Installing A Windows Desktop: Difference between revisions

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<div style="float: right;">
{| class=wikitable style="margin-left: 0.5em; width: 24em;"
|+ style="font-size: large;" | Current Version: Windows 11
|
{| style="background-color:unset !important;"
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" | [[File:Windows 11 logo.svg|256px]]
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;"
| Developer
| style="padding-left: 1em" | Microsoft
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| RTM
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2021-06-24
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| General&nbsp;Availability
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2021-10-05
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Written in
| style="padding-left: 1em" | C, C++, C#, assembly language
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Platforms
| style="padding-left: 1em" | x86-64, ARMv8
|-
| Website
| style="padding-left: 1em" | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
|}
|}
{| class=wikitable style="margin-left: 0.5em; width: 24em;"
|+ style="font-size: large;" | Previous Version: Windows 10
|
{| style="background-color:unset !important;"
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" | [[File:Windows 10 Logo.svg|256px]]
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;"
| Developer
| style="padding-left: 1em" | Microsoft
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| RTM
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2015-07-15
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| General&nbsp;Availability
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2015-07-29
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Support Ends
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2025-10-14
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Written in
| style="padding-left: 1em" | C, C++, C#, assembly language
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Platforms
| style="padding-left: 1em" | IA-32, x86-64, ARMv7, ARMv8
|-
| Website
| style="padding-left: 1em" | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
|}
|}
{| class=wikitable style="margin-left: 0.5em; width: 24em;"
|+ style="font-size: large;" | In Extended Support: Windows 8.1
|
{| style="background-color:unset !important;"
| colspan=2 style="text-align:center" | [[File:Windows 8 logo.svg|256px]]
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important; padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;"
| Developer
| style="padding-left: 1em" | Microsoft
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| RTM
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2013-08-27
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| General&nbsp;Availability
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2013-10-17
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Support Ends
| style="padding-left: 1em" | 2023-01-10
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Written in
| style="padding-left: 1em" | C, C++, C#, assembly language
|- style=" vertical-align:top !important"
| Platforms
| style="padding-left: 1em" | IA-32, x86-64
|-
| Website
| style="padding-left: 1em" | https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
|}
|}
</div>
=Pre-Setup=
=Pre-Setup=


==BIOS Time Set To UTC vs Local Time==
==BIOS Time Set To UTC vs Local Time==


Windows has had support for setting the BIOS clock to UTC since NT 4.0.  However, this support was undocumented and forgotten about until XP. Fuller support is available in Vista and 7, but there are still two bugs as noted below.  However, the trade-off may be worth it to you.  Every other OS expects the clock to be set to UTC, so if you dual-boot between Mac and Windows or Windows and Linux, you can make things easier on yourself.
Windows 8 and 10 have support for setting the time to UTC and may even detect if the system time is in UTC or local time.
 
There are still a couple of bugs as noted below, but the trade-off may be worth it to you.  Every other OS expects the clock to be set to UTC.


* Windows will not sync to time servers if told that the BIOS clock is UTC.
* Windows will not sync to time servers if told that the BIOS clock is UTC.
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Please read [[Drive Partitioning]] first as it contains a lot of good information.
Please read [[Drive Partitioning]] first as it contains a lot of good information.


If you are using BIOS/MBR, you may wish to partition the drive yourself using a Linux utility like <tt>parted</tt>.  If you leave partitioning up to Windows, it will align the partitions on cylinder boundaries, which will clobber performance on 4K sector drives (some 500GB, all 1TB and higher drives).  Windows does nothing special with BIOS/MBR setups, so it safe to partition the drive the way you want before installing Windows.
===BIOS+MBR vs UEFI+GPT===
 
Windows falsely ties GPT with UEFI and MBR with BIOS.


