Load Windows Kernel directly into Ram

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Many web sites show this tweak. It loads the Windows Kernel directly into Ram memory rather than the slower Virtual Memory on the HD. You have to have enough Ram to do this. I would suggest at least 4 Gb. Some sites state you can do this with less Ram, but a lot depends on how much multi-tasking you do and how big your opens apps are.

Make a backup of your registry before attempting any change in the registry. (Be very careful in the registry as you can cause a lot of damage here that can render your PC unbootable) Seethis thread for instructions.

Go to Start>Run. Type ‘Regedit‘ and hit enter.

31111-WindowsinRam

In the registry editor go to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementDisablePagingExecutive

Double click the DisablePagingExecutive and change the value to “1“.

31112-kernel-in-ram

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlSession ManagerMemory ManagementLargeSystemCache

Double click the LargeSystemCache and change the value to “1“.

Close the editor and restart Windows. Your computer should perform faster now.

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Ted, a few follow up questions:

What are the reasons why somebody may wish to add more more memory into a PC or laptop?

Under what circumstances would Windows page the kernel into virtual memory?

Is the answer to that question different to circumstances that Windows may page applications or other data into virtual memory?

Which types of system requirements (kernel & drivers, applications, or user data) take priority in assignment of physical ram?

Are the answers to those questions any different in Windows 8 than earlier versions?

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1) Adding more Ram allows for more apps to be run simultaneously without having to run some processes in Virtual Memory on the HD. Virtual Memory is much slower than Ram memory.

2) The kernel is paged directly in VM if apps need more resources than are currently available. That’s why this process needs more Ram. You are keeping the Windows Kernel in faster Ram rather than paging it to slower Virtual Memory.

3) I believe the Windows Kernel is the first app paged into VM if running apps need more resources. Apps or parts of apps are paged out to VM automatically if they are not referenced recently. For example a hidden, not regularly accessed app running in the background will be paged to VM to free up Ram for processes that are accessed more often. The memory management system continually attempts to keep Ram as full as possible because it is the fastest memory available to it. Forcing the Windows Kernel to remain in Ram uses up some of the resources that would normally be available to other apps. Since these running apps are accessed more regularly when they are running, they are kept in Ram rather than paged to VM. Since much of the Windows Kernel would not be accessed as regularly as a running app, it would normally be paged to VM. With systems that have larger amounts of Ram, this process of paging out the Windows Kernel to VM will not be as necessary as systems with smaller amounts of Ram.

4) Those system requirements that are accessed most often are kept in Ram the most. Actively running apps will be help in Ram whereas background apps that are waiting for something to access them will be paged out to VM. The kernel and drivers would normally be held in VM unless being actively accessed whereby they would be moved into Ram. Forcing the Kernel and drivers to stay in Ram allows these to be accessed more quickly, again on systems with enough physical memory (Ram).

5) Win 8 reputedly has much better memory management than earlier versions of Windows, hence the seemingly faster response to commands. For example my laptop is dual booted with Win 7 Ultimate and Win 8 RP (as of 2 days ago). My laptop has the same amount of Ram and VM with either OS booted, but the Win 8 RP OS seems more responsive to my needs. It boots faster (The boot time in Win 8 RP is somewhat slower than Win 8 CP because Win 8 CP in some systems with SSD drives was booting too fast to allow users to access the Bios and to choose which OS to boot to. It appears MS put a longer pause into Win 8 RP to compensate somewhat for this too rapid boot)

I am by no means an expert on this stuff. I rely on experts to let me know of various ways to help maintain and speed up my PC. With this change I have noticed an improvement in how efficiently Win 8 RP responds to my commands.

A good resource on Virtual Memory is here. A Google search shows many web sites discussing VM. These seem very technical to me and I have attempted to document my understanding based on those articles.

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Ted,

you are saying that the kernel is paged out of ram if another app needs the physical memory? That being the case, if you force the kernel into ram using this registry tweak, what happens to the application that would have forced the kernel into virtual memory in the first place? It must be pushed to virtual memory and you have no net gain.

