Microsoft Blocks Windows 11 Registry Hack for Native NVMe Driver

Overview

• Microsoft disabled the registry keys in recent Windows 11 Insider builds, after My Digital Life users reported the tweak no longer worked.
• Power users can still switch on the nvmedisk.sys driver with the third‑party ViVeTool utility using feature IDs 60786016 or 48433719, though this remains unsupported.
• The native driver talks to NVMe drives directly rather than through a SCSI layer, with Microsoft touting up to 80% higher IOPS and 45% lower CPU use under heavy load.
• Independent tests cited by Tom's Hardware reported big gains in random I/O, including faster writes and up to roughly 65% quicker 4K random reads in server‑style benchmarks.
• Compatibility risks remain for consumers, as users have seen BitLocker recovery prompts, SSD tools like Samsung Magician fail to detect drives, and disk ID changes that confuse backup apps.