If you are using UEFI/GPT, you may wish to leave partitioning up to Windows as it wants to create an ESP and MSR (EFI System Partition and Microsoft System Reserved, respectively) partition in addition to the basic data partition.  Windows should repect proper alignment for paritions on GPT.  If you want to be cautious (or particular) you can create a smallish (20GB) partition for Windows, install Windows, and then use a Linux untility to check alignment and expand the partition to exactly where you want it.  (Use <tt>diskpart</tt> to <tt>expand filesystem</tt> if you expand the partition after the filesystem has already been created.)
It's strongly suggested to use UEFI with GPT when possible as it allows for at least 128 partitions.  In general, you can let Microsoft (and OEMs) do whatever they want to your hard drive as it's nearly impossible to deplete the alotment of partitions.


==Install From USB==
If your system uses legacy BIOS with MBR, you may wish to partition the drive yourself, especially if you plan on installing a second OS onto the drive.
* Any bootable Windows parition '''''must''''' occur on a primary partition
* MBR is limited to 4 primary paritions
** One of which can be an extended partition (which then lets you create unlimited logical partitions)


You can run the Window installer from a USB flash drive rather than the DVD-ROM.  This should provide faster and quieter operation.
===Parition Alignment===


* [http://rufus.akeo.ie Rufus] is an open-source project that can create bootable USB drives from ISO images.  The latest version can be downloaded [http://rufus.akeo.ie/downloads/rufus.exe here].
Starting with Vista, Windows will align partitions to 1MiB boundaries, so basic partitioning via Windows Setup is OK.
* Microsoft also provides a tool to do this that can be run under Windows XP, Vista, or 7.  XP users must install [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856EACB-4362-4B0D-8EDD-AAB15C5E04F5&displaylang=en Microsoft .NET Framework v2] and [http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=B5F726F1-4ACE-455D-BAD7-ABC4DD2F147B&displaylang=en Microsoft Image Mastering API v2] before using the [http://images2.store.microsoft.com/prod/clustera/framework/w7udt/1.0/en-us/Windows7-USB-DVD-tool.exe Windows 7 USB DVD Tool]
 
===Shrinkinng NTFS Partitions===
 
Windows Vista introduced the ability to shrink NTFS partitions, even those currently in use.  This can be incredibly useful on OEM PCs if you want to make room for a second OS.
 
If you're trying to end a Windows partition at a particular boundary, you may want to under-allocate and then use something like GNU <tt>parted</tt> to re-create the Windows partition at the boundary you want and then use {{ic|diskpart}} with {{ic|expand filesystem}} when you get back into Windows.
 
===Microsoft Reserved Partition===
 
Starting with 7, Windows will create a Microsoft Reserved partition when given a GPT disk with no partitions:
* Windows 7 & 8: 128MiB
* Windows 10: 16MiB
 
===Windows Recovery Parition===
 
Starting with 8, Windows will create a Windows Recovery partition:
* Windows 8: 300MB as the first partition, shown during volume selection
* Windows 10: 450MB as the last partition, hidden during volume selection
This partition is different from an OEM recovery partition.


==Pre-Download==
==Pre-Download==


It is recommended to download the latest Service Pack, Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, and antivirus before installing Windows.  This way you won't have a (too) vulnerable system attached to the internet. ''Note:''  Windows Media Player requires a Windows Genuine Advantage check to install. If you wish to bypass this, use a program like 7-Zip to extract the EXE contents and run <tt>wmfdist''nn''.exe</tt> and <tt>wmp''nn''.exe</tt> to install Windows Media Player.
Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft keeps its ISO updated.


You may also wish to check out [http://ninite.com Ninite]. The Ninite Installer automates the process of downloading and installing dozens of software programs, including .NET 3.5 and antivirus.
You may also wish to download video card drivers before hand, as AMD and NVIDIA usually offer drivers that are more up-to-date than what's available via Windows Update.  Download either [https://www.amd.com/en/support AMD Driver Auto-Detect] or [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience/ NVIDIA GeForce Experience] (obsolete) or the [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/software/nvidia-app/ NVIDIA App] (in beta).


