Background Activity Moderator Driver (bam) Service Defaults in Windows 11
Controls activity of background applications.
Default Settings
| Startup type: | System |
| Display name: | Background Activity Moderator Driver |
| Service name: | bam |
| Service type: | kernel |
| Error control: | normal |
| Path: | %SystemRoot%\system32\drivers\bam.sys |
| Registry key: | HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\bam |
Default Behavior
Background Activity Moderator Driver is a kernel driver. In Windows 11 it starts at Kernel initialization. If Background Activity Moderator Driver fails to start, the failure details will be recorded into Event Log. Then Windows 11 should boot up and notify the user about the bam service startup failure.
Restore Default Startup Configuration of Background Activity Moderator Driver
1. Run the Command Prompt as an administrator.
2. Copy the commands below, paste them into the command window and press ENTER:
sc config bam start= system
sc start bam
3. Close the command window and restart the computer.
The bam service is using the bam.sys file that is located in the C:\Windows\system32\drivers directory. If the file is removed or corrupted, read this article to restore its original version from Windows 11 installation media.