If the ram is fully utilised, the kernel will be paged, slowing the system. The solution is not to force the kernel into ram, because that will force applications into virtual memory and have the same effect as the kernel being forced in virtual memory.

No, in previous versions of Windows, the solution was to add more ram or reduce the number of applications loaded.

It does not matter whether it be the kernel or applications: If your physical ram is small enough to cause utilisation of virtual memory, you are going to suffer system slow downs. If your applications are definitely required to run (as opposed to those which load during boot and are not needed), the only way to prevent (or reduce) virtual memory utilisation by the kernel or applications was to increase ram.

I am genuinely interested if the Windows 8 memory manager does things differently, if only because even Microsoft themselves say that it is more efficient than earlier versions. Can you run some performance diagnostics to validate the tweak is effective in Windows 8? The perfmon tool should be able to assist, that or perhaps a load testing tool.

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Another Default, was MS putting in a ‘Service’ for everything that any person in the world would ever want to do with their PC.
Many of those Default Services are just Redundant for the average Home Computer User.

I first ran into “Services” when I upgraded from ’98 to XP, oh so many years ago now. Then some kind soul directed me to the “Black Viper” website where I learned what services could either be shut off, or placed in ‘Manual’ mode.

But for every service that you shut down, you just remove that much workload off of the CPU and RAM.
Once I had established, just what I could safely shut down, without crippling Windows, I put all those programs into one Batch File, so I could duplicate the shutdown process, in seconds instead of minutes. It may not make a HUGE difference, but every little bit helps, when you’re trying to get every bit of performance possible out of your PC.

Gain a few percent here, and a few percent there, and pretty soon you have a BIG Improvement.

Besides being very worthwhile, it’s also FUN!

Happy Holidays Mates!
The Doctor

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That’s the reason to have more Ram, you can keep both the Kernel and actively running apps in Ram. I have no time to do more than give you a gut feeling that my system appears more responsive with this tweak. YMMV. These things are called Personal Computers for a reason, that being we can set them up the way we wish. I believe this tweak helps me. That is sufficient for me. Since it seems to benefit me, I passed the info along so some others may also try this tweak. Anyone that wishes to do so can do the same as I did. If you do not think, after making this tweak, that the OS is more responsive, then simply put the values back to 0.

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But if you have free ram, why would the kernel be moved into virtual memory in the first place?

Absolutely no problem passing along a tip that appears to work, but without measurable effect, this one appears speculative.

Truly Ted, I have no wish to start an argument.

On that basis, I’ll close by leaving readers to make up their own minds after reading opinions that conflict with those originally presented:

Tweakhound

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Do what you wish with your PC. Mine is definitely more responsive with this change. There always seems to be pros and cons to all issues. I try different things on my PC. Some things work the way I expect them to. Others do not. For those that do not, I remove them. In this case there is an improvement so I will keep this one!

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If you have RAM that is unused almost nothing will be put to the pagefile. This is like many of the so called “speed enhancement tweaks” for various version of Windows. I’ve never seen emprical data on improvements especially in versions after XP. “because it feels faster” is no better than “because I said so”. Without proof it is another waster of time and another chance for someone to damage their system by making a registry change incorrectly. On modern systems this at best will do nothing.

Joe

--Joe

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BTW, the thread title is very misleading. The Windows Kernel must be loaded into RAM otherwise Windows will not function.

Joe

--Joe

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You know, it makes no difference to me if anyone else tries this tweak, or even whether anyone believes what I say about it.

My PC is much more responsive after I made this tweak. When I removed the tweak, my PC slowed down. I have redone the tweak and will keep it from this point forward. If you think it might help, try it, if you doubt it will help ignore it. Makes no difference to me.

I’m leaving now to use my much faster PC!

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Please define faster to do what.

Joe

--Joe

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Windows pop open faster, apps load faster. IE opens faster. When I load Free Cell, it’s almost instantaneous where as without the tweak you can actually sit and watch the cards load.

