SYSCONF16

Optimising Windows 10

Preparatory Tasks

Disabling UAC
  1. Hit "Win + S" on your keyboard to open Search
  2. Type "UAC" and click "Change User Account Control settings"
  3. Slide the blue slider to "Never notify" and click "OK"
  4. Click "Yes"
Disabling Real-Time Protection
  1. Start Menu > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > "Manage settings" under "Virus & threat protection settings"
  2. Turn off "Real-time protection"
  3. Exit
Collecting Tools
  1. On the desktop of the target system, create 4 folders named "configs", "tools", "scripts" and "installers"
  2. Right-click the following link, "Save link as", and save inside the "configs" folder
  3. Visit the following links and download the portable executable archives. Extract and save all inside the "tools" folder
  4. Visit the following links and download the executables. Save the files inside the "installers" folder
  5. Visit the following link and download the archive. Extract and place the "scripts" folder in the same location as "Privatezilla.exe"
  6. Right-click the following link, "Save link as", and save inside the "scripts" folder
  7. Visit the following link then download and extract the script to the "scripts" folder

Managing Telemetry, Data Collection & Services

privacy.sexy Script
  1. In the "scripts" folder, right-click "privacy-script.bat", then click "Run as administrator"
  2. Restart once the script is complete
Defender Control
  1. Open "dControl" from the "tools" folder
  2. Click "Disable Windows Defender"
  3. Manually disable Tamper protection if prompted
  4. Exit
ShutUp10
  1. Open "OOSU10" from the "tools" folder
  2. File > Import settings... > select "ooshutup10.cfg" from the "configs" folder > click "OK"
  3. Exit > click "OK" > click "Close"
Privatezilla
  1. Open "Privatezilla" from the "tools" folder
  2. Under the "Scripts" tab, check the following:
  3. Click "Apply selected"
  4. Click "OK" 4 times
  5. If the script becomes stuck at "Waiting for explorer to complete loading", close the Powershell window manually, then click "OK"
  6. Click "Yes" 4 times, then "No" 3 times
  7. Click "OK"
  8. Under the "Settings" tab, check the following:
  9. Click "Apply selected"
  10. Exit
WPD
  1. Open "WPD" from the "tools" folder
  2. Click "Privacy"
  3. Turn off the following:
  4. Leave "Windows Update" enabled
  5. Click the "Blocker" tab
  6. Click "Telemetry" under "Rule sets"
  7. Exit
PrivaZer
  1. Open "PrivaZer" from the "tools" folder
  2. Click "Cancel"
  3. Click "Advanced Options"
  4. Click the "Memory" tab
  5. Click "Stop" under "Wsearch Indexing"
  6. Exit
CCleaner
  1. Open "CCleaner64" from the "tools" folder
  2. Click "Tools", then "Startup"
  3. Click "SecurityHealth", then "Delete"
  4. Click "Scheduled Tasks", then "CCleanerSkipUAC - User", then "Delete", then "OK"
  5. Click "MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineCore", then "Disable"
  6. Click "MicrosoftEdgeUpdateTaskMachineUA", then "Disable"
  7. Click "Windows Services", then check "Advanced Mode"
  8. Disable all except the following:
  9. Exit
InSpectre (on Intel Systems Only)
  1. Right-click "InSpectre" from the "tools" folder and click "Run as administrator"
  2. Click "Disable Meltdown Protection" and "Disable Spectre Protection"
  3. Exit
Downfall (on Intel Systems Only)
  1. Right-click the Start Menu and click "Command Prompt (Administrator)"
  2. Copy and paste the following: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management" /v FeatureSettingsOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 33554432 /f, then hit the Enter key
  3. Click through any prompts to modify the registry and exit

