Microsoft launched Windows 11 on eligible PCs and laptops early last week. Shortly afterward, benchmark results were released on the Internet, showing that Windows 11 had somewhat affected gaming performance. This eliminates a well-known performance hit that affects Windows 11-powered AMD devices, which is thought to be due to Microsoft’s implementation of Virtualization-Based Security (VBS). So if you find that your Windows 11 gaming setup is not as sharp as before, you may want to disable VBS. In this article, we have followed a few steps to disable VBS in Windows 11.
Disable Virtualization – Based Security (VBS) in Windows 11:-
Before moving on to disabling virtualization-based security, we’ve added a brief explanation of the feature and steps to check the VBS status of your Windows 11 PC. We’ve compiled a professional / cons list of what to expect when disabling VBS, which we hope will help you make an informed decision.
What is Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) in Windows11?:-
Virtualization-based security (VBS) is a security feature of Windows 11 that creates an isolated area of memory for security features. This virtual secure mode is built using Windows hypervisor and is different from the rest of the operating system. Microsoft says VBS kernels can reduce the impact of virus and malware attacks. A key security feature enabled via VBS is memory integrity or hypervisor-protected code integrity (HVCI). It checks all kernel-mode drivers and binary before starting and closes unsigned drivers or system files.
Significantly, VBS is not a new Windows 11 feature and has been in Windows 10 for years. When the VBS option was introduced in Windows 10, Microsoft started launching VBS by default for some PCs towards the end of 2019. In addition, the Redmond giant is encouraging OM to enable VBS in PC shipping by default with Windows 11 out of the box. Although VBS may be disabled if you manually upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11, it will be enabled if you have purchased a new Windows 11 laptop or pre-built PC.
Now, you might be wondering why VBS should be disabled on your Windows 11 machine, especially since it is a useful security feature. This is where things get complicated. The popular GPU Stress Test software enables VBS to affect performance, according to independent tests conducted by 3DMark’s creators and PC gamers and Tom’s hardware, especially when you’re using your Windows PC for gaming. So if you feel low FPS in games on your Windows 11 machine, you can consider disabling VBS to increase gaming performance.
Check Virtualization- Based Security (VBS) Statues in Windows:-
Now, if you want to check if VBS is running on your Windows 11 PC, follow these steps:
- To access the Windows 11 Start menu, press the Win key, type ‘System Information’ or ‘msinfo32’ in the search box, and click ‘Open’.
- Under the ‘System Summary’ section, you will see an item called ‘Virtualization-Based Security’ in the right pane. If the virtualization-based security value is shown as ‘Running’, you have VBS enabled on your Windows 11 PC. On the other hand, the ‘Not Enabled’ value indicates that your machine has VBS disabled.
Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) in Windows 11:-
Methods1: Disable Virtualization-Based Security(VBS) from Settings:-
- Press the Win key to open Windows Search, type ‘Core Isolation’, and click ‘Open’.
- Check that the ‘Memory Integrity Toggle is turned on by default. If so, you just need to turn off ‘Memory Integrity Toggle’ to disable VBS on your Windows 11 PC.
- Windows Security will then prompt you to restart your PC. Now click on ‘Restart’ from the notification displayed.
Methods2:Remove Windows Components to Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS):-
Another way to disable VBS is to remove the Windows components responsible for the feature. To specify, you need to disable Windows Hypervisor Platform, Virtual Machine Platform, and Microsoft Defender Application Guard on your Windows 11 PC.
- To get started, press the Windows key, type ‘Windows Properties’, and select ‘Open’.
- Here, uncheck Windows Hypervisor Platform, Virtual Machine Platform, and Microsoft Defender Application Guard. If available, you’ll find the Microsoft Defender Application Guard under Media Properties. Once you have checked all these options, click ‘OK’ to save the changes.
Methods3:- Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) from Registry Editor:-
- You can use Registry Editor to disable VBS in Windows 11.
- In the Registry Editor, navigate to the path below and double-click ‘Enable Virtualization-Based Security’ in the right pane.
- Set EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity value data to ‘0’ and restart your Windows 11 PC.
Methods4:- Disable Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) from Group Policy Editor:-
- Open the Run window using Windows 11 keyboard shortcut ‘Win + R’, type ‘gpedit. MSC’ and click OK.
- Once the Group Policy Editor opens, navigate to.
- From the right pane, double-click ‘Turn on Virtualization-Based Security’.
- When the Virtualization Based Security dialog box appears, select the ‘Disable’ option and click ‘OK.
Turn off VBS to Improve Gaming Performance in Windows 11:-
So this brings us to the end of our guide on disabling Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) in Windows 11. However, you can consider this if your PC’s gaming performance is significantly affected after the Windows 11 update. Meanwhile, with our dedicated guide on how to debug Windows 11 and speed up the OS to improve performance.