How to Disable Windows 10’s Faulty GameDVR

The Anniversary Update for Windows 10 (update 1607) was introduced at the end of July and, despite its numerous fixes and improvements, has caused issues for users, including webcam failures, Xbox controller bugs, and SSD freezes.

One new feature of the operating system’s update is that the GameDVR video recording system is turned on by default which, while useful to Let’s Play-ers, has been causing framerate issues for gamers, especially with Valve games and NVIDIA graphics card users.

Thankfully, the feature can be turned off – providing you have a Microsoft account – using the following method (via PCGamesN):

• Open Xbox app, you can access it via the start menu search.
• Sign in – this should be automatic if you normal sign into Windows.
• The cog in the bottom left access the settings menu.
• Head to GameDVR at the top and turn it off.

For those without a Microsoft account, GameDVR can be disabled through the Registry Editor:

• Open Registry Editor (Run > regedit)
• Go to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\System\GameConfigStore
• Set the value of DWORD “GameDVR_Enabled” to 0
• Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\
• Create key “GameDVR”
• Create DWORD 32bit called “AllowgameDVR” and set to 0

Microsoft is aware of the issue and is trying to determine why it is occurring. On a reddit thread regarding the problem, user JohnMSFT, wrote: “I’m a Microsoft engineer on the GameDVR team and we’re trying to find the root cause for some of the reported issues you are experiencing.” JohnMSFT is also asking for user feedback regarding any crashing, freezing, or stuttering caused by GameDVR. For more details, visit the reddit thread.