time. It also reduces overall boot time. Every time you start your PC, all the necessary applications are preloaded using your computer's unused memory.
Since the purpose of Superfetch (SysMain) is to prioritize programs you use frequently, it can easily increase the memory consumption rate to 100%, especially with browser tabs and Office programs, because it doesn't really know how much memory you'll need, so additional cached data is allocated first.
While SuperFetch is a useful feature, it causes your computer to work in the background more, resulting in higher CPU and RAM usage. Over time, the unused memory continues to add up, and you end up using a lot of extra space. This typically affects Windows systems with very low RAM (~4GB or less).
For the most part, Superfetch is very useful. If you have a modern PC with average or better specs, Superfetch is likely running so smoothly that you won’t even notice it’s there. It’s possible that Superfetch is already running on your system right now and you don’t even know it.
But there are a few issues that can arise with Superfetch:
- Since Superfetch is always running in the background, the Superfetch service itself always uses some amount of CPU and RAM.
- Superfetch does not eliminate the need to load applications into RAM. Instead, it moves the loading process to an earlier point in time. Whenever the loading process occurs, your system will still experience the same slowness as if you were launching the application without Superfetch.
- Your system may be slow to boot because Superfetch is preloading a bunch of data from your hard drive into RAM. If your hard drive is running at 100% for several minutes every time you start or restart your computer, Superfetch may be the culprit.
- Superfetch performance may not be noticeable when Windows 10 is installed on an SSD. Since SSDs are so fast, you don't really need to preload. If this concerns you, check out Quantrimang.com 's guide on how to move Windows from a hard drive to an SSD .
Superfetch has also been known to cause performance issues when playing games, especially on systems with 4GB of RAM or less. It’s unclear why this happens, as it doesn’t affect everyone, but it’s possible that RAM-intensive games are constantly requesting and then freeing memory, causing Superfetch to constantly load and unload data.
Is it safe to disable Superfetch? The answer is yes! There is no problem if you decide to disable Superfetch. It is recommended that if your system is running fine, leave it enabled. If you are experiencing high disk usage, high RAM usage, or performance degradation during RAM-intensive activities, try disabling it and see if that helps.
Note : To increase performance on low-RAM systems, we recommend adjusting Windows virtual memory limits and visual effects. You can also try these tips for faster startup and shutdown.
Superfetch (SysMain) is certainly useful for loading some programs faster. But if you are using a new Windows PC, this may be redundant. Disabling SysMain completely seems more efficient. Since Superfetch (SysMain) is not an essential service, you can go ahead and disable it whenever you want. There are 4 ways to do so.
Windows Task Manager is the standard implementation of SysMain and its svchost.exe program .
1. Go to the Services tab in Task Manager.
2. Locate the SysMain task and right-click to select the Open Services option.
3. Find the SysMain service and right-click on it to open its Properties . If it is running and its startup type is set to Automatic , you can easily disable it from here.
4. In the pop-up window, you will see the Startup type option under the General tab. Click on it to see additional options.
5. Select startup type as Disabled , apply the changes and click OK.
6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
A more permanent way to disable Superfetch (SysMain) is to edit its Start value in Registry Editor.
1. Create a restore point so that if something unexpected happens, you can return to the starting point.
2. Type Create a restore point in the Windows search bar and select Best match below.
3. Once the System Properties window is launched, navigate to the System Protection tab. Click the Create button at the bottom of the window.
4. Name the restore point. Add any identifying details that may help later. The current date and time are added automatically.
5. The restore point has been successfully created and you are free to edit the registry values as shown below.
6. Using Windows Run (press Win + R ), open Registry Editor by typing regedit. It will launch in Administrator mode by default.
7. Navigate to the following path in Registry Editor:
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\SysMain8. Double-click or right-click the Start item on the right panel to modify.
9. Set the value data for the Start item to 4.
10. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
The PowerShell window is one of the fastest ways to disable and enable SysMain.
1. Open PowerShell window from Run, Win + R , by typing powershell in the window.
2. Instead of pressing Enter or OK , type Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard. This will launch PowerShell in admin mode .
3. Enter the following commands to disable or enable SysMain as desired. The following window displays both commands together, but you will need to use them one at a time.
Stop-Service -Force -Name "SysMain"; Set-Service -Name "SysMain" -StartupType Disabled
Set-Service -Name "SysMain" -StartupType Automatic -Status Running
4. Type exit in PowerShell to close the window. Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.
Like PowerShell, Windows Command Prompt is a classic way to disable or enable SysMain instantly.
1. Open Command Prompt window from Run, Win + R , by typing cmd in the window.
2. Instead of pressing Enter or OK , type Ctrl + Shift + Enter on your keyboard. This will launch Command Prompt with admin rights .
3. To stop SysMain on your computer or to re-enable it, enter the following commands if necessary.
sc stop "SysMain" & sc config "SysMain" start=disabled
sc config "SysMain" start=auto & sc start "SysMain"
4. Type exit in Command Prompt to exit, then restart the device.
Good luck!
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