You may also wish to download video card drivers before hand, as AMD and NVIDIA usually offer drivers that are more up-to-date than what's available via Windows Update.  Download either [http://www2.ati.com/drivers/auto/amddriverdownloader.exe AMD Driver Auto-Detect] or [http://us.download.nvidia.com/GFE/GFEClient/1.8.2.0/GeForce_Experience_v1.8.2.0.exe NVIDIA GeForce Experience] (Requires .NET 3.5).
Use [http://www.windowsupdatesdownloader.com Windows Updates Downloader] to download security updates for your version of Windows.
 
*Use <tt>FOR %U IN (*) DO START /W %U /QUIET /NORESTART</tt> to execute all security updates in a given folder.
 
Download Anti-virus such as [http://www.avira.com/en/free-download-avira-antivir-personal Avira] or [https://www.kaspersky.com/free-cloud-antivirus Kaspersky] if Windows' built-in Defender isn't enough for you.


=During Setup=
=During Setup=


There really aren't a whole lot of options.  There are only a couple things to keep in mind.
==Administration==
 
The default in Windows is that the first user created is part of the Administrators group and subsequent accounts are Standard Users.  This wiki recommends you choose one of the following:
 
# Create one account not named Administrator that will be part of the Administrators group and use that for administrative duties while creating Standard User accounts for daily use.  This allows you to have laxer password complexity on the account that acts as an Administrator.
# Create an account for yourself that you will later drop to Standard User after re-enabling the Administrator account using <tt>net user administrator /active:yes</tt>.  This route requires that you know full-well that people will try to attack the Administrator account but you feel confident in your password complexity.


# Decide how you want to handle having an Administrator account.
Use a short name rather than a full name when creating user accounts to get short directory names.  (E.g., {{ic|john}} instead of {{ic|John Smith}})  You can use {{ic|netplwiz}} to change full details. Changes to the name in User Accounts in Control Panel only affect the full name.
## The default in XP is that everyone becomes part of the Administrators group.  '''NO!'''
 
## The default in Vista and 7 is that the first user created is part of the Administrators group and subsequent accounts are Standard Users. Better, but most people only create one account (for themselves) and use that.  '''NO!'''
==Microsoft Account==
## This wiki recommends you choose one of the following
 
### Create one account not named Administrator that will be part of the Administrators group and use that for administrative duties while creating Standard User accounts for daily use.  This allows you to have laxer password complexity on the account that acts as an Administrator.
Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft ''really, really'' wants you to use a Micrsoft Account to log into Windows.  While the prospect of not having to tune settings on every individual machine you own might be a nice prospect for some, others won't like the privacy implications of tying your Windows usage to an account under Microsoft's complete purvue.
### Create an account for yourself that you will later drop to Standard User after re-enabling the Administrator account using <tt>net user administrator /active:yes</tt>.  This route requires that you know full-well that people will try to attack the Administrator account but you feel confident in your password complexity.
 
# Use a short name rather than a full name when creating user accounts in Windows XP onward.  For example: <tt>john</tt> instead of <tt>John Smith</tt>. Windows XP an later hide a bit of the complexity in creating user account by setting the name/directory and the full name to whatever you type in for name.  This way you get short names for directories.
Privacy implications aside, one useful feature of using a Microsoft Account is that Microsoft allows you to manage your Windows licenses.  To tie a Windows license for a machine to your Microsoft Account, use your Microsoft Account as the first account created during Windows Setup. Should something go horribly wrong, Microsoft Tech Support will be looking for this tie.  Once the Windows license is associated with your account, you can stop using and delete the Microsoft Account from the machine if you want.
## You can use <tt>CONTROL USERPASSWORDS2</tt> (XP) or <tt>netplwiz</tt> (Vista onwards) to change full details.
## In XP, Vista, and 7, changes to the name in User Accounts only affect the full name.


=Post Setup=
=Post Setup=
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For HTPC setups, 96 DPI is unreadable from 9 feet away.
For HTPC setups, 96 DPI is unreadable from 9 feet away.


* XP: Control Panel → Appearance and Themes → Display → Settings → Advanced → General
* Control Panel → Appearance and Personalization → Display → Set Custom text size (DPI)
* 7: Control Panel → Appearance and Personalization → Display → Set Custom text size (DPI)
 
This will only affect your login.  To make this change to the login screen, you need to edit the registry.
 
