How To Prevent Windows 7 From Using So Much Memory

Lets assume that your computer has a physical memory of 2GB. When it is turned on, Windows 7starts to load. As soon as the loading finishes, you notice that half of its memory has already been used.

Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to view this status in the task manager. What will you do now? Here we discuss how you can prevent Windows 7 from using so much memory. 

What Does Windows 7 offer?

The physical memory of a computer which is already known as RAM stores all the aspects of each program opened by you. When you open a program and type some text there, each alphabet of the text is saved in the physical memory of your computer. You can delete the space taken by each letter by erasing your text.

RAM is used by Windows to save the elements of each program, library and service being run by Windows. However, Windows 7 offers an additional feature with RAM. The data of each program is saved in RAM. This additional feature is also called ‘Superfetch‘. The users complain that it uses a lot of memory of Windows 7.

Memory for some applications which you use frequently is pre-recorded by Windows. This reduces the time taken by Windows to load the apps. In case your physical memory is 2GB or more, this feature is beneficial. If you have less memory, it will always remain choked. If you have a computer with lessphysical memory, you should disable Superfetch to get benefit.

How Can You Disable Superfetch

In case you do not require this feature on Windows 7, you have an option to disable Superfetch. It is very easy to do so and does not take much time. Simply follow the below mentioned instructions.

1. Click on ‘Start’ menu. Go to ‘Control Panel’. ‘Start’ icon in Windows 7 is represented as ‘Windows’ icon on an orb. It does not carry the standard text where ‘Start’ can be found on the left corner at the bottom of your screen. As soon as the loading of control panel window is completed, click on ‘System and Security’. This is shown in the screenshot below. This section is known as ‘System and Maintenance’ in Vista.

2. After clicking ‘System and Security’ section, go to ‘Administrative Tools’.

3. There is an icon for ‘Services’ in the ‘Administrative Tools’ section. Double-clicking the icon will take you to ‘Services’ window. Look for ‘Superfetch’ and right-click on it. Now click on ‘Properties’.

4. In ‘Properties’, you will see a box for ‘Automatic’. It will expand when you click on it. Now click on ‘Disabled’. There is a ‘Stop’ button under the box. A click on it will stop the application. Click on ‘OK’once the application is stopped. The screenshot below shows the procedure.

A lot of memory space will be free in your computer once Superfetch is disabled. In case you do not notice this change, start your system again. There can be certain other reasons for a heavy memory usage by your computer. There can be a virus. Your computer might be running a program with some memory leak.

This issue can be solved by closing the programs one-by-one. You can, then, check the memory usage under your task manager. Press CTRL+SHIFT+ESC to do so. You must remember that your computer should have adequate memory for better functionality.