Things just work more responsively. I have been using Win 8 almost 100% of the time since Feb. Yes Win 8 RP seems faster than Win 8 CP in most things (booting is the exception here), but I definitely see a big difference in the things I do. I generally have some multi-tasking going on, but not enough to cause these differences. I might have IE 10 open with 2 or 3 tabs while I have Quicken 2012 open, and sometimes WLM. Generally however I close windows and apps when I’m not specifically accessing them. So, for example, when I’m done with whatever entries I’m making in Quicken, I close the app. When I’m done reading my mail I close the app. I do not leaving these running in the background.

Things just pop into view, ready for use quicker. The only thing I usually leave minimized is the All Apps folder than Drew has discussed.

I do have my desktop customized so that windows pop open rather than slide open. Things pop in and out rather than Fade, etc. but again this popping and loading of apps is much more responsive with the tweak and definitely slowed with out the tweak.

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Windows pop open faster, apps load faster. IE opens faster. When I load Free Cell, it’s almost instantaneous where as without the tweak you can actually sit and watch the cards load.

Things just work more responsively. I have been using Win 8 almost 100% of the time since Feb. Yes Win 8 RP seems faster than Win 8 CP in most things (booting is the exception here), but I definitely see a big difference in the things I do. I generally have some multi-tasking going on, but not enough to cause these differences. I might have IE 10 open with 2 or 3 tabs while I have Quicken 2012 open, and sometimes WLM. Generally however I close windows and apps when I’m not specifically accessing them. So, for example, when I’m done with whatever entries I’m making in Quicken, I close the app. When I’m done reading my mail I close the app. I do not leaving these running in the background.

Things just pop into view, ready for use quicker. The only thing I usually leave minimized is the All Apps folder than Drew has discussed.

I do have my desktop customized so that windows pop open rather than slide open. Things pop in and out rather than Fade, etc. but again this popping and loading of apps is much more responsive with the tweak and definitely slowed with out the tweak.

Ted, how much RAM would you say you would need to have installed in order to see improvement with this?

Also, I consider your observations valid — you have been doing this sort of thing for a long time, and over time you develop a feel for this sort of thing. Likewise, when I compare Windows 8 to Windows 7, I KNOW that Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, although I haven’t used the scientific method to determine that; I use my personal experience and unofficial observations.

I’ll likely need to go with 64-bit Windows 8 rather than 32-bit, so that I can put sufficient RAM into the computer. Once I have done that, I expect to see a noticeable improvement in the already fast Windows 8 — and all I have now is 2 GB of RAM.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 10 running in a remote session on my file server

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Have you observed your physical RAM usage in Task Manager? Unless you are using the pagefile there is no reason for Windows to page any part of the kernel to disk. Your description of computer usage and what is happening appears to be that you are observing better memory management by Windows in general. Windows does not necessarily unload all modules from RAM when a program is closed. It frees RAM as it is needed. There may also be improved disk management.

I understand and appreciate what you are saying but let me repeat unless you are using enough RAM to cause the pagefile to be used Windows will not page the kernel.

In general, humans can not discern changes of less than 10%. If any change such as this would amount to a 10% or better improvement do you really think that Microsoft would not incorporate it as a default?

Joe

--Joe

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I’d have to agree with Joe on this one.
I can’t see MS allowing the kernel to be routinely defaulted to page.

The kernel too is supposed to be [largely] isolated in Windows 8, therby inferring it’s continued existance in RAM. Programs are defaulted to the PF if anything.

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Before attempting to do This, Please research first what it does!

Check this page : http://www.tweakhound.com/2011/09/20/bad-tweaks/

There is a paragraph explains this:

1 – DisablePagingExecutive
Often referred to as: Disable Paging of Kernel.
Under all but the most very extreme circumstances it does nothing. What this setting does is force Windows to keep the kernel (the core of the operating system) in RAM. This means that the kernel will reside in the fastest storage area in your computer. Sounds great right? Guess what? Windows does this anyway unless the system comes under such an extremely heavy load that it needs the space. The very millisecond that the system has free memory, it will put the kernel right back into RAM. If the system is in such dire straits that it needs to use the space that the kernel is using I would say you are on your way to a crash and you better let whatever wants the space have it. You also better add more memory ASAP.
Oh, and by-the-way – Some of the kernel cannot be forced out of RAM.

