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Will Microsoft ever answer the question about sysmain.dll (aka Superfetch/Prefetch) errors appearing?

Anonymous
2025-01-17T02:30:09+00:00

It happens approximately every 4-5 minutes, Event Viewer shows logs of Error 1023, failure to load module.

Many people have asked why this is happening. Noone has answered that question, but instead provide steps to take to POSSIBLY resolve the issue.

So what are our engineers learning in their trade these days? Are these answers even being provided by humans or has AI taken over the support industry completely?

What did I end up doing to prevent the error from reoccurring?

I simply turned the service off.

I am however running a Surface Pro 11 with Win11 ARM architecture and an SSD and have little use for "Superfetch". Folks who are running systems that require every bit of storage and system resources to operate at the potential they require may not have the luxury of turning services off or keeping logs being generated in their Event Viewer every 4-5 minutes.

How to turn it off:
Run services.msc
Locate sysmain.dll and double-click it

Select Startup Type: Disabled and Apply

Reboot your system.

The error should stop occurring.

I tried every other solution provided online and none of them resolved the issue, nor did they provide any further understanding of why the error is occurring.

One person mentioned it is a result of incompetence regarding exception handline in the code of the OS, namely Windows.

Seems to track. Which further begs the question: What are we teaching our IT professionals and what have we lost from legacy generations of coders who developed Windows in the first place? Does the entire OS environment need to be rewritten from a clean slate?

Good luck with all that.

I hope this simple, however unsatisfying "question" helps you have a better day and better days to come. Maybe you can get a job at Microsoft someday...

Cheers,

Felix the Cat

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2025-02-11T10:37:12+00:00

    Thank you, Martin. Your response was both comprehensive and honest and I really appreciate it.

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  2. Anonymous
    2025-02-11T09:57:32+00:00

    Dear Jon Bopp,

    Welcome to the Microsoft Community

    Thank you for your detailed post and sharing your experience with the sysmain.dll (Superfetch/Prefetch) errors on your Surface Pro 11 running Windows 11 with an ARM architecture.

    I understand the frustration of recurring issues and the struggle for clear, definitive answers.

    Sysmain.dll, associated with the Superfetch service, is designed to improve system performance by preloading frequently used apps into memory. However, errors can arise, particularly in systems with modern SSDs where the benefits of Superfetch are less pronounced.

    While turning off the service often resolves the error, you rightly pointed out the lack of understanding around why this happens. Here’s a bit more on the potential causes:

    Compatibility Issues: Particularly with ARM architectures, compatibility problems can arise. Drivers and services like Superfetch, originally optimized for x86 architectures, might exhibit issues on newer hardware.

    System Resource Management: Superfetch is designed to optimize performance but can sometimes mismanage memory resources or conflict with SSD operations, leading to errors.

    Error Handling in Code: As you mentioned, there can be shortcomings in exception handling within Windows services, leading to frequent errors logged in the Event Viewer.

    Microsoft Support and community forums often provide potential solutions rather than definitive fixes due to the variability in user environments. Hardware differences, software configurations, and usage patterns make it challenging to pinpoint a one-size-fits-all solution.

    I do see others in the community discussing this issue, which deserves to be addressed squarely by the development team, and the Community Support Specialist does not have the authority to participate in product design and improvement. So I always encourage you to press Windows + F to open the feedback center, describe the issue and submit feedback.

    Let's hope the issue is resolved soon.

    If you need further assistance or have more questions, feel free to ask.

    Best Regards,

    Martin | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

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