Windows 7 - Prefetch and SSDs

At the time when these SSD optimization tweaks were written, most users were maxed at 4GB RAM. If I only had 4GB RAM right now, then I would disable Superfetch. Reason being even though the usual frequently ran programs get fetched onto RAM, because the lack of RAM (yeah, I think 4GB is not enough), they will be replaced with any other data sooner or later. Even though reading from an SSD is really quick, this will just make more disk IO during boot. So I think it makes sense to disable it ONLY if you have 4GB or less RAM.

These days RAM is so cheap you can get 16GB kit for $40 to $60 on special deals such as after rebate. With 8GB RAM, I would keep the Superfetch enabled because the RAM is darn fast at everything.

I think the tweak instructions should be updated. Also, I never seen defrag schedule getting disabled automatically when I install Windows 7 on a SSD. I tried on intel X25-M(80GB), Samsung 460 (256GB), OCZ Agility2 (120GB). I had to manually disable defrag schedule on all of them.

Umm...4 GB is more then enough. My god...I've been using 2 GB since Windows Vista and it is more then enough with Superfetch ON. I swear, when it comes to RAM people pull out the most...Bah. Having Superfetch ON will not use more or less I/O then it is OFF. Either way the same amount of I/O will be used, the only question is does it happen now or later. Not that it matters, SSD drives have no READ lifespan-limitations like WRITE does.

I think he may have a good point. Yes, Windows 7 runs perfectly well in 2GB of RAM. But his point was, when you have a lot of RAM, you have a lot of space for caching and the items that are cached will not be swapped all the time. With 2GB of RAM, frequent swapping is a very likely scenario.

Regardless of his/her point, turning Superfetch off is not going to solve anything as s/he was suggesting it would.

Agreed. My point was focussing on the milage you get from Superfetch.

Ive noticed it does take a bit of time though for Superfetch to really start being of any benefit.
Rather, its not something you can turn on and get instant boost from.


After a clean install (meaning once everything is installed and setup) it seems to me it takes about 5 days or so to really start becoming effective. So it can get a better grasp on what you use the most etc.


I know after a reboot now that my clean install has been running for a while, in a matter of about 5-10minutes my 8GB RAM is showing 0 free.
Its seems to Pre-Fetch my most common stuff right off the bat, then keeps going until its out of RAM.