2 – LargeSystemCache
Often referred to as: Large System Cache
This setting is also achieved by going to:
XP- Start > Settings > Control Panel > System > Advanced > Performance Settings > Advanced > Memory usage = System Cache.
Vista / 7 – System Properties > Advanced > Performance (settings) > Processor scheduling > Adjust for best performance of > Background services
Under Windows this tweak could be of some value under various odd circumstances. However, it causes problems with many drivers/hardware/applications.*** This tweak is really designed for machines running as a server. If you use this tweak and have problems don’t be whining at the driver/application writers for writing code that takes advantage of the way Windows uses memory. They didn’t ask you to turn your machine into a server.
***This tweak is known to negatively affect ATI video cards, storage devices, and several benchmark applications amongst other things.

So If you have big amount of Ram over 4GB, putting ‘DisablePagingExecutive’ value to 1 in registry to force it always into ram, will not make big difference as said above ‘Windows does this anyway unless the system comes under such an extremely heavy load that it needs the space’.

changing LargeSystemCache value to 1, what it does is it will assign more priority to Background Services like windows processes and background apps, but the problem here if you are a video editor and use programs like adobe premier you will notice your program becomes slower! THis Tweak is FOR SERVERS! Servers that will be left alone truned on for long time and no direct user accesses them frequently. Like Mail Servers, Web Hosting Servers…

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Before attempting to do This, Please research first what it does!

Check this page : http://www.tweakhound.com/2011/09/20/bad-tweaks/

There is a paragraph explains this:

So If you have big amount of Ram over 4GB, putting ‘DisablePagingExecutive’ value to 1 in registry to force it always into ram, will not make big difference as said above ‘Windows does this anyway unless the system comes under such an extremely heavy load that it needs the space’.

changing LargeSystemCache value to 1, what it does is it will assign more priority to Background Services like windows processes and background apps, but the problem here if you are a video editor and use programs like adobe premier you will notice your program becomes slower! THis Tweak is FOR SERVERS! Servers that will be left alone truned on for long time and no direct user accesses them frequently. Like Mail Servers, Web Hosting Servers…

Incorrect. I’ve been a certified MS Engineer since the late 90s

Yes this is the flag for servers, but it, in no way slow your system down, NOR will it give ANY CPU priority to background services, apps, tasks, etc!

Here is why the old way to get this was to be optimized for a server. If , on a server, you chose that the server would be mostly used for file access, etc, it would set this to a 1. This way you get a NICE, BIG HD cache to reduce thrashing of the HDD(s). It in NO WAY adjusts system priorities. There are other options where you get a small cache on a server. This is for databases that use RAM to cache themselves (MS SQL, Exchange, etc)

So, on to a desktop OS (which is really just the server OS with a features removed)

Turning on disablepagesexecutive means:

The kernel will NEVER be paged to ram. It IS acceptable to page the kernel! Why? the swap file is part of the memory management system. At first, it MUST be loaded to ram, but then it can be swapped out if the system NEEDS to memory, and it’s NOT the last to go. I’ve watched with tools, and as memory use grows, it starts swapping out idle parts of the kernel along with other idle services, drivers, DLLs, exes, etc. Remember the paging file is part of the virtual memory system. So setting this to 1 SHOULD NEVER, EVER slow your system down. In fact on low memory systems, it will greatly speed things up. On high memory systems 4, 8, 16, 32 GB of RAM, the setting will have little effect, but it will NOT slow it, nor will it harm it. IMO it’s best to PREVENT the kernel from EVER being swapped. That way if you do use up your memory, the system will be more responsive while under load, and once the memory is free and the system is loading things back in from the paging file(s). This way the kernel is right in memory and windows stays a bit faster

LargeSystemCache
I addressed this issue above. I see no reason NOT to enable it. This will cause Windows to use ALL of your available memory for the HDD cache.. and I do mean ALL of it. There are pros and cons

