Windows setup

Note: I don’t really use Windows anymore. This is just here for reference if I ever need to again for gaming.

I prefer to use Education edition which seems to come with the least crap.

General

  • Firefox
  • Windows Terminal
  • MSYS2
  • PowerToys
  • MusicBee
  • ShareX
  • VMware Workstation Player (vbox kinda sucks imo)

Tweaks

Group Policy

  • Disable Windows Update driver updates: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update
    • (Windows 10) Do not include drivers with Windows Updates: Enabled
    • (Windows 11) -> Manage updates offered from Windows Update; Do not include drivers with Windows Updates: Enabled
    • (IMPORTANT! After my experiences on 2023-06-21.)
  • Reduce Microsoft data collection: Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Data Collection and Preview Builds
    • (Windows 10) Allow Telemetry: 0 - Security
    • (Windows 11) Allow Diagnostic Data: Diagnostic data off
    • (Note: I use Education edition which allows these to be set to the lowest like this)

Settings

AMD Graphics

  • Various games where it looks ‘stuttery’
    • Games -> Add 64 exe -> Disable FreeSync
    • (Xiaomi’s display also has bad brightness flicker with variable refresh rate, so turning it off when super unstable can help a lot)