FSUtil Behavior, EnableNonPagedNtfs

23 March, 2024 - Reading time: 2 minutes

EnableNonPagedNtfs = 0 means that most NTFS file operations occur in paged memory (page swappable memory) which can use virtual memory, this is the default behavior.

Setting EnableNonPagedNtfs = 1 means that all NTFS file operations occur in non-paged memory (RAM) which does not have the latency and performance penalty of using virtual memory.  It also means there is less RAM available for other system tasks, but for common gaming and production computer builds the extra RAM usage is not noticeable as the amount is relatively negligible.

To see what EnableNonPagedNtfs is set to run cmd as Administrator and enter:

fsutil behavior query enablenonpagedntfs

To enable EnableNonPagedNtfs enter:

fsutil behavior set enablenonpagedntfs 1

This setting is in the Registry Editor under the Key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

The REG_DWORD Value is named NtfsForceNonPagedPoolAllocation and its Data contains the same corresponding number as FSUtil Behavior EnableNonPagedNtfs.