-
In Windows Device Manager (devmgmt.msc) go to Network adapters and right click each and go to properties, then Power Management and uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
-
Disable NetBIOS over TCP in Network Adapter IPV4 settings to disable unnecessary SYSTEM listening service
- Network & Internet Settings > Change Adapter Options > Adapter Properties > Select TCP/IP v4 > Advanced > WINS tab > Disable NetBIOS over TCP/IP > Press OK
- Note: This change is immediate
-
Right click the desktop and go to Display Settings, ensure that Scale and layout are set to 100% (Recommended)
-
Add exclusions to Windows Defender
-
Open Windows Security and go to Virus and Threat Protection > Virus and Threat Protection Settings > Exclusions and be sure to add each of your games as as full paths to the executable vs just using executable name to ensure ideal security with least impact during gameplay. e.g. D:\Steam Games\steamapps\common\Half-Life\hl.exe vs just hl.exe
-
Open Powershell as admin and enter the following command to add scanning exclusions for the Steam, NVIDIA Shader Cache folder and Microsoft's recommendations for exclusions to Windows Defender. See Technical References for more information on Microsoft's recommendations.
-
This will help reduce the time spent scanning by Windows Defender as new files are downloaded and those used during gameplay (e.g. textures, sounds).
-
❓ I have concerns over excluding the steam folder. Notably, the steamapps folder is user writable, against Windows convention. Further, it has become common for games originating from certain Eastern countries to require UAC elevation, and steam's catalog is generally a lawless place. It would be unwise to exclude this folder from AV checks, particularly since there are no safeguards against, say, replacing with malware a game which the user is trained to automatically permit UAC elevation. -Aelius
Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}"\Steam\" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:LOCALAPPDATA"\Temp\NVIDIA Corporation\NV_Cache" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:PROGRAMDATA"\NVIDIA Corporation\NV_Cache" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Datastore.edb" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\Edb*.jrs" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\Edb.chk" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\Tmp.edb" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\SoftwareDistribution\Datastore\Logs\*.log" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.edb" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.sdb" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.log" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.chk" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.jrs" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.xml" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.csv" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\Security\Database\*.cmtx" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\Registry.pol" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\GroupPolicy\Machine\Registry.tmp" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:userprofile"\NTUser.dat" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\sru\*.log" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\sru\*.dat" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\sru\*.chk" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\Configuration\MetaConfig.mof" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\winevt\Logs\*.evtx" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\apppatch\sysmain.sdb" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:windir"\EventLog\Data\lastalive?.dat" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}"\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\WPRUI.exe" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}"\Windows Kits\10\Windows Performance Toolkit\wpa.exe" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\Modules" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\Configuration\DSCStatusHistory.mof" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\Configuration\DSCEngineCache.mof" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\Configuration\DSCResourceStateCache.mof" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath $env:SystemRoot"\System32\Configuration\ConfigurationStatus" Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess ${env:ProgramFiles(x86)}"\Common Files\Steam\SteamService.exe"
-
-
Uninstall common Windows Store Metro Apps, In Powershell as admin run the following commands and press enter so they complete.
Get-AppxPackage *print3d* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *3dviewer* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *zune* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *minecraft* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *bing* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *skype* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *solitaire* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *candycrush* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *netflix* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *onenote* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *dolby* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *fitbit* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *feedback* | Remove-AppxPackage Get-AppxPackage *yourphone* | Remove-AppxPackage -
Open CMD.exe (Command Prompt) as administrator and run this command to uninstall Microsoft OneDrive
%SystemRoot%\SysWOW64\OneDriveSetup.exe /uninstall -
Install any necessary drivers such as Chipset drivers provided by your manufacturer for your motherboard. (Not videocard drivers, this will be done later)
- Check Windows Device Manager for clues as to which drivers may not be present or working, devices under System generally refer to Chipset or Management Systems (Intel Management Engine)
- It is often recommended to use the drivers provided by your motherboard manufacturer since they may include additional optimizations for your specific hardware.
- For the most part you may not need to install the latest audio or network drivers unless you notice issues with them in the future. The drivers that windows installs automatically are generally well tested or approved.
-
Avoid installing any uncessary software
-
Run Process Idle Tasks then while it's running open task manager and monitor the progress. The CPU, disk and memory use will increase for a few minutes until all the necessary background, scheduled and maintenenace tasks are complete.
Open cmd.exe as administrator then enter the following command Rundll32.exe advapi32.dll,ProcessIdleTasks -
Don't modify Windows BOOT options using BCDEDIT.exe, although they have the potential to alter your computing experience they are intended for advanced software debugging. The default BOOT options are recommended by Microsoft.
-
If you have an SSD ensure TRIM is enabled and run regularly, TRIM allows proper maintenance of unused space on SSDs after files have been deleted.
-
Check and enable TRIM windows feature, use the following commands using cmd.exe as administrator to check if the feature is enabled. It should return Disabled (0) if the feature is active.
fsutil behavior query Disabledeletenotify fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0 -
Increase the frequency TRIM is run for your SSD drive
- Open My Computer
- Right click your drive (e.g. C:) and go to properties, go to the Tools tab then Optimize
- Press Change Settings, ensure Scheduled Optimization is enabled and set to Daily for each of your drives
- Press the Drives button to double check each drive is specified for maintenance
- Press OK/Apply for each of the open windows to submit the changes.
-
-
Optimize NTFS file system parameters to reduce updates to some of the metadata that is tracked.
-
Disable additional updates to directory last access times
-
Disables the creation of legacy 8.3 character-length file names on FAT- and NTFS-formatted volumes.
Run the following commands using cmd.exe as administrator, requires restart to take effect fsutil behavior set disableLastAccess 1 fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1
-
-
Enable the Ultimate Performance power scheme which is intended to be an improved version of the High Performance power scheme.
- As per Technical References, This new policy builds on the current High-Performance policy, and it goes a step further to eliminate micro-latencies associated with fine grained power management techniques.
- Remember if you use the provided Desired State Configuration (DSC) script with this guide and plan to use the new power scheme, you'll need to edit the DSC to enforce the new ultimate performance power scheme vs the high performance power scheme.
Run the following commands using cmd.exe as administrator powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 Go to Windows power options and enable Ultimate Performance power plan.
-
Reconnect your network ethernet cable, continue onto the next process.