Windows 10 is a desktop operating system that has not stopped growing over the last five years since it was released in 2015. Thus, it does not stop receiving improvements and new functions that have made it the system of most used desktop in the world.
But of course, this is something that the Redmond have not achieved overnight, in fact it has cost much more than originally expected. To achieve this, as we tell you, new and more powerful functions have been implemented over time. At the same time, another of the firm’s objectives is not only that we have more features, but that the user experience is the best possible. As it could not be otherwise, for this it is an extremely important factor that the software on the computer works in the most fluid way.
And it is that having to work day by day with a slow PC that takes longer than necessary to carry out tasks, is something that can lead us to despair. Therefore, in order to improve this, Microsoft developers in turn include certain functionalities that will help us in these tasks. To improve the performance of Windows 10 , we have at our fingertips a good number of implemented functions, some more known and affordable than others.
What is Superfetch in Windows and how will it help us?
This is precisely the case that we are going to talk about in these lines, all thanks to the functions called Superfetch and Prefetch. Well, for those of you who don’t know them, let’s start with the first one, Superfetch . First of all we will tell you that this is a functionality that, despite the fact that many of you have never heard it, has been running for a good number of years in Windows. In fact, Microsoft itself describes it as something that helps maintain and improve Windows performance over time.
Its operation is focused on a section as important as the management of RAM memory that the operating system uses constantly. Specifically, we are talking about a feature that by default is always working in Windows and that takes advantage of the excess RAM at that time. For example, to control the RAM usage of each of the loaded applications, the Task Manager will be very helpful.
Thus, it uses the same in order to speed up the applications that we use the most on a day-to-day basis by preloading them in the system itself. With this what we achieve is to access the most common programs, much more quickly, all in the background.
Is it useful to have the Superfetch function activated at all times?
To say that Superfetch has been with us since old Windows versions and its main objective is to analyze the use that the team makes of the RAM installed in the PC. With this what is really achieved in that the functionality itself can know the installed applications that we use most often to add them to a list of their own. With this, what Windows does is optimize the load of that software by preloading it in RAM.
All this means that we are going to be able to open these programs, let’s say common, much faster, with the advantages that all this entails. In addition, we must know that for this preload, Superfetch uses the remaining RAM memory at all times, so it does not affect the tasks we carry out now. At the same time, when the system needs to use more RAM, Superfetch releases part of it so that it can be used more immediately. As it could not be otherwise, all this is something that is done in a totally transparent way for the user , so it only provides advantages.
When is it recommended to disable Superfetch and how to do it
In fact, we could say that this is a rare occasion in which this function will negatively affect the operation of Windows 10. In addition, being “smart”, it frees up the memory previously used to preload applications, if necessary. , so only use the leftover.
Of course, at the same time we must know that the fact that this is working constantly, can make it consume more CPU than expected. Therefore it is possible that in certain cases, the minimum, it is advisable to deactivate Superfetch. This is something that can be done especially recommended on older computers or very limited in terms of internal specifications, RAM and CPU . Therefore we are going to show you the way to disable this function that we are talking about.
To do this, the first thing we will do is open the Windows Services application, something we achieve from the Start menu search box, for example. Thus, once we have the Service window on the screen, we will have to do a search in it of the Superfetch function.
Once we have located it in the Services list, when checking it, in the left part of the window we will see an option called Stop, where we click. Even if it is no longer running, restarting the PC will reactivate it. So if what we want is for it to stop forever, we only have to right-click on that entry, and select Properties, where in Startup type, click Disabled.
What is Prefetch and how it helps improve Windows performance
Once we have seen what Superfetch is and how it works in the background in Windows, let’s see what the other mentioned feature gives us, Prefetch . Well, first of all we will tell you that like in the previous case, Prefetch has also been a good number of years and versions of Windows among us.
In this specific case it is a folder that made its appearance in Windows XP and that continues to function in current Windows 10. This is a folder that we will find in the Windows directory , generally in the C: drive. Thus, it is worth mentioning that the most important function of the aforementioned folder that is automatically created in Windows, is to store certain information related to the applications that we run in the operating system. In this way, what is really achieved is that, as previously, these programs load much faster.
As it is easy to imagine, this makes the loading of these programs more agile, which positively affects the general operation of the equipment. As a curiosity we will say that entries here are generated on those applications have .PF file extension.
On the other hand, we must bear in mind that the files stored here are small, so deleting the contents of the folder from time to time does not make sense. What’s more, with cleaning it, the only thing we are going to achieve is that the startup of certain applications in Windows is slower than usual, at least for a time.
