Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10  

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    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10

    How to Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10
    Published by Category: Virtualization
    19 Feb 2021
    Designer Media Ltd

    How to Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10


    Encrypting the pagefile prevents malicious users from reading data that has been paged to disk, but also adds processing overhead for filesystem operations.

    This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable virtual memory pagefile encryption in Windows 10.

    You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable NTFS pagefile encryption.



    Contents

    • Option One: To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Local Group Policy
    • Option Two: To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption using a REG file
    • Option Three: To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Command Prompt






    OPTION ONE

    To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Local Group Policy


    The Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

    All editions can use Option TWO or Option THREE below.


    1 Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

    2 In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to the location below. (see screenshot below)

    Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Filesystem\NTFS

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10-pagefile_encryption_gpedit-1.jpg

    3 In the right pane of the NTFS key in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Enable NTFS pagefile encryption policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

    4 Do step 5 (disable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


     5. To Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

    Not Configured is the default setting.



     6. To Enable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10-pagefile_encryption_gpedit-2.jpg


    7 When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.

    8 Restart the computer to apply.






    OPTION TWO

    To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption using a REG file


    The downloadable .reg files below will modify the DWORD values in the registry keys below.

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

    NtfsEncryptPagingFile DWORD

    0 = Disable
    1 = Enable

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies

    (delete) NtfsEncryptPagingFile DWORD


    1 Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


     2. To Enable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

    Enable_Pagefile_Encryption.reg

    Download


     3. To Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    This is the default setting.

    A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

    Disable_Pagefile_Encryption.reg

    Download


    4 Save the .reg file to your desktop.

    5 Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

    6 When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

    7 Restart the computer to apply.

    8 If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.






    OPTION THREE

    To Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Command Prompt


    1 Open an elevated command prompt.

    2 Do step 3 (status), step 4 (enable), or step 5 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


     3. To See if Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption is Currently Enabled or Disabled

    A) Copy and paste the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 4 (enable) or step 5 (disable) below. (see screenshot below)

    fsutil behavior query encryptpagingfile

    0 = disabled

    1 = enabled

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10-determine_pagefile_encryption_command.jpg


     4. To Enable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    A) Copy and paste the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

    fsutil behavior set encryptpagingfile 1

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10-enable_pagefile_encryption_command.jpg


     5. To Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption

    A) Copy and paste the command below into the elevated command prompt, press Enter, and go to step 6 below. (see screenshot below)

    fsutil behavior set encryptpagingfile 0

    Enable or Disable Virtual Memory Pagefile Encryption in Windows 10-disable_pagefile_encryption_command.jpg


    6 When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.

    7 Restart the computer to apply.


    That's it,
    Shawn






  1. Posts : 1,116
    win 10 pro x64 os build 20H2
       #1

    HI Brink think i may do just this one how much overhead does it cause do you know in terms of processing overhead ?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 68,652
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #2

    Hey Tony, :)

    It really depends on your system.

    If it's pretty fast, then you may not notice too much overhead.

    If you do notice too much overhead, you could always undo it.
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 1,116
    win 10 pro x64 os build 20H2
       #3

    ok will give it go this one sounds like the more better option then clearing it i been reading about the clearing it and it seems like it adds a considerable slow down on pc performance, so this looks like the better option to me, unless i do whole disk encryption again but that was pain i got locked out everytime, i changed something it was a big pain in my back side lol, JUst set that up going to reboot and see how slow i get :).
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,116
    win 10 pro x64 os build 20H2
       #4

    Brink said:
    Hey Tony, :)

    It really depends on your system.

    If it's pretty fast, then you may not notice too much overhead.

    If you do notice too much overhead, you could always undo it.
    Good news not much of one at all :) anything is better than none at all. ALso now anything about veracrypt ? is it better in terms of whole disk encryption then bitlocker as that thing drove me bonkers always locking me out lol.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 68,652
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I haven't used Veracrypt, but I hear good things about it.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 1,116
    win 10 pro x64 os build 20H2
       #6

    If i do decide to do a whole disk encryption at some point should i disable this one first ?
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 68,652
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #7

    There's no need to unless you just wanted to.
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 1,116
    win 10 pro x64 os build 20H2
       #8

    ok awesome Brink have a great day my friend :)
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 68,652
    64-bit Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Thread Starter
       #9

    You as well mate. :)
      My Computers


 

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