NB: <tt>word</tt> values are hexadecimal, not decimal.  0x60 is 90 decimal, 0x78 is 120 decimal, and 0x90 is 144 decimal.
 
reg add "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop" /v LogPixels /d 90 /t REG_QWORD /f
 
Replace {{ic|QWORD}} with {{ic|DWORD}} for 32-bit Windows.
 
===Re-Enable the Administrator Account===
 
{{bc|net user administrator /active:yes
net user administrator <new-password>}}
 
===Configure/Disable Password Expiration===
 
Starting with Windows 11, Windows enables password expiration after 42 days.


That will only affect your login.  To make this change to the login screen, you need to edit the registry.
The age at which passwords expire can be changed:


NB: <tt>dword</tt> values are hexadecimal, not decimal.  0x78 is 120 decimal and 0x90 is 144 decimal.
{{bc|net accounts /maxpwage:<days>}}


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
Password expiration can also be disabled altogether:
[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop]
"LogPixels"=dword:00000090


===Enable ClearType in XP===
{{bc|<nowiki>wmic UserAccount where Name="<username>" set PasswordExpires=False</nowiki>}}


* Control Panel → Appearance and Themes → Display → Appearance → Effects.
===Disable Search Indexing===
* Select <tt>Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts</tt> check box
 
* Select <tt>ClearType</tt> from the list.
* Control Panel > Indexing Options
* Control Panel > File Explorer Options > Search
* Drive Properties > Uncheck Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties
 
{{bc|<nowiki>sc config wsearch start=disabled
sc stop wsearch</nowiki>}}


===Temporarily Disable System Restore===
===Temporarily Disable System Restore===
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  rstrui.exe
  rstrui.exe
===Turn Off Drive Indexing===
If you have an SSD, you may want to turn this off since it creates more writes and SSDs are fast enough to make indexing pointless.
* Start Menu → Computer → Right click SSD drive → Properties → uncheck Allow this drive to be indexed → Apply → Ignore All


===Hibernation===
===Hibernation===
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With the RAM that most computers have nowadays, it makes little sense to have much of a swap file.  You still want some space so that Windows can swap out parts of memory that aren't really being used.  Some Windows programs will balk with the lack of a swap file.
With the RAM that most computers have nowadays, it makes little sense to have much of a swap file.  You still want some space so that Windows can swap out parts of memory that aren't really being used.  Some Windows programs will balk with the lack of a swap file.


  [XP users] pagefileconfig /change /i 512 /m 512 /vo c:
  wmic pagefileset where name="C:\\pagefile.sys" set InitialSize=512,MaximumSize=512
 
[Vista,7,8] wmic pagefileset where name="C:\\pagefile.sys" set InitialSize=512,MaximumSize=512
===Disable Fast Startup===
 
Windows Fast Startup does a hybrid sleep where everything is closed down on the software side, but the hardware is put into a sleep state before shutdown.  If you multi-boot, this can be more of a hindrance than a feature.  The major cause of concern is that mounted filesystems in Windows remain in a "in-use" state (the "dirty bit") and unsafe to mount.
 
* Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > (left pane) Choose what the power buttons do > uncheck Turn on fast startup


===Set Windows to use RTC in UTC===
===Set Windows to use RTC in UTC===
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'''''Only do this if your BIOS clock is set to UTC instead of local time!'''''
'''''Only do this if your BIOS clock is set to UTC instead of local time!'''''


  Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
  reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation" /v RealTimeIsUniversal /d 1 /t REG_QWORD /f
 
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation]
Replace {{ic|QWORD}} with {{ic|DWORD}} for 32-bit Windows.
  "RealTimeIsUniversal"=dword:00000001
 
==Tweaks==
 
* Disable Homegroups
** Leave the homegroup
** Disable HomeGroup services
** Edit registry
*** Take ownership of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}
*** Add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}\System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree=qword:0
 
==Other Programs==
 
It's recommended to rely on [https://chocolatey.org/install Chocolatey] (Windows 10 and earlier) or {{ic|winget}} (pre-installed in Windows 11) for program installation and to keep your programs updated.  However, some applications are auto-updating and it's best to install them directly.
 
