Customize Superfetch Cache in Windows Vista

The Superfetch feature in Windows Vista preloads the most used programs, so that they start faster. But this can hog a lot of system resources trying to load most used programs every time you start Windows. You can customize the Superfetch service to load applications, boot files or all files. Here is how :

Note :You must have administrator level access to perform the following steps.

1. Press the key combination Windows Logo Key + R to open the Run dialog.
2. Type regedit.exe in the Run dialog and press Enter.

   

3. In the Registry Editor, navigate to the following key :
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementPrefetchParameters
4. On the right-hand side, you will find a value EnableSuperfetch as shown.

   

5. Double-click on EnableSuperfetch to change its value. You can change its value to 0, 1, 2 or 3. If you set it to 0, then the Superfetch is turned off completely. If you set it to 1, then applications are prefetched when they are run. If you set it to 2, then prefetching is done at boot time. The default value is 3, which prefetches everything.

   Value	Description
   0	Superfetch is turned off.
   1	Applications are prefetched when launched.
   2	Pretching is done at boot time.
   3	Everything is prefetched (default).

6. Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.