Microsoft is making this Windows 11 security feature automatic in October

• Microsoft will begin enabling memory integrity by default on eligible Windows 11 devices in October 2026 through quality updates.
• The protection uses VBS and HVCI to help prevent malicious code and compromised drivers from tampering with the Windows kernel.
• Microsoft will check hardware, compatibility, and performance before automatically enabling the feature.
• Older gaming PCs could experience a performance impact, while devices that already have memory integrity disabled will not have it automatically re-enabled.

Microsoft is preparing to enable memory integrity by default on eligible Windows 11 devices starting in October 2026. The change will arrive through quality updates and may also enable Virtualization-based Security (VBS) if it is not already active.

Memory integrity is designed to protect the Windows kernel from malicious code and compromised drivers. The move should improve the security baseline for supported devices, but it could also have an impact on performance, particularly on older gaming hardware.

Windows 11 is making kernel protection automatic

Memory integrity, also known as Hypervisor-protected Code Integrity (HVCI), is part of Microsoft’s VBS security architecture. It uses hardware virtualization to isolate security-sensitive operations and helps ensure that only trusted kernel-mode code and drivers can run.

This extra layer makes it harder for malware to tamper with critical parts of Windows 11. It’s particularly useful against attacks that attempt to gain control at the kernel level, where malicious code can operate with extensive system privileges.

Microsoft says the system will check a device’s hardware capabilities, compatibility, and performance before automatically enabling the protection. That should reduce the risk of enabling the feature on systems that cannot handle it properly.

According to the company, the feature will enable automatically on devices with Intel 8th, AMD Zen 2, or Qualcomm Snapdragon 8180 or newer processors, with at least 8GB of memory, 64GB of storage, installed memory integrity-compatible drivers, and virtualization enabled.

Gamers may notice a performance difference

The added security layer comes with a trade-off on some computers. Microsoft’s support notes that memory integrity can have a greater performance impact on older processors. Modern hardware generally handles the virtualization-based protection more efficiently, but older systems may see a larger performance cost.

This is particularly relevant for PC gamers. Some games and apps are sensitive to processor and driver overhead, so changes in system security can affect performance.

However, that does not mean enabling memory integrity will automatically reduce gaming performance on every device. The impact depends on the hardware, drivers, and workload.

Microsoft will respect existing settings

There is an important exception to the rollout. The company says devices where memory integrity has already been disabled will not have the feature automatically re-enabled by these updates.

You can check the setting by opening Windows Security > Device security > Core isolation details > Memory integrity.

If Windows 11 does not enable memory integrity automatically, users and organizations can still enable it manually through the Windows Security app.

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Pureinfotech’s Take

I think enabling memory integrity by default makes sense, but the concern would be devices with older hardware. Stronger kernel protection is worth having, but not if it creates unexpected performance or compatibility problems.

For most users, I’d leave it enabled. If you notice problems after the October update, however, this is one setting I’d check before assuming Windows itself is the problem.