* [https://www.amd.com/en/support AMD Adrenaline (Radeon and AMD chipset drivers)]
* [https://discord.com/api/downloads/distributions/app/installers/latest?channel=stable&platform=win&arch=x86 Discord]
* [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/geforce-experience NVIDIA GeForce Experience] or [https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/software/nvidia-app/ NVIDIA App]
* [https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/client/installer/SteamSetup.exe Steam]
* Partition Tool
** [https://www.aomeitech.com/aomei-partition-assistant.html AOEMI Partition Assistant] (for functionality)
** [http://www.pcdisk.com/index.html Active@ Partition Manager] (for information)
** Avoid EaseUS Partition Master and Mini-Tool Partition Wizard as they're [https://blog.malwarebytes.com/glossary/bundleware/ bundleware].
* Windows Terminal
** [https://github.com/microsoft/terminal/releases/latest GitHub] (users must update manually)
** [https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/windows-terminal/9n0dx20hk701 Microsoft Store] (updates automatically)
 
===Chocolatey===
 
In PowerShell:
 
{{bc|<nowiki>Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1')</nowiki>)}}
 
===WinGet===
 
{{ic|winget}} comes pre-installed in Windows 11.
 
WinGet used to default to {{ic|machine}} (system) scope when run as Administrator and {{ic|user}} scope otherwise.  WinGet now defaults to {{ic|user}} scope all the time. This can be changed by running {{ic|winget settings}} and specifying {{ic|<nowiki>installBehavior.preferences.scope = user</nowiki>}}:
 
{{bc|"installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
        "scope": "user"
}
}}
 
===GSudo===
 
Windows Terminal is a per-user application (installed in {{ic|C:\Users\$USER}}) not a system application (installed in {{ic|C:\Program Files}}).  This breaks the {{ic|Run As Administrator}} function.
 
{{bc|choco install gsudo}}
{{bc|winget install gerardog.gsudo}}
 
===Applications===
 
====Standard Utilities====
 
These are basic utilties recommended for every user.
 
{{bc|<nowiki>choco install 7zip.install [ cdburnerxp | imgburn | </nowiki>'''infrarecorder'''<nowiki> ] chocolateygui greenshot kdeconnect-kde keepass.install vscodium.install</nowiki>}}
{{bc|<nowiki>winget install 7zip.7zip [ Canneverbe.CDBurnerXP | LIGHTNINGUK.ImgBurn | </nowiki>'''ChristianKindahl.InfraRecorder'''<nowiki> ] Greenshot.Greenshot KDE.KDEConnect DominikReichl.KeePass VSCodium.VSCodium</nowiki>}}
 
====Power-User Utitlies====
 
{{bc|choco install hxd ultravnc windirstat winmerge}}
{{bc|winget install MHNexus.HxD uvncbvba.UltraVnc WinDirStat.WinDirStat WinMerge.WinMerge}}
 
====GNU/Linux Utilities (Windows Native Ports)====
 
{{bc|choco install git.install gnuwin32-coreutils.install wget xming}}
{{bc|winget install Git.Git Xming.Xming}}
 
{{ic|winget}} does not have a package for [https://sourceforge.net/projects/getgnuwin32/files/getgnuwin32/ GnuWin32].  It does have a small subset of individual utilities that can be found with {{ic|winget search gnuwin32}}.
 
====Audio====
 
choco install audacity audacity-ffmpeg audacity-lame eac mediamonkey
 
====Cloud Storage====
 
{{bc|choco install dropbox google-backup-and-sync sugarsync pcloud}}
{{bc|winget install Dropbox.Dropbox Google.GoogleDrive pCloudAG.pCloudDrive}}
 
{{ic|winget}} does not have packages for [https://spideroak.com/opendownload/ SpiderOak services] nor [https://www1.sugarsync.com/apps/ SugarSync]
 
====Fonts====
 
{{bc|choco install jetbrainsmono lato robotofonts sourcecodepro ubuntu.font}}
 
{{ic|winget}} does not have packages for any font.


