Microsoft has blocked a registry trick that allowed Windows 11 users to enable the native NVMe driver. The company removed the registry key that previously unlocked the feature for standard desktop builds. This change affects the ability to bypass the legacy storage path for NVMe commands.
Driver originally shipped in Windows Server 2025 delivers up to 80% higher IOPS
The native NVMe driver, identified as nvmedisk.sys, replaces the older SCSI translation layer. Microsoft originally shipped this driver in Windows Server 2025 last December. The vendor claims the driver delivers up to 80% higher IOPS and 45% lower CPU utilization under high I/O loads. Earlier benchmarks of the registry workaround showed up to 85% higher random write performance. StorageReview measured up to 64.89% faster 4K random reads using server-side FIO benchmarks.
Users can still enable the driver using ViVeTool with feature IDs 60786016 and 48433719. This workaround remains available despite the registry block. Compatibility risks persist with this method. Users may encounter issues with third-party SSD tools and BitLocker recovery prompts.
It is not yet known when native NVMe support will be rolled out to Windows 11 25H2 and 26H2 users. The timeline for these future updates remains unclear. Microsoft has not confirmed the launch window for official support in these versions.
The story involves software updates for Windows 11 and relates to storage performance. The vendor has not provided details on when the native driver will become standard in consumer Windows 11 releases.
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