Enable memory compression in Windows 11 for better performance
Memory compression is a feature of Windows 11 which allows the operating system to reduce the size of data in memory without moving it to disk. This can improve your PC's performance by freeing up more physical memory for faster access. In this blog post, I'll show you how to enable memory compression in Windows 11 and explain some of the benefits and drawbacks of this feature.
Memory compression is not enabled by default in Windows 11, but you can turn it on with a simple command. To do this, you must open an elevated PowerShell window by right-clicking the Start button and selecting Windows PowerShell (Administrator). Then, type the following command and press Enter:
Enable-MMAgent -Memory Compression
This will allow memory compression for your current session. To make it permanent, you must add the same command to a registry key that runs at startup. To do this, open Registry Editor by pressing Windows + R and typing regedit. Then navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile
Right-click the SystemProfile key and select New > String Value. Name it SystemResponsiveness and set its value to 0. This will tell Windows 11 to prioritize memory compression over other tasks.
To check that memory compression is working, you can open Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Shift + Esc and go to the Performance tab. There, you should see a new section called Compressed Memory below the Memory graph. This shows how much memory is being compressed and how much space is being saved.
Memory compression can have several benefits for your PC's performance, such as:
– Reduce disk usage and wear by avoiding paging.
– Increased responsiveness and multitasking by keeping more apps in memory
– Improved security and privacy by encrypting compressed data in memory
However, memory compression also has some drawbacks, such as:
– Consume CPU cycles and energy when compressing and decompressing data.
– Increased memory fragmentation and overhead by creating additional structures.
– Reduce compatibility and stability with some applications or drivers that may not support compression
Therefore, you should try memory compression on your PC and see if it improves your performance or causes any problems. You can disable memory compression at any time by running the following command in PowerShell:
Disable-MMAgent -Memory Compression
You must also delete the SystemResponsiveness registry value that you created earlier.
One of the ways to optimize memory usage on your system is to apply memory compression. Memory compression is a technique that reduces the size of data stored in memory by applying a compression algorithm. This way you can fit more data into the same amount of memory or free up some memory for other applications.
Memory compression is especially useful when your system is running out of memory and you need to swap some data to disk. Swapping data to disk is a slow and expensive operation that can degrade system performance. By compressing data in memory, you can avoid or reduce the number of swaps and keep your system running smoothly.
Windows has a built-in feature that automatically performs memory compression when necessary. It compresses data from less frequently used memory pages and stores it in a dedicated memory region called a compressed memory store. When an application needs to access a compressed page, Windows decompresses it on the fly and returns it to the application. This process is transparent to the user and the application, and does not require any configuration or intervention.
Memory compression can improve system performance by reducing disk I/O, increasing memory availability, and improving application responsiveness. However, it also has some drawbacks, such as increased CPU usage, reduced battery life, and potential compatibility issues with some apps. Therefore, you must evaluate the benefits and costs of memory compression for your specific use case and system configuration.
