In previous article, I mentioned How to Disable Superfetch (SysMain) in Windows 11 but now in this article, I have mentioned how to disable prefetch in Windows 11 to speed up your windows.
Every computer with low RAM tends to slow you down a decrease your productivity when you use them. The experience may leave you dissatisfied if you used to have a better experience with the PC in the past, but you can fix things by disabling Prefetch and enhance your PC performance.
What is Prefetch, why is it affecting your PC performance, and how do you disable it?
This post answers all these questions in detail. Keep reading to find out more and enhance your PC performance.
What Prefetch is and Why You Should Disable It?
Before you learn how to disable Prefetch on your Windows 11 computer, it is essential to know what it is and how it impacts the smooth running of your computer.
Prefetch is a Windows technology that caches data in advance on your computer so that the PC can easily access it when you need it. It is provided by Windows to improve user experience by reducing the time it takes to load an application. Here is how.
Windows 11 Prefetch algorithm works by preloading your frequently used applications upon booting the system. It recognizes the apps you use frequently and preloads them automatically so that you can access them faster than other apps on the PC.
However, the preloaded apps combine to take up RAM storage spaces and slow down your computers with low RAM storage. As a result, it is not advisable for such computers because it forces them to run multiple applications together. Hence, it is one of the reasons why you may be experiencing slow speed with your PC, and you should disable it.
How To Disable Prefetch On Windows 11
Before you learn how to disable Prefetch, you should know its consequences.
While this process may reduce the number of background applications handled by your computer, it may reduce user experience. You get to find a lot of applications taking a bit more time to load, and some may even misbehave. In most cases, it may be better to leave it at its default setting.
You can disable prefetch in the Windows registry editor with the following steps:
Step 1: Open Registry Editor
The first step is to open the Windows registry editor, and you can do this in two ways - using the Run utility or the system search button.
To use the Run utility:
- Press the Windows button + R to open the Run dialog box and type Regedit in the text field.
- Press the Enter button on your keyboard or click okay on the Run utility dialog box.
Alternatively, you can use the Windows search button as follows:
- Press the Windows button + S on the keyboard or click the search icon from the taskbar to open the Windows search menu.
- Type Regedit in the search field.
- Click on the Registry Editor icon from the search result.
Step 2: Allow the User Account Control Request
A user account control prompt will pop up before you can access the Windows Registry Editor. This prompt will request access to allow the app to make changes to your computer, click Yes in the prompt to proceed.
Step 3: Navigate to Prefetch Registry Key
In the Registry Editor Window, navigate to the prefetch registry key by following the path below:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters
You may copy and paste the path into the address bar in the Registry Editor.
Step 4: Locate PrefetchParameters Folder
Browse through the left side of the registry editor window to locate the PrefetchParameters folder. Double-click on PrefetchParameters on the folder to open the data in it to the right of the window.
Step 5: EnablePrefetcher
Locate EnablePrefetcher in the right pane of the window under the name column. Double-click on it to open its properties.
Step 6: Disable Prefetch
You can finally disable the Prefetch feature in the small window that displays. Change the value data to zero, clear the previous digit in the box and type 0 instead. Ensure the base is in hexadecimal, then click OK to complete.
You have successfully disabled the Prefetch feature on your Windows 11 PC.
How To Delete Prefetch Folder On Windows 11
If prefetch is enabled on your computer, information about preloaded applications is stored in a system folder called the Pretech Folder. The Windows operating system uses the Prefetch folder to optimize how long applications load.
Deleting the prefetch folder on your computer may be a good practice because, with time, its files become outdated and take up storage space. It is advisable to delete these prefetch files in the folder when you disable the feature to boost the performance of your computer.
Follow these steps to delete the prefetch folder on your computer:
- In your file explorer, navigate to C: Drive and open it.
- Open the windows folder.
- Search the Prefetch folder and open it.
- After you open the prefetch folder, you will receive a message that “You don’t currently have permission to access this folder." Click " Continue" to gain access to the prefetch folder.
- Once you have access to the prefetch folder, select all the files in it and delete them.
With this, you clear some storage space previously occupied by prefetch files.
Conclusion
In this article, you have learned about Prefetch, and how to disable and delete its files. Although there is no remedy to deleting prefetch files, you can enable it again if you do not like the performance of your computer while it was disabled.
You may also like to read:
How to Disable Superfetch (SysMain) in Windows 11
How To Enable Mono Audio On Windows 11
How to Turn On and Access Windows Mobility Center in Windows 11
