PC Performance Issues? Try This

Much has been written on how to help speed up a slow and/or unresponsive system, but one aspect that rarely rates a mention is the SuperFetch/SysMain service.

SuperFetch is a service that was first introduced in Vista and has been carried over to subsequent Windows iterations. However, in Windows 10 and 11, it is now known as SysMain.

SysMain is designed to improve performance by pre-loading frequently used applications into memory (RAM) for faster loading times. However, in my experience, this service quite often has the opposite effect – rather than speeding things up, it can often cause bottlenecks. Commonly reported issues include:

• Consistent 100% disk utilization
• Slow bootup times
• Excessive RAM usage

So, if you’re experiencing excessive resource usage and/or degraded performance issues for no apparent reason, try disabling the SysMain service. Here’s how:

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How To Disable The SysMain Service

• Click the Start button and then type services
• In the results, click Services/System

• In the new window that opens, scroll down and locate the SysMain service
• Click the SysMain service entry (highlight it) and then click Stop the service

• Now, double-click the same entry to open its Properties window
• Expand the dropdown menu under Startup type and set it to Disabled

• Click Apply and then OK, and you’re all done.

Alternatively, you can go directly to the service’s Properties window, click the Stop button, and then set the service to Disabled.

As an aside, you might be wondering why the Apply and OK buttons are both present when they seemingly do the same thing:

• Clicking Apply puts the changes into effect but leaves the window open (handy for experimenting with different settings)
• Whereas clicking OK puts the changes into effect and also closes the window

NOTE: While clicking OK should work, it does occasionally fail to apply the changes. That’s why I’ll generally recommend clicking Apply and then OK

It should be noted that on most modern machines with an SSD, SysMain is pretty much redundant anyway. SSDs are fast enough that the SysMain service won’t make a great deal of difference and is only wasting resources.

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