Load Windows Kernel directly into Ram

[Medico]

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) See this thread for instructions.

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

WindowsinRam.jpg

In the registry editor go to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\DisablePagingExecutive

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

kernel-in-ram.jpg

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\Session Manager\Memory Management\LargeSystemCache

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

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

[Tinto Tech]

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?

[Medico]

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.

[Tinto Tech]

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.

[Medico]

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.

[Tinto Tech]

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

[Medico]

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!

[JoeP517]

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

[JoeP517]

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

Joe

[Medico]

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!

[JoeP517]

Please define faster to do what.

Joe

[Medico]

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.

[JoeP517]

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

[CLiNT]

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.

[idealdesigns]

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...