Readboost without Superfech?

Hi guys,

Ive used my USB-stick to test the Readyboost function in Windows 7, and i have actually noticed a peformance-increase on some applications. The only thing that bugs me is the Superfetch service named "Sysmain". It is causing huge trashing and constant harddisk-actity which is makes my HDD and me crazy. So i turned it off - and Readyboost stopped working after restart . Is there another way to use the Readyboost feature without destroying my Harddisc by turning Superfetch on?

I'm having trouble understanding why anyone would ever want to turn off SuperFetch? Or is it just a matter of not knowing what SuperFetch is doing, or why your drive was churning?

Besides, if you have 1 GB or more of system memory, that "performance increase" you saw is best described as a placebo effect. The general rule with ReadyBoost is, if you have 1 GB or more of system memory, don't bother. It's been that was since Vista's release, and hasn't changed with Windows 7. It wasn't designed for systems that already have enough available memory.

DeaconFrost said:

I'm having trouble understanding why anyone would ever want to turn off SuperFetch?

ehhh i thought i made that clear? With superfetch on my harddisk is going crazy after booting windows, and the activity is very high everytime after booting the PC. With superfetch off, i notice no HDD activity after booting...and my system is not slowed down because superfetch is off....it seems even faster. The constant HDD activity is not good for the harddisk either....

You cannot use Readyboost if you disable Superfetch. That has to do with how readyboost utilizes Superfetch.

SuperFetch pre-loads commonly used applications into memory to reduce their load times. By default the necessary files are loaded into main memory, but using ReadyBoost, Windows can use alternate storage such as USB flash drives, thereby freeing up main memory. Although hdd's have higher data transfer rates, flash drives can be faster for small files or non-contiguos data.

Xenomorphlover said:

ehhh i thought i made that clear? With superfetch on my harddisk is going crazy after booting windows, and the activity is very high everytime after booting the PC. With superfetch off, i notice no HDD activity after booting...and my system is not slowed down because superfetch is off....it seems even faster. The constant HDD activity is not good for the harddisk either....

The only thing made clear is that you don't seem to understand what SuperFetch is all about. If you had it enabled from the get go, which is the default, you wouldn't have the thrashing "problem". I'd suggest doing a bit of reading into SuperFetch to understand why it is thrashing your HDD (hint, it is playing catch-up since you had it disabled). If you read into what SuperFetch does, you'll understand why it is downright foolish to have it disabled. You invalidate one of the biggest advantages Vista and Windows 7 have over XP.

You also should think about updating your system specs so we can give more accurate answers, especially based on the amount of system memory you have.

superfetch should be on, it helps manage ram usage

The "thrashing" you refer to is Superprefetch initializing. It should calm down after it determines your usage patterns which is what it does. This is the premier genius feature of Win7.

Check your Event Viewer>Admin view, the Performance-Diagnostics log and Generate a System Health Report at Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Performance Information and Tools\Advanced Tools to see if there might be another cause related to your processor.

Readyboost on the other hand is just an external page file. Better to add actual RAM than virtual which is limited by the speed of USB and the stick.

DeaconFrost said:

If you had it enabled from the get go, which is the default, you wouldn't have the thrashing "problem"

Thank you Deacon (you can bite me anytime ) and the others for clearing the issue, i guess i will turn Superfetch on and see if the thrashing really calms down after a few days. BTW i have 2 GB Ram - i thought "Readyboost" would improve the performance when i use applications that need a lot of RAM.