===Activate Windows===
====Grpahics====


Windows Media Player and some Windows updates won't work until you do.
{{bc|choco install gimp inkscape paint.net}}
{{bc|winget install GIMP.GIMP Inkscape.Inkscape paint.net}}


===Additional XP Themes===
=====Edit with GIMP=====


The traditional three XP themes are old and tired.
If you want to keep the association with Windows' Photos for image viewing but be able to get a right-click option to edit with GIMP:


* [http://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Themes/Royale-Theme-for-WinXP.shtml Royale] [http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061029/royale-noir Royale Nior] [http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=75078 Zune] [http://www.askvg.com/download-new-official-embedded-theme-for-windows-xp-and-2003-no-file-patching-required/ Embedded]
{{hc|edit-with-gimp.reg|2=
* Royale Noir is incomplete and cannot co-exist with Royale
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00


==Essentials==
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP]
"Icon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.10.exe\""


{| style="text-align:center" class="wikitable"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP\command]
!Software!!Windows XP 32-bit!!Windows Vista 32-bit!!Windows Vista 64-bit||Windows 7 32-bit||Windows 7 64-bit
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.10.exe\" \"%1\""}}
|-
| Service Pack
| [http://xpsp.dlservice.microsoft.com/download/d/3/0/d30e32d8-418a-469d-b600-f32ce3edf42d/WindowsXP-KB936929-SP3-x86-ENU.exe SP3]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/7/7/E77CBA41-0B6B-4398-BBBF-EE121EEC0535/Windows6.0-KB948465-X86.exe SP2]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/7/3/473B909B-7B52-49FE-A443-2E2985D3DFC3/Windows6.0-KB948465-X64.exe SP2]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/A/F/0AFB5316-3062-494A-AB78-7FB0D4461357/windows6.1-KB976932-X86.exe SP1]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/A/F/0AFB5316-3062-494A-AB78-7FB0D4461357/windows6.1-KB976932-X64.exe SP1]
|-
| Internet Explorer
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/C/0/CC0BD555-33DD-411E-936B-73AC6F95AE11/IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe IE8]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/8/7/08768091-35BC-48E0-9F7F-B9802A0EE2D6/IE9-WindowsVista-x86-enu.exe IE9]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/C/3/7C3BA535-1D8C-4A87-9F1D-163BBA971CA9/IE9-WindowsVista-x64-enu.exe IE9]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/A/C/8AC7C482-BC74-492E-B978-7ED04900CEDE/IE10-Windows6.1-x86-en-us.exe IE10]
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/C/E/0/CE0AB8AE-E6B7-43F7-9290-F8EB0EA54FB5/IE10-Windows6.1-x64-en-us.exe IE10]
|-
| Windows Media Player
| [http://download.microsoft.com/download/0/9/5/0953E553-3BB6-44B1-8973-106F1B7E5049/wmp11-windowsxp-x86-enu.exe WMP11]
| colspan=2 | WMP11 Included
| colspan=2 | WMP12 Included
|-
| Video Card Drivers
| colspan=5 | [http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx ATI] or [http://www.nvidia.com/Download/Find.aspx?lang=en-us NVIDIA] (Use Windows Update for legacy cards)
|-
| Anti-Virus
| colspan=5 |
[http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus-2014/3001-2239_4-10019223.html?spi=9c193a3bc2a1fc72e9812d87fff43c33 Avast Free]
[http://download.cnet.com/AVG-AntiVirus-Free-2014/3001-2239_4-10320142.html?spi=712e68b32e8b58e33380b426542f171a AVG Free]
[http://www.avira.com/en/free-download-avira-antivir-personal Avira Free]
[http://mse.dlservice.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/enus/x86/mseinstall.exe MSE 32-bit] or [http://mse.dlservice.microsoft.com/download/A/3/8/A38FFBF2-1122-48B4-AF60-E44F6DC28BD8/enus/amd64/mseinstall.exe MSE 64-bit]
|}