Cons:
1a) slower load times from login screen to desktop to when the HDD stops thrashing about? Why?
1b) This is because up SUPERFETCH AND the largesystem cache. Why?
1c) Superfetch keeps track of all your most run programs, and pre-caches their DLLs, exes, and even some data files. With Superfetch on and LargeCache on, once the system is at the login screen, Superfetch will keep pre-caching until 1) ALL free memory is cache memory, 2) There is nothing more to pre-cache in which case, you will have some cache and some free memory. As soon as you start using windows, the read cache will fill the rest up quickly

Pros:
1) Once superfetch has pre-cached things, programs, games, etc will load lightning fast
2) if you’ve have 8GB of memory, win 8 takes 2GB, the game takes 2GB, that leaves 4GB to cache the game… as the game plays, it will eventually no longer need to read the HDD (or very little)
3) if the system needs free memory, and all thats left is CACHE, a few things happen, and windows makes a few QUICK decisions
3a) Any idle programs, dlls, services, etc are IMMEDIATELY swapped to the page file (windows wants to preserve as much as the cache as it can)
3b) While 3a is going on, if the data can’t be swapped out fast enough, the read cache is instantly wiped out (not all of it, but as much memory that is needed) and converted to free memory
4) this all happens in a few seconds
5) Once the program/game unloads, the stuff that was swapped out, ACTUALLY STAYS swapped out until it’s needed, and superfetch kicks in and starts pre-caching again

If you have write back cache enabled on your drives, and lets say you are copying a 16GB file… ALL free memory will be used for that write back cache. Windows will write the data to memory cache, then to the HDD in the most efficient way.. but lets say you are copying that 16GB file, and while you are doing it, you fire up a program that wants 4GB of ram… Windows CAN NOT just wipe the cache part of memory like it does for read data! In this case, EVERY idle app, service, etc gets swapped. If that’s not enough, then ACTIVE things get swapped, and the system gets VERY SLOW until that write operation finishes and the write cache empty… this is a RARE circumstance.

IMO the PROs far outweigh the cons. So I keep both of those set to 1

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Lastly, if you have 2 or more PHYSICAL internal (or USB 3.0/eSata) HDDs, then I HIGHLY recommend NOT letting windows manage the page file. You can do it yourself , and in a way, make a “raid 0” page file system

Easy: If you have 3 physical drives plus 1 USB 3.0 drive and 8GB of ram, set a pagefile of 2GB on each drive

Windows will do some amazing things. If a drive is under heavy load, it won’t use that page file! so if 1 of your 4 disks is busy it will use the other 3, and all at once, for some FAST page ins and page outs If one of the “physical” disks is a high speed Raid 0 or 5 array, then put a larger page file on it as windows will use that drive more (unless you REALLY put a hard load on that raid array).

My system:

C: 2 500GB SSD SATAe in Raid 1 (mirrored) (not eSata! (external Sata)). SATAe is 10Gbps vs 6 Gbps of Sata III
D: (4) 3TB SATA 3 drives in Raid 0 (stripe) for an 12TB Raid Array
E: USB 3.0 16TB Raid 0 external raid array (use for nightly backups)*

I have a 16GB of system memory, and 2048MB swap file on C:, D:, and E: which really is overkill. Your swap space doesn’t need to equal your physical memory. If I had 16GB of swap files, and tried to use a program that used 30GB of memory, my system would grind to a halt. You only need enough paging space to hold idle memory while something large is running.

Anyway, I have 3 swap files, and I almost NEVER get lag when i load something big, and I can load performance monitor when I do, and ALL 3 get nailed in parallel… thus creating a “raid 0 swap file system” and since each of my drives (except C:) are raid 0, that’s even faster access

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I have 8 Gb RAM in my PC, but my wife’s has 4 Gb and is nearly as quick. Since neither of us do a lot of multitasking, you probably will not see a great increase past 4 Gb, but at the cost of RAM, I felt I wanted 8 Gb. In order to utilize that much RAM, as you have stated, you do need the 64 Bit edition. 32 Bit Windows cannot utilize more than approx. 3.5 Gb RAM.

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I realise that this is a very old thread, but it popped up, so here’s my 2¢.

I have 16GB of RAM, 3 1TB HDD’s, one of which is for short term drive image use and long term archival storage.

