What Is Windows Service Host Superfetch and How to Fix It?

Many Windows 10 users report high CPU usage and HDD spikes that slow down the computing experience which is usually Service Host SuperFetch that’s causing it.

In this article, we will explain what this service does and how you can disable it to speed up your PC. 

What Is Service Host Superfetch?

Service Host Superfetch is a Windows process that boosts hard drive performance on your Windows PC. 

Unfortunately, this service can sometimes cause issues when you have an SSD and cause Windows shutdown. To fix this problem, Microsoft replaced the PreFetch service with SuperFetch when it launched Windows Vista. 

This process analysis your RAM and prepares a list of programs you used regularly. As a result, it can pre-load those programs on your RAM so that you can quickly load them once you need to use these apps. 

What Can Go Wrong with Windows Service Host Superfetch?

As with many other features in Windows, SuperFetch can cause problems. Since this service runs in the background and consumes system resources, the probability of seeing the error is high on low-end hardware. 

Slows Your PC

If SuperFetch is running into problems, it will slow down your PC. On low-end PC, SuperFetch can give headaches even at the time of booting up the system as it pre-loads apps. 

Causes HDD and CPU Spikes

SuperFetch can also cause hard drive and CPU spikes, especially on PCs with low RAM and older hardware. Users may also face problems when playing games on a computer with less than 4GB of RAM. 

To see whether SuperFetch is causing your system to slow down, you simply need to pull up the Task Manager. Look for ‘Service Host’ tab and find a process named “Service Host: Superfetch.”

Should I Disable SuperFetch? Is It Safe?

Although Windows Service Host SuperFetch can cause issues sometimes, it’s there to optimize your computing experience. It’s one of the Windows core services. 

But if you find it to be the reason your computer is running slow or giving HDD and CPU spikes, you can safely disable SuperFetch and nothing ‘bad’ will happen. You may have to wait a few seconds when you open some app or switch between apps after disabling this service.

How To Disable Superfetch

When you are using Windows 10, you may face situations where you want to disable SuperFetch. But if your computer is not slowing down, let this service run and try optimizing other services and apps. 

If your computer shows certain spikes of HDD or CPU usage, disabling SuperFetch can help. You can disable it temporarily to see if it fixes the problem for you.  We have listed a few methods below to help you disable SuperFetch. 

Disable SuperFetch Using Services.msc

Here is a quick tutorial with detailed steps on how to disable SuperFetch. Since it’s a core Windows service, we recommend you follow the instructions closely.

1. Type “Run” in the Windows search box and open the Run app or simply press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard
2. When you see the Run dialogue on your desktop, type the following command and hit Enter
   Services.msc
3. Now you will see a long list of services that Windows uses to manage your operating system
4. Simply find SuperFetch and right-click on the entry
5. From the context menu, click on “Stop” to disable this service 
6. Now right-click the service again and select Properties from the context menu
7. Find “Startup Type” on the properties page and select the dropdown menu
8. Disable the service from the dropdown menu to stop it from running at the Windows next startup 

Disable SuperFetch in the Registry

You can also disable SuperFetch by going to the registry in Windows. Follow the easy steps below for a no-confusion tutorial. 

1. Open Run dialogue box by pressing Windows Key + R on your keyboard 
2. Now type the following command in the dialogue box once it appears and hit the Enter key
   Regedit
3. Once you see the Registry Editor, navigate to Memory Management using the following path
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-System-CurrentControlSet-Control-SessionManager-MemoryManagement
4. Once you have open Memory Management in the registry editor, simply select PrefetchParameters 
5. Now double-click on Enable Superfetch value 
6. Here you can change the value of these parameters
7. Set it 0 to disable SuperFetch in Windows 
8. Click the OK button and close the open windows 

Disable SuperFetch Using Command Prompt

You can also disable SuperFetch in Windows by using Command Prompt. This method is direct and quick as long as you know the commands to execute. Luckily, we’re here to help. Follow the instructions below. 

1. Press Windows Key + R on your keyboard
2. Once you see the Run dialogue box, type Command Prompt and press Enter
3. When you see the Command Prompt window, simply type the following command and press Enter
   Net.exe stop superfetch
4. Wait for a few moments for SuperFetch service to stop
5. You can also run a disk check from Command Prompt to check if stopping SuperFetch helped
6. Type the following command and press enter
   chkdsk.exe /f/r
7. Windows will ask for your permission so press Y on your keyboard to initiate disk check. 

Use Windows Troubleshooting to Fix the Problem

Sometimes disabling SuperFetch can help. However, it’s not the only reason why your PC is running slow. A lot of users face issues because of Windows Update and even after disabling SuperFetch, they report HDD and CPU spikes. 

We recommend that you always run Windows Troubleshooting utility after disabling SuperFetch. It will help you fix the known problems with Windows 10 update.  Here is how to do it in a few easy steps.

1. Click on Windows Start icon on the left bottom of your desktop and type ‘Control Panel’
2. Now click on the Control Panel app you see in the search results 
3. Once Control Panel is open, select View by Category 
4. Open System and Security tab and click on Security and Maintenance 
5. On the next window, open Troubleshooting 
6. Once you have the Troubleshooting app running, click on Fix Problems with Windows Update
7. Now click Try Troubleshooting as an Administrator 

This simple solution will often fix the high CPU and HDD usage issues. If your PC is still running slow after disabling SuperFetch and running the Troubleshooting in Windows, it is time to upgrade your PC.