Enable or Disable Windows File Protection

The Windows File Protection feature in Microsoft Windows prevents programs from replacing critical Windows system files. You may have to turn the feature on or off in certain configurations. You can enable or disable Windows File Protection in Microsoft Windows with a registry edit. Just use these steps.

Note: Windows File Protection is enabled by default in all versions of Microsoft Windows.

This post applies to Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista.

1. Hold the Windows Key and press “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.
2. Type “regedit“, then select “OK“.
3. The Registry Editor opens. Navigate to the following registry key:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   • SOFTWARE
   • Microsoft
   • Windows NT
   • CurrentVersion
   • Winlogon
4. Look for the key “SFCDisable“and double click on it. If it doesn’t exist, create it by right-clicking the “Winlogon” folder and choose “New” > “DWORD (32-bit value)“
5. Set the value to one of the following:
   • 1 – disabled, prompt at boot to re-enable
   • 2 – disabled at next boot only, no prompt to re-enable
   • 4 – enabled, with popups disabled
   • ffffff9d – for completely disabled
   • 0 – Enabled
6. Restart Windows. You may receive a message at startup that says “Windows File Protection is not active on this system. Would you like to enable Windows File Protection now? This will enable Windows File Protection until the next system restart.” Choosing “Yes” will reactivate Windows File Protection and the message will appear at every login until “SFCDisable” is set to “0” again.