I have operated with a fixed, dedicated pagefile occupying the first partition on my non-OS drive, and I have operated with no pagefile enabled. There is only one difference of note. When running chkdsk, RAM usage gets up around 15GB with no pagefile.

There are no other noticable differences. Obviously, running with paging disabled means nothing gets paged out. Even the parts of the kernel that are used only for loading the OS, and have absolutely no operational reason for staying resident in RAM, don’t get paged out.

With enough RAM, it doen’t matter. And regardless of the amount of RAM, if paging is enabled, parts of the kernel (those involved in loading the OS) are going to get paged out regardless, simply because they are not required to stay resident in RAM for any reason – their job is complete, and they will not be used again.

Also, even though Windows warns that no memory dump can be performed without a minimum sized page file, In my observations, that’s a lie. It will dump the memory in the root of the system drive in lieu of a pagefile.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Trick seems to be speeding up my low spec HP MS214 AIO (Win 7 Pro) with 4GB DDR2 RAM. More RAM is in use, while Swap is reduced. Short virus scans are faster, plus VLC, which always has been slow on it, now runs w/o breaking up.

Only have used the trick for 30 minutes, will evaluate it further. First impressions are good, as any improvement at all is a positive for that PC. I don’t need it on my more powerful systems, but thought I’d put it to use on the HP.

Cat

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See Ted? I told you. No matter what you say someone will come up with a thousand reasons why it won’t work.
Then they will insist on “Imperical Evidence” instead of just trying it. That’s just pure bullheadedness.

In order for that tweak you listed to work, someone at Redmond had to program it into the OS. Eh?
So to say it can’t work, that’s telling Redmond that they don’t know what they are doing.
Believe that and you should be running a MAC or maybe Linux.

It’s like many SAFE DEFAULTS built into Windows (all versions) so that the OS would run on systems with almost NO extra ram at all.
Got lots O Ram? Then you can reprogram windows, it eliminate all the safe defaults, like that stupid 30 second boot delay and have a PC that really “Screams!”. Mine does!

Then you have the very old, venerable Kernel. (Heck, even the Commodore 64 had one, loaded with SAFE DEFAULTS, that made that little computer run Very Slow.) Maybe one in 100,000 so called Experts even know what the Kernel is and how the OS uses it, and why.

Leaving it sit on the hard drive, while other parts of the OS are loaded into ram on boot, was another one of those SAFE DEFAULTS, for that one system in 1000 that came out with 256 megs of ram. Or a Dell, with only 128 megs of ram.
And the idea of having SAFE DEFAULTS worked. But Windows performance suffered greatly.

I too have been using that one tweak for years, going way back to windows 98. For any PC with 512 megs of RAM, or more it worked great.
I’ve installed it on literally hundreds of PC’s, to date, and almost every PC owner has said something to me like “WOW! It never ran that fast when it was brand new”. What can I say, but “I know!”.

Give it up Ted, “a man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still”.
Thank you for bringing it up though. It’s very worthwhile.

Cheers Mate!
The Doctor

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3 days later, PC still faster than out of the box in 2009! Ended up reducing the swap from 2048MB to 1024.

Safe Defaults, some are OK, but many also robs the customer of performance that their hard earned cash paid for. MS & the OEM’s can do a better job on that end. Plenty of examples, but deep discussions on these would take away from Ted’s OP.

Generally, I don’t dive head first for every claimed performance enhancement trick that I read. However the source having came from Ted, whom I’ve known for a couple for years, I felt it to be a safe chance to take. Plus the PC was in dire need of anything to boost Windows 7’s performance.

BTW, this same PC also runs Linux Mint 15 x64 via dual boot, even given the low specs of the machine (1.5GHz Athlon X2 64, 4GB DDR2 6400 RAM), Mint screams on it, although 7 has struggled. For the most part, all that I do is keep 7 & it’s few apps updated on it, my wife, who is as computer illiterate as anyone I know, runs Mint on it w/no problems.

Cat

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With windows 7/8 on any decent computer, I’ve found very little gain in disabling any services that are turned on by default. You can also get in trouble if you later need a service that you forgot you turned off because you didn’t need it at the time.
All of my computers run fast with the defaults enabled.

Jerry

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