Svchost.exe Memory Hog (Superfetch)

[Picollo]

Hi guys

Svchost.exe namely a svchost process called Local System Network Restricted is taking up lots of RAM on my Windows 7 Ultimate x64 machine.

Although Chrome (another huge memory hog) is taking up 400 K of memory which is normal cuz i have 20+ tabs opened the same is not normal with svchost.

Using Process Explorer i came to the conclusion the offending service is Superfetch which is taking between 110/150 K memory. When i disable superfetch it drops to 9 K.

Now i thought Superfetch ran during the boot to speed up the boot process and the most used programs not after. Is it safe to turn it off? I heard it is used to optimize the system but what it really is doing is slowing my pc to a crawl.

What should i do guys? I have 12 GB RAM and with Superfetch on Clean Mem Mini Monitor goes from green to yellow (50 to 60% of memory used)

Pagefile is system managed, not really sure if i need a pagefile with 12 GB but i really dont know what values to put (it was easier when it was 2 or 4 GB). Also i've red that the pagefile should be in another HDD and not the one with the OS.

Hope someone with more knowledge can help me out.

thanks in advance

[DKT27]

Moved to Software Chat.

One svchost.exe uses 150MB RAM here. Nothing to worry IMO.

Pagefile is system managed, not really sure if i need a pagefile with 12 GB but i really dont know what values to put (it was easier when it was 2 or 4 GB).

At that RAM, I'll keep the pagefile to 1GB or less. I myself have kept it to 512MB on 4GB RAM.

Also i've red that the pagefile should be in another HDD and not the one with the OS.

Nonsense. Pagefile should be kept on the fastest drive possible, that is the main drive.

[AlienForce1]

`svchost.exe` is a generic name for a lot of windows processes -> it usually takes a lot of RAM memory ( and puts a great load on system - that`s even worse than RAM consumtion ) if you keep Windows Update on `automatic`

- it would be better to set it to `never` and install the `Tuesday Patches` every month on second tuesday

( + I disable `BITS` and `Windows Update` in `Services` and enable them only before updating system )

[Picollo]

thanks guys, what abouf superfetch should it be enabled?

[DKT27]

thanks guys, what abouf superfetch should it be enabled?

Yes. It should. It will boost your computer's speed, both at boot and while normal usage.

[avmad]

Have you checked for viruses. They can hammer your svchost, Or have a look at a program Tweak Prefetch. http://exilesofthardware.blogspot.co.uk/2009/09/tweakprefetch.html

[khashim]

a simple tweak which i found @some forum

a guy named "burdafel"(credit goes to him) posted this

"Do NOT disable superfetch. Disabling superfetch service will also disable prefetch.

What you want to do is disable application superfetch (which leaves readyboot, startup superfetch and all prefetching still on).

To do this, first run services.msc and make sure 'Superfetch' is enabled and set to automatic.

Then run regedit.exe and under:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters]

Change Superfetch to the value 2 (which is boot only). By default it is set to 3 (boot and application). 1 is application only.

Ensure Prefetch is set to 3, since you want that for applications and boot.

The reason for disabling application superfetch is Windows will continually load and unload programmes you use depending on memory usage. Typically when you use programmes the memory use changes, so constant loading/unloading makes no sense!

With application superfetch disabled, you will still notice your 'free' ram may still be 0 after a while. This is fine, thats cacheing based on your current use, NOT on the offchance you may load a programme! If a programme requires 300mb of ram then closes, that 300mb remains free until the current sessions cacheing fills it again. Thats a good thing, and it avoids the constant hard disk useage people experience whilst still providing the benefits of a faster boot and benefits of normal prefetching (Windows XP provided that prefetching through the task scheduler service).

The exact same thing applies for Vista. DO NOT do anything other than explained above, it is wrong information that will harm your performance."

"The point is disabling Application superfetch, not full superfetch. It suits an environment where you are doing tasks that require different amounts of memory, something where superfetch fails. If all you ever do is load msn, firefox and word then superfetch is great. If you play games, edit photo's or video's, do video encoding, and other memory intensive and reasonably constant different memory allocations then APPLICATION superfetch (sorry for the shouting but I need to highlight that point) is a bad thing. The result would be superfetch getting caught in load & unload cycles, which people noticed first with Vista (excessive hdd access). I just means a higher disk load since programmes may be loaded and unloaded several times in a session even if you don't use them!

So, more specifically in addtion to my previous post, which is the only way you should change superfetch (otherwise you lose performance), you should do that depending on usage.

** Just accessing Internet, Email, Office programmes --> Application Superfetch Enabled

** Using your computer for multiple tasks, including photo/video editing, gaming (proper games, not minesweeper/solitaire!), video encoding, other multiple tasks --> Disable application superfetch in accordance to my previous post.

Its not a necessity to disable application prefetch in the last scenario, but leaving it enabled is just pointless as you will get little benefit and significantly high disk access."

[mara-]

Actually, I wouldn't recommend disabling Superfetch at all. This is very useful feature, especially as you have 12gb ram. Superfetch pre-loads applications you often use in RAM, so when you start it next time, it will start very fast. This can't be possibly the cause for slowing down your computer. I use this feature with 4gb of RAM, and I never felt slowdown. You should look at some other reasons which causes your slowdown.

Cheers ;)

[Picollo]

Moved to Software Chat.

One svchost.exe uses 150MB RAM here. Nothing to worry IMO.

Pagefile is system managed, not really sure if i need a pagefile with 12 GB but i really dont know what values to put (it was easier when it was 2 or 4 GB).

At that RAM, I'll keep the pagefile to 1GB or less. I myself have kept it to 512MB on 4GB RAM.

Also i've red that the pagefile should be in another HDD and not the one with the OS.

Nonsense. Pagefile should be kept on the fastest drive possible, that is the main drive.

dkt27 i dont have an SSD mine is a WD Caviar Green 1TB HDD is it ok to leave the pagefile at 1 GB for 12 GB RAM or should i leave the system manage the pagefile.

[DKT27]

dkt27 i dont have an SSD mine is a WD Caviar Green 1TB HDD is it ok to leave the pagefile at 1 GB for 12 GB RAM or should i leave the system manage the pagefile.

Windows has an habit to allocate more pagefile than it actually requires.

1. You have WD Green drive which as far as I know, is kinda slow when compared to normal ones. WD Green spins at 5000 to 5600RPM, normal ones spin at 7200RPM. What this means is that you should stay away from pagefile as much as possible. 1GB in enough in my opinion.

2. You have huge amount of RAM, you'll be fine even if you keep it at 100MB. But just for the safety sake, you should use around 1GB.