Memory has a key role in speeding up the completion of various activities. A large quantity of RAM is out of reach for most individuals due to its high cost as electronic memory. In addition, operating systems have a maximum amount of RAM they can handle.
However, Windows 10’s Memory Compression function ensures that you are receiving the most out of your RAM and the page file at the same time. If you don’t need it, you can turn it off at any moment.
Table of Contents
- How Do Windows’ Page Files Work?
- Understanding Windows Memory Compression and Its Importance
- Process of Disabling Memory Compression
- Conclusion
How Do Windows’ Page Files Work?
Prior to discussing the necessity of memory compression and page files, let’s make sure we understand what they are.
Window’s secondary storage, which is often your local disk, houses secret system data called “page files.” They store data that isn’t immediately needed by your RAM. Pages are a form of secondary RAM because they store information in page files when the memory space of your system is exhausted.
You’ll find that your computer is substantially sluggish or regularly crashes, malfunctions, or loses data if you don’t have page files. It’s possible that your programs may also meet a similar doom if your system runs out of temporary storage space. Page files also lower the amount of physical memory that has to be freed up by the user.
A technique called “paging” contributes to halting down your computer by storing and retrieving data from secondary storage. As a result, a hard drive’s ability to read data is substantially slower than RAM’s. As a consequence, memory compression has a purpose.
Understanding Windows Memory Compression and Its Importance
Memory compression is a feature of Windows that decreases the amount of data before it is written to the RAM. When you use this technique, your system can retain additional files in memory space than it could otherwise, minimizing the requirement for page files. Pager-free computers are speedier.
By lowering physical memory consumption, Memory Compression reduces pagefile IO processes and reduces the need for disk storage in both Windows 10 and Windows 11 systems. Because of this, when MM decides to use paged storage, it speeds up both writing to and reading from drive. Improved performance and efficiency are expected to be seen on all systems running Windows 10 or Windows 11.
The Memory Manager may be used to compress memory pages that are seldom visited, hence lowering the amount of reads and writes to the drive (the pagefile). An operating system may be able to keep more programs in memory at one time before paging is necessary because of memory compression, which minimizes the amount of memory consumed per process.
It is important to note that when the Memory Manager’s policy dictates paging, the information being written to or read from the drive has already been shrunk to a size that is normally approximately 40% of its original capacity. It is possible that this compression may enhance the efficiency of unrelated processes on the systems since it will reduce a significant source of conflicting IO load. Finally, a sharper, more dynamic experience with enhanced app launch speed and consistency is achieved as a consequence of this work.
Memory compression is quicker than utilizing the page file, but it consumes more CPU cycles as a result of the compression. It is possible that your system will not function as quickly as it would if it did not have to reduce data in memory. If you see a large amount of compressed memory and think that it is the cause of your PC’s bad performance, the only remedy is to either add extra physical memory (RAM) or stop Memory Compression altogether.
Process of Disabling Memory Compression
In light of how critical memory compression is, there may come a time when it’s necessary to turn it off. In situations when your computer is limited on physical memory, compressing data may slow it down because of the additional computing power it needs to do so.
If you’re concerned that your computer’s efficiency is being hampered by excessive data compression or paging, the best course of action is to simply add additional RAM.
Hit Enter after running PowerShell as administrator to deactivate memory compression by typing Disable-MMAgent -mc.
If you execute the Get-MMAgent command again, you’ll find that the return of MemoryCompression is now False, indicating that you were successful in turning off compression.
Conclusion
As a result of memory compression, the operating system is able to keep more physical storage programs before implementing regular paging. In certain cases, though, it might slow down your system; consequently, learning how to disable Windows 10 memory compression is a useful skill to have.
