From 606096c6743db249bc25cafb7792afd09b28c370 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Michael Campagnaro Date: Sun, 19 May 2024 17:19:52 -0400 Subject: [PATCH] Update windows setup notes; moved things around and added steps to speed up explorer search --- dotfiles/windows/readme.md | 135 ++++++++++++++++++++----------------- 1 file changed, 73 insertions(+), 62 deletions(-) diff --git a/dotfiles/windows/readme.md b/dotfiles/windows/readme.md index 25c315a..22509fa 100644 --- a/dotfiles/windows/readme.md +++ b/dotfiles/windows/readme.md @@ -37,13 +37,6 @@ * Before deleting a certificate, export it as a backup in case it's needed for system operation. Can also make a restore point before making any changes. -* Disable the annoying Windows alert sound that plays when doing things like using a terminal, hitting tab to autocomplete and it has no match. - * Open C:/windows/media - * Find `Windows Background.wav` - * Right-click -> Properties -> Security -> Advanced -> Change Owner from `TrustedInstaller` to your user account -> Apply - * Back in the previous Security tab, click Edit to change permisisons -> add your user account and grant all permissions - * Now you can delete the file or rename it. - * Maybe disable swapfile * Not a good idea to have this turned on for SSDs since it's extra writes, and writing to an SSD degrades the drive. Probably best to put this on a spinning disk. It's unclear if it's a bad idea to entirely disable on Windows 10 & 11. You likely won't have an issue if you have lots of RAM, but apparently its used for other @@ -51,58 +44,18 @@ * Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Performance settings -> Advanced -> Change paging settings -> set the drives to none * Reboot +* Download [O&O ShutUp10](https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10) and disable things. + +* Download [InControl](https://www.grc.com/incontrol.htm) to stop Microsoft from pushing Windows 11. + +* Install Open-Shell to restore the start menu to the sensible Windows 7 style. + * Disable `Enhance Pointer Precision`: * Mouse Properties -> Pointer Options -> Motion section * Laptop: change touchpad sensitivity to medium or high in order to prevent mouse movement when palm touches the pad while typing. * If using a Lenovo then disable touchpad lock in the Lenovo Vantage app. -* Map caps key to left-ctrl - * If the keyboard supports remapping at the hardware level (e.g. like the Keychron keyboards) then map it there and this should cover all - use cases, including Steam Link which for some reason does not respect the various remapping setups (except for PowerTools - see below). - * For software based remapping, there are two options: - * Use SharpKeys for a simple config change in Windows. You don't have to run any software at startup to get the remapping. The downside is that - this doesn't work over Steam Link. - * Use Bill Microsoft's [PowerTools](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/). Install it and then go to the key remapper tool in the settings. - This works over Steam Link but it requires you to run the program to get the remapping. If you go down this path then be sure to go through the settings - and disable the various tools that you don't want. - -* If using 2+ monitors with different resolutions then you'll very likely have trouble with the mouse cursor moving from one screen to another due to a bad mapping. - You can fix this by installing [LittleBigMouse](https://github.com/mgth/LittleBigMouse/releases), run it, check the `Allow Corner Crossing` box and then apply. - -* Download [O&O ShutUp10](https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10) and disable things. - -* Download [InControl](https://www.grc.com/incontrol.htm) to stop Microsoft from pushing Windows 11. - -* Disable Corana: group policy editor -> Administrative Templates -> Search -> disable the "Allow Cortana ..." settings. - -* Install Open-Shell to restore the start menu to the sensible Windows 7 style. - -* Pin "This PC" to taskbar - * In Win 10 start menu, search for "This PC", right click top result and pin to taskbar - -* Disable collection of recently opened files - * winkey+r -> `gpedit.msc`. - * User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar - * Double-click the `Do no keep history of recently opened documents` policy. - * Select Enabled. - -* Configure Explorer's options - * Open file explorer, click on File menu then options or "Change folder and search options" - * General tab - * `Open File Explorer to: This PC` - * Uncheck `Show recently used files in Quick access` - * Uncheck `Show frequently used folder in Quick access` - * View tab - * Check `Show hidden files, folders, or drives`, - * Uncheck `Hide extensions for known file types` - -* Disable reopening apps on startup - * Windows settings -> Account -> Sign in options -> Privacy section: turn off `Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up device` - -* Disable window suggestion when snapping a window - * Windows settings -> System -> Multitasking -> uncheck "When I snap a window, show what I can snap next to it" - * Desktop: turn off hibernation * Open admin cmd prompt: `powercfg.exe /hibernate off` @@ -112,12 +65,7 @@ * Double-click the `Turn off Power Throttling` policy. * Select Enabled. -* Disable reserved network bandwidth - * winkey+r -> `gpedit.msc`. - * Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > QoS Packet Scheduler > Limit reservable bandwidth - * Enable it and set the % to 0. - -* Enable ultimate power plan (alternatively make a new plan and set the min/max processor speed to 100%) +* Enable Ultimate Power Plan (alternatively make a new plan and set the min/max processor