Are you frustrated with low FPS (frames per second) and laggy gaming experiences despite having decent hardware and internet speed? While system configuration and network quality certainly impact gaming performance, certain Windows settings can quietly eat away at your system’s potential. Fortunately, disabling just a few lesser-known features in Windows can help boost your FPS and improve your overall gaming performance.

In this article, we’ll walk you through three key Windows settings that you can safely disable to unlock smoother gameplay, especially on mid-range or older systems.

⚙️ 1. Disable Memory Integrity and Virtual Machine Platform

What Are These?

• Memory Integrity is a Windows security feature that protects your device from malicious code and unverified drivers.
• Virtual Machine Platform enables virtualization support for Windows features like WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) and other virtual environments.

While these features enhance security and development functionality, they may slightly reduce gaming performance by using system resources in the background. Disabling them can yield a performance boost between 4% to 7%, depending on the game.

Even Microsoft acknowledges that turning these off can help improve performance under certain conditions.

How to Disable:

1. Memory Integrity:
   • Right-click the Start menu → Go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Windows Security → Device Security.
   • Click on Core Isolation Details.
   • Toggle Memory Integrity off.
   • Confirm with Yes if prompted.
2. Virtual Machine Platform:
   • Search for Turn Windows features on or off from the Windows search bar.
   • Find Virtual Machine Platform and uncheck it.
   • Click OK and restart your PC when prompted.

🔗 More on Core Isolation from Microsoft

⚙️ 2. Disable Hyper-V

Hyper-V is a virtualization technology built into Windows that allows users to run multiple operating systems on a virtual machine. It’s great for developers and IT professionals, but gamers usually don’t need it—and it can drain system performance.

Why Disable It?

• Hyper-V can slow down systems with limited RAM or older CPUs.
• It may interfere with GPU performance in games.

How to Disable:

1. Search for Turn Windows features on or off.
2. Scroll down to Hyper-V, uncheck it.
3. Click OK, and then restart your PC.

💡 Disabling Hyper-V is particularly helpful if you’re not using virtual machines or other related features like WSL or Docker.

⚙️ 3. Disable Nagle’s Algorithm (For Online Gamers)

If you play multiplayer online games, you might want to disable Nagle’s algorithm—a networking technique that groups data packets together before sending them. While it helps reduce network congestion, it can cause latency and lag in real-time gaming.

How to Disable Nagle’s Algorithm:

This requires editing the Windows Registry. Please follow these steps carefully.

⚠️ Disclaimer: Editing the registry incorrectly can cause system instability. Proceed with caution or consult a tech expert.

Step-by-Step Instructions:

1. Find Your IP Address:
   • Open Command Prompt (search CMD, right-click, choose Run as Administrator).
   • Type ipconfig and hit Enter.
   • Note your IPv4 address under the adapter you’re using (Ethernet or Wi-Fi).
2. Open Registry Editor:
   • Search regedit in Windows search, right-click, choose Run as Administrator.
   • Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces
3. Find Your Network Adapter:
   • Expand the Interfaces folder.
   • Click through each subkey until you find the one that matches your IP address.
4. Add New Registry Values:
   • Right-click in the blank space on the right panel.
   • Select New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
     • Name it: TcpAckFrequency, set value: 1
   • Create another DWORD (32-bit) value:
     • Name it: TCPNoDelay, set value: 1
5. Restart your computer.

After restarting, you may notice reduced latency and smoother performance in multiplayer titles.

📝 Final Thoughts

Disabling these three Windows features—Memory Integrity, Virtual Machine Platform, Hyper-V, and Nagle’s Algorithm—can significantly improve your gaming experience by freeing up valuable system resources and reducing lag. These tweaks are especially beneficial if you have a low to mid-range system, or you’re trying to optimize your gaming setup without upgrading hardware.

Feel free to experiment with each of these settings individually and test how your system performs after every change.

🔖 Tags

FPS boost, Windows performance, gaming optimization, low FPS fix, hyper-v disable, memory integrity, Nagle algorithm, gaming tweaks, Windows tips, registry tweak

📢 Hashtags

#FPSBoost #WindowsGaming #GamingTips #LowFPSFix #RegistryTweak #PCPerformance #HyperV #MemoryIntegrity #OnlineGamingLag #WindowsOptimization

Arjun Nair

Arjun is a seasoned Linux enthusiast and open-source contributor. He has worked with multiple distributions including Debian, Fedora, and Arch-based systems, and regularly tests new desktop environments and community projects. With over a decade in IT system administration, Arjun brings practical, hands-on insights to Linux tutorials and reviews.

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