Configuring Windows

Restoring Clipboard History & Snip & Sketch (on LTSC Systems Only)
  1. Run the ltsc-2021-snip-installer-main "runme.bat"
  2. Click "More info" on the SmartScreen prompt, then "Run anyway" (if present)
  3. Click "Yes" on the UAC prompt
  4. Exit
Start Menu
  1. Right-click and unpin all tiles
Taskbar
  1. Right-click > Search > click "Show search icon"
  2. Right-click > uncheck "Show Task View button"
  3. Start Menu > right-click "Microsoft Edge" > More > click "Pin to taskbar"
  4. Start Menu > Windows System > right-click File Explorer > More > click "Pin to taskbar"
Explorer
  1. Hit "Win + E" on your keyboard to open an explorer window
  2. File > click "Change folder and search options"
  3. Click "Quick Access" and change to "This PC"
  4. Uncheck "Show frequently used folders in Quick access"
  5. Copy and paste C:\Users\%username%\ into the address bar, then press the enter key
  6. Delete the "3D Objects" folder
  7. Exit
Settings
  1. Start Menu > click "Settings"
  2. Click "System" and change the following settings:
  3. Click "Devices" and change the following settings:
  4. Click "Network & Internet" and change the following settings:
  5. Click "Personalisation" and change the following settings:
  6. Click "Apps" and change the following settings:
  7. Click "Gaming" and change the following settings:
  8. Click "Ease of Access" and change the following settings:
  9. Click "Search" and change the following settings:
  10. Exit
Task Manager
  1. Right-click the Taskbar > click "Task Manager"
  2. Click "More details"
  3. Processes > right-click "Name" > uncheck "Status", "Power usage", "Power usage trend" > check "GPU"
  4. Performance > click "GPU 0" > right-click the graph space > "Change graph to" > click "Single engine"
  5. App history > right-click "Name" > uncheck "Metered network" and "Tile updates"
  6. Startup > right-click "Name" > uncheck "Publisher" and "Start-up impact"
  7. Select any options present in the list, then "Disable"
  8. Users > right-click "Name" > uncheck "Status" > check "GPU"
  9. Exit
Control Panel
  1. Hit "Win + S" on your keyboard to open Search
  2. Type "Control Panel" and click "Control Panel"
  3. Programs > click "Turn Windows Features on or off"
  4. Uncheck "Remote Differential Compression API Support" and click "OK"
  5. Click "Close"
System Configuration
  1. Hit "Win + S" on your keyboard to open Search
  2. Type "msconfig" and click "System Configuration"
  3. Boot > check "No GUI boot" > click "OK" > click "Exit without restart"
Internet Properties
  1. Hit "Win + S" on your keyboard to open Search
  2. Type "inetcpl.cpl" and click "OK"
  3. Security > click "Custom level..."
  4. Miscellaneous > change "Launching applications and unsafe files" to "Enabled (not secure)", then click "OK" and "Yes"
  5. Click "OK"
Notepad
  1. Start Menu > Windows Accessories > click "Notepad"
  2. View > uncheck "Status Bar"
  3. Format > check "Word Wrap"
  4. Exit
Setting Temp Folder Permissions
  1. Hit "Win + E" on your keyboard to open Explorer
  2. Copy and paste C:\Windows into the address bar, then press the enter key
  3. Find the "temp" folder, then right-click > "Properties"
  4. Click "Security" > "Edit...", then click "Users (ComputerName\Users)"
  5. Check "Allow" for "Full control", click "OK", then "Yes", then "Continue" if prompted
Removing the "Synchronize Language Settings" Service Shutdown Hang
  1. Hit "Win + S" on your keyboard to open Search
  2. Type "Task Scheduler" and hit "Enter"
  3. Under "Active Tasks", find "Synchronize Language Settings" and double click
  4. Select the task, then under "Selected Item" click "Delete, then "Yes"
  5. Exit
Installing Basic Applications
  1. Navigate to the "installers" folder on the desktop
  2. Install each application
Configuring Basic Applications
  1. For 7-Zip
    1. Start Menu > 7-Zip > right-click "7-Zip File Manager" > More > Run as administrator
    2. Tools > System > Associate 7-Zip with: > click the "+" above "All users"
    3. Click "CompressedFolder" next to "zip"
    4. Click "CABFolder" next to "cab"
    5. 7-Zip > uncheck "Cascaded context menu"
    6. Uncheck all "Context menu items:" except "Extract files" and "Add to archive..."
    7. Click "OK" and exit
  2. For JPEGView & SumatraPDF:
    1. Navigate to the "scripts" folder on the desktop
    2. Run the jpegview-and-sumatrapdf-configurator-main "runme.cmd"
    3. Exit
  3. For MPC-BE
    1. Start Menu > MPC-BE x64 > right-click "MPC-BE x64" > More > Run as administrator
    2. View > Options
    3. Under "Player" > "Formats", click "All", uncheck "With icons", and uncheck "Directory" and "Files"
    4. Under "Player" > "Interface", uncheck "Use the "dark" theme (default)" if light theme preferred
    5. Under "Player" > "Window size", select "Standard window size" and "Scale to video size (100%)", uncheck "Remember last window position"
    6. Under "Playback", check "Default track preference", and type "eng" into the "Subtitles" and "Audio" text boxes
    7. Under "Video", select "MPC Video Renderer" as the video renderer
    8. Under "Subtitles" > "Rendering", change the "Maximum texture resolution" to "Desktop"
    9. Click "OK" and exit
Setting Default Apps
  1. Start Menu > SumatraPDF > click the handburger menu in the top left > Settings > click "Options"
  2. Click "Make SumatraPDF the default PDF viewer" and exit
  3. Start Menu > JPEGView > click "Cancel" and right-click the black space > Settings/Admin > click "Set as the default viewer"
  4. Exit
  5. Start Menu > Settings > Apps > Default Apps
  6. Click "Paint" under "Photo viewer", then click "JPEGView"
  7. Click "Choose a default" under "Web browser", then click "Microsoft Edge"
  8. Click "Choose a default" under "Music player", then click "MPC-HC x64"
  9. Click "Choose a default" under "Video player", then click "MPC-HC x64"
  10. Click "Choose default applications by file type", find ".pdf", click the item listed then click "SumatraPDF"
  11. Exit

Related Guides

Configuring Microsoft Edge on Windows
Cleaning-up Windows 10