speed to 100%) * Open cmd as admin, run `powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61` * Can now select the ultimate power plan in power options. @@ -127,6 +75,11 @@ * AFAIK this only works for Intel CPUs; not sure how to do the same thing on AMD. * In the power plan set the processor min/max speed to 99%. +* Disable reserved network bandwidth + * winkey+r -> `gpedit.msc`. + * Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Network > QoS Packet Scheduler > Limit reservable bandwidth + * Enable it and set the % to 0. + * Disable UAC screen dimming * Open User Account Control settings * Drag the slider down to the notch that doesn't dim the screen. @@ -151,6 +104,17 @@ processor time and is generally useless. * Disable the Windows Customer Experience Improvement program via group policy https://web.archive.org/web/20200131202352/https://www.ghacks.net/2016/10/26/turn-off-the-windows-customer-experience-program/ +* Disable web search in Windows explorer search box (can speed up the horrible search feature, but really just use the Everything app!) + * Group policy editor: + * Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Search + * Enable `Do no allow web search` and `Don't search the web or disable web results in Search` + * Alternatively, just disable the Windows search service altogether. + +* Disable Cortana: + * Group policy editor: + * Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Search + * Disable `Allow Cortana ...` settings. + * Increase TDR setting for GPU Driver * TDR determines the length of time that a GPU can hang on a computation until the OS restarts the driver. By default this is set to a few seconds so you can experience app crashes when @@ -186,6 +150,36 @@ processor time and is generally useless. * Windows PowerShell 2.0 (current version is 5+ as of 2021-03-05) * Work folders client +* Turn off various startup processes + * ctrl+shift+esc -> startup + +* Disable unneeded services + +* Pin "This PC" to taskbar + * In Win 10 start menu, search for "This PC", right click top result and pin to taskbar + +* Disable collection of recently opened files + * winkey+r -> `gpedit.msc`. + * User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Start Menu and Taskbar + * Double-click the `Do no keep history of recently opened documents` policy. + * Select Enabled. + +* Configure Explorer's options + * Open file explorer, click on File menu then options or "Change folder and search options" + * General tab + * `Open File Explorer to: This PC` + * Uncheck `Show recently used files in Quick access` + * Uncheck `Show frequently used folder in Quick access` + * View tab + * Check `Show hidden files, folders, or drives`, + * Uncheck `Hide extensions for known file types` + +* Disable reopening apps on startup + * Windows settings -> Account -> Sign in options -> Privacy section: turn off `Use my sign-in info to automatically finish setting up device` + +* Disable window suggestion when snapping a window + * Windows settings -> System -> Multitasking -> uncheck "When I snap a window, show what I can snap next to it" + * Restore classic Windows Photo Viewer app (the default Win10 photos app is fucking awful): * Run photo_viewer.reg from this folder. * You'll need to change the default app for the various image extensions. Don't change gif types @@ -214,12 +208,29 @@ processor time and is generally useless. * Disable various web trackers using browserleaks.com as a guide. * e.g. disable WebGL, canvas fingerprinting, geolocation, font fingerprint, etc. -* Turn off various startup processes - * ctrl+shift+esc -> startup +* Disable the annoying Windows alert sound that plays when doing things like using a terminal, hitting tab to autocomplete and it has no match. + * Open C:/windows/media + * Find `Windows Background.wav` + * Right-click -> Properties -> Security -> Advanced -> Change Owner from `TrustedInstaller` to your user account -> Apply + * Back in the previous Security tab, click Edit to change permisisons -> add your user account and grant all permissions + * Now you can delete the file or rename it. -* Disable unneeded services +* Map caps key to left-ctrl + * If the keyboard supports remapping at the hardware level (e.g. like the Keychron keyboards) then map it there and this should cover all + use cases, including Steam Link which for some reason does not respect the various remapping setups (except for PowerTools - see below). + * For software based remapping, there are two options: + * Use SharpKeys for a simple config change in Windows. You don't have to run any software at startup to get the remapping. The downside is that + this doesn't work over Steam Link. + * Use Bill Microsoft's [PowerTools](https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases/). Install it and then go to the key remapper tool in the settings. + This works over Steam Link but it requires you to run the program to get the remapping. If you go down this path then be sure to go through the settings + and disable the various tools that you don't want. + +* If using 2+ monitors with different resolutions then you'll very likely have trouble with the mouse cursor moving from one screen to another due to a bad mapping. + You can fix this by installing [LittleBigMouse](https://github.com/mgth/LittleBigMouse/releases), run it, check the `Allow Corner Crossing` box and then apply. But note + that I had some issues when running this. I forget the details now. Ended up uninstalling. * Do a pass over all Windows setting screens for anything obvious that wasn't covered here. * Open the Windows settings Apps & features and remove bloatware that isn't visible in the control panel add/remove list, e.g. OneDrive +