Superfetch, do u use it?

After working on my new laptop for 4 days i have switched the superfetch service off because i think it uses far to much ressources. I dont know if this gets better after using the computer for a longer time? And i have no idea if this feature really in the final run gives me any notable performance boost?

Are u using superfetch and for what reason if so?

Best regards

 

Here is a video with the lead at Microsoft responsible for superfetch.

 

I will watch the video!
But I turned it off also!
my hard disk activity was going on for too long
after windows boot and I did not see any problem
after disabling the service. But I also would like to
know more about this.

 

If you disable it you are loosing one of the major improvments in Vista. It does "learn" over time and will anticipate i.e. preload DLL's and other files speeding things up.

Gary

 

yes. superfetch does work. give it time to learn your usage behavior.

 

Maybe you can help me with a question more. When u use superfetch does it then fetch data over several session? I mean if i shut my computer down and turn it on again does superfetch then start over and analyse my usage on more time?

 

Yes it continuously analyzes your usage to optimize memory.

If you shut down your PC and turn it on again, Superfetch will reload all the applications it thinks you will use into memory again.

If you have a lot of RAM, i.e. 3GB as I do, it can take 7 minutes or so for superfetch to fill/cache your RAM, as it will try and use every bit of RAM you have to optimize load speed. This is run as a background task and you can safely start using your system while it does this, but nevertheless it affects battery life (due to the disk activity).

Hence if you like me, run to meetings all day, I suggest you to start the notebook in the morning plugged in - let it finish its disk intensive tasks like superfetch, indexing, system restore, etc. - then when you need to be mobile use the Sleep/Standby function when you want to save power. Memory is kept alive, but all else is shut down to save power.

Also, turning on the system again will be fast. While it is "sleeping" it will use a bit of power but it is quite negligible. Maybe 5-10% for a whole day's standby on a standard/medium sized battery. It depends on your use, but this is my experience for both the Vaio TZ, as well as the ThinkPad X61.