Download updates from Windows Update when this is done.
{{bc|reg import edit-with-gimp.reg}}


==Tweaks==
====Hardware====


* Fix Optical Drive Not Appearing in Explorer
{{bc|choco install amd-ryzen-chipset crystaldiskmark cpu-z hwinfo.install hwmonitor intel-chipset-device-software}}
{{bc|winget install CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskMark CPUID.CPU-Z CPUID.HWMonitor REALiX.HWiNFO}}


REGEDIT4
{{ic|winget}} does not have packages for [https://www.amd.com/en/support AMD chipset drivers] nor [https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/detect.html Intel chipset drivers].
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\UpperFilters]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}\LowerFilters]


* Remove Outlook Express in Windows 2000 and XP.
====Internet====


REGEDIT4
{{bc|<nowiki>choco install [ chromium | firefox | googlechrome | </nowiki>'''ungoogled-chromium'''<nowiki> ] nextcloud-client qbittorrent syncthing thunderbird</nowiki>}}
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express]
{{bc|<nowiki>winget install [ Hibbiki.Chromium | Google.Chrome | </nowiki>'''eloston.ungoogled-chromium'''<nowiki> | Mozilla.Firefox ] Nextcloud.NextcloudDesktop qBittorrent.qBittorrent SyncTrayzor.SyncTrayzor Mozilla.Thunderbird</nowiki>}}
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\WAB]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Identities]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Outlook Express]
[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{44BBA840-CC51-11CF-AAFA-00AA00B6015C}]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Microsoft\Active Setup\Installed Components\{7790769C-0471-11D2-AF11-00C04FA35D02}]


rem @ECHO OFF
====Communication====
SET SPFILES=%WINDIR%\ServicePackFiles\i386
SET DLLCACHE=%WINDIR%\SYSTEM32\DLLCACHE
SET SYSTEM32=%WINDIR%\SYSTEM32
SET PFCOMSYS=%PROGRAMFILES%\Common Files\System
SET OUTLKEXP=%PROGRAMFILES%\Outlook Express
SET WINHELP=%WINDIR%\HELP
SET WININF=%WINDIR%\INF
FOR %%F IN (CSAPI3T1 MSOE MSOERES OEIMPORT OEMIGLIB WABFIND WABIMP) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%DLLCACHE%" "%OUTLKEXP%") DO DEL %%P\%%F.DLL
FOR %%F IN (MSIMN OEMIG50 SETUP50 WAB WABMIG) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%DLLCACHE%" "%OUTLKEXP%") DO DEL %%P\%%F.EXE
DEL "%OUTLKEXP%\MSOE.TXT"
FOR %%F IN (DIRECTDB WAB32 WAB32RES) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%DLLCACHE%" "%PFCOMSYS%") DO DEL %%P\%%F.DLL
FOR %%F IN (INETCOMM MSOEACCT MSOERT2) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%DLLCACHE%" "%SYSTEM32%") DO DEL %%P\%%F.DLL
FOR %%F IN (MSOE.CHM MSOE.HLP MSOEACCT.HLP WAB.CHM WAB.HLP) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%WINHELP%") DO DEL %%P\%%F
FOR %%F IN (MSOE50 WAB50) DO ^
FOR %%P IN ("%SPFILES%" "%WININF%" "%SYSTEM32%") DO DEL %%P\%%F.?NF


* Disable Home Groups in Vista and 7
{{bc|choco install mumble pidgin skype}}
{{bc|winget install Mumble.Mumble Pidgin.Pidgin Microsoft.Skype}}


==Other Programs==
====Office====


===Recommended For All Setups===
{{bc|choco install dia foxitreader librecad libreoffice-fresh libreoffice-help onlyoffice}}
{{bc|winget install gnome.Dia Foxit.FoxitReader LibreCAD.LibreCAD TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice.HelpPack ONLYOFFICE.DesktopEditors}}


====Can Be Taken Care Of With Ninite