---
title: "Disabling Memory Integrity and VBS: the real performance gain and the real security cost"
description: "The exact DeviceGuard registry values, what turning off VBS and Memory Integrity gives back on a gaming PC, and precisely what protection you give up."
url: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-memory-integrity-vbs
author: Frost LIVE, Founder of Frozen Tweaks
published: 2026-08-30
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Security"
source: Frozen Tweaks (https://frozentweaks.com)
---

# Disabling Memory Integrity and VBS: the real performance gain and the real security cost

**Short answer:** Disabling virtualisation-based security sets EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity to 0 under SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard, and Enabled to 0 under the HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity scenario key. It can return some CPU performance, more on older CPUs, and the gain varies by game. It also removes hypervisor-enforced protection against a real class of attack that uses vulnerable signed drivers to reach the kernel. This is a genuine trade, not a free win.

## In the app

- Switch: Disable VBS / HVCI (Security, Pro, Advanced)
- Undo: Yes. Switching it off turns Memory Integrity and virtualization-based security on, even if they were off before.
- Catalog row: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks#t-1036

## What it does

Memory Integrity runs Windows' driver code-integrity checks inside a hypervisor-isolated environment, so that even kernel-level code cannot tamper with them. Everything your machine does then runs one layer removed from the hardware.

That isolation has a measurable cost, which is why disabling it shows up in benchmarks.

## When it helps

- Returns some CPU performance, more on older chips that lack the hardware support Memory Integrity relies on.
- Can reduce frame-time variance in CPU-bound games.
- Resolves conflicts with a few older utilities that refuse to run alongside it.

## When it hurts

- You lose protection against the vulnerable-signed-driver attack class, which is actively used in the wild and is how several game-adjacent malware families gain kernel access.
- Some anti-cheat systems now prefer or require it turned on.
- If the machine handles banking, work accounts or anything you would mind losing, this is a poor trade for a small gain.

## What it writes

Read from the app's source. "Switching it off" is what the app writes when you turn the tweak off again.

Registry values:

| Key | Value | With the tweak | Switching it off | What it does |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard` | `EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity` | `0` | 1 | Stops Windows starting the security hypervisor at boot. |
| `HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity` | `Enabled` | `0` | 1 | Disables Memory Integrity, the code-integrity check that runs inside that hypervisor. |
| `HKLM\SOFTWARE\FrostTweaks` | `PendingHypervisorOff` | `1` | 0 | A note the app keeps for itself. Windows doesn't read it, and the tweak doesn't change the hypervisor's boot setting. |

Source: Tweaks/vbsoff.hpp in the app's source, app 2.0.0, checked 2026-10-08.

## The same change by hand

Run in a Command Prompt opened as administrator. Make a restore point first.

```bat
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard" /v "EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity" /v "Enabled" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\FrostTweaks" /v "PendingHypervisorOff" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
```

Put it back:

```bat
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard" /v "EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard\Scenarios\HypervisorEnforcedCodeIntegrity" /v "Enabled" /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\FrostTweaks" /v "PendingHypervisorOff" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
```

See what it is set to now:

```bat
reg query "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\DeviceGuard" /v "EnableVirtualizationBasedSecurity"
```

## How to undo it

Set both values back to 1 and reboot, or turn Core Isolation > Memory Integrity back on in Windows Security. Switching it off in Frozen Tweaks sets both values to 1, which turns them on even if they were off before. It is a separate switch: neither game profile and not the one-click run turns it off.

## Verdict

Only if the machine is genuinely gaming-only. We list it because pretending the gain does not exist would be dishonest, and we keep it a separate switch because pretending the cost does not exist would be worse.

## Related guides

- [Windows 11 Gaming Optimization: What Still Works in 2026](https://frozentweaks.com/guides/windows-11-gaming-optimization)
- [Is PC Optimization Software Safe? What to Check Before Installing](https://frozentweaks.com/guides/is-pc-optimization-software-safe)
- [Valorant FPS Boost: Best Settings on Unreal Engine 5](https://frozentweaks.com/guides/valorant-fps-boost)

## More tweak explainers

- [Windows telemetry](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-windows-telemetry)
- [Defender scheduled scans](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/limit-defender-scans)
- [Hyper-V hypervisor](https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-hyper-v-hypervisor)

---
Written by Frost LIVE, founder of Frozen Tweaks. Canonical version: https://frozentweaks.com/tweaks/disable-memory-integrity-vbs