What is superfetch? Its in my Window sTask Manager and it uses up a lot of CPU power ...do i need it and what is it?

Question

The program is placed in my Windows Task Manager and takes up a lot of CPU power, and i am wondering what use can it possibly have? my CPU usage has now constantly been 100% and my antivirus is only using 5%.

'Superfetch' and 'Windows Host services' are taking up so much CPU power on i3, 3 gb Sony Vaio!

Answer 1

Superfetch is a service in Windows that's designed to speed up app launching by preloading certain apps based on your usage patterns. Tune-Up Blog has a nice explanation of what it does.

However, it should not be maxing out your processor all the time. If it is slowing down your computer, you can try to disable it.

To disable:

Open the Start Menu.

Type "services" and hit Enter

Look for Superfetch in the list and right-click it>Properties

Set the startup type to disabled and click the Stop button to stop the service

Click Ok

You also will want to make sure your anti-virus is up-to-date and your computer is clean.

Answer 2

I was having a similar problem but with memory usage.  I followed the directions to turn it off, very simple, and so far my computer is working much better.  I had to reboot twice to get back to my personal desk top,

Answer 3

I've started having this issue off and on for a little while now.  I found that when both my laptop and desktop were new I had no issues, but over time superfetch seemed to actually slow down my system and used a lot of resources.  I did what was suggested here, and then restarted my pc after disabling.  No issues since disabling superfetch.  I came across this post looking for an answer to whether or not is disabling superfetch would affect the way my pc operates, and found that disabling it does not, aside from freeing up resources.  Superfetch also runs on low priority, whereas other IO activities run on high priority, at least on both of my computers.

Answer 4

Superfetch is a service in Windows that's designed to speed up app launching by preloading certain apps based on your usage patterns. Tune-Up Blog has a nice explanation of what it does.

However, it should not be maxing out your processor all the time. If it is slowing down your computer, you can try to disable it.

To disable:

Open the Start Menu.

Type "services" and hit Enter

Look for Superfetch in the list and right-click it>Properties

Set the startup type to disabled and click the Stop button to stop the service

Click Ok

You also will want to make sure your anti-virus is up-to-date and your computer is clean.

After disable Superfech, task is <50% ????

Why MS create service that to do ????

Answer 5

Deleting Superfetch solved the problem. Have several machines running  windows 7, windows 10, and an old Dell Still running Vista.  The reason for this is that every time Microsoft changes it's operating system much of my software becomes incompatible.  The same fix worked on both the 7 and the 10.  In its attempt to be all things to all people, Microsoft and its open architecture seems to be running into itself.