The part of a computer’s RAM that is used by a hardware device such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), sound card, network adapter, and other hardware components is known as reserved hardware. These hardware components should work correctly; that is why this memory is left aside. When some users open Task Manager to find out the reason for slow computer performance, they notice a large amount of hardware reserved memory on their computer. In this article, we are going to talk about why Hardware reserved memory is too high in Windows and how we can reduce it.
Why is my hardware reserved memory too high?
The hardware reserved memory will be high if you have configured the settings to do the same. You may not have set it manually, it may happen due to an update or a third-party app, but whatever it is, we can easily reconfigure it. You may also face the same issue due to corrupted or outdated BIOS, corrupted or outdated graphics driver and we will talk about that too.
How to reduce hardware reserved memory in Windows
If the hardware reserved memory is too high, here are some steps you can take to reduce the hardware reserved memory on your Windows 11/10 computer:
- Change maximum memory from boot options
- Optimize virtual memory
- update drivers
- update bios
- Restore BIOS to default settings
Before you begin, first create a system restore point.
1]Change maximum memory from boot options
On Windows, you have a Maximum Available Memory option in the boot procedure
which is used to reserve RAM. If you have set the maximum memory here, then
you can see a large amount of hardware reserved RAM. In that case, we can prevent the system from having a lot of reserved memory by altering the system configuration. Following are the steps to do the same.
- Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type msconfig and then press the Enter button.
- In the System Configuration window, go to the Boot tab.
- Now click on the advanced option and then uncheck the maximum memory box.
- Here, click OK to save the changes.
- In the System Configuration window, click Apply and the OK button.
Once you restart the computer, the problem will be resolved.
2]Optimize virtual memory
Virtual memory is a technique that allows the system to allocate more memory to the system in addition to its physical memory. In case the settings are configured incorrectly then it is highly likely that we are facing memory related issues. Here, we are going to optimize
- To open File Explorer, press Windows Key + E.
- Right click on this computer and select Properties.
- On the right side of the window, click Advanced system settings.
- This will open the System Properties window, you need to click on the Settings tab in the Performance section.
- Now on the Advanced tab and click on the Change button in the Virtual Memory box.
- uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
- Here, select drive C and then select Custom Size and enter the size based on the reserved memory you see in Task Manager.
- Click the OK button to apply the change.
Restart the computer and check if the reserved hardware RAM Windows 11 is resolved.
3]Update Drivers
Update your device drivers and see if that helps in any way.
4]Update BIOS
BIOS is a firmware that controls the input/output of your system. If you have bugs or compatibility issues, you can’t communicate between the operating system and other components, such as RAM. In that case, we need to update the BIOS to make things compatible. So, go ahead and update the BIOS to get rid of this error. You should also check for Windows updates and download them if they are available.
5]Restore BIOS to default settings
If the update doesn’t help, you may need to reset your BIOS settings to their default values. Follow the mentioned steps to do the same.
- Start the computer and press F2 or the Delete key or some other key depending on your laptop OEM to enter the BIOS.
- Click the Restore Settings or Load Defaults option.
- Now exit BIOS and restart the computer.
Hopefully this issue will be resolved once the computer boots up.
How do I reduce the hardware reserved RAM?
If the hardware reserved on your computer is too high, you should disable the boot options maximum memory as it forces the system to reserve RAM based on the set value. If we don’t want the same, our best bet is to disable the setting and you’ll be good to go.
Read: Fix 100% Disk, High CPU, Memory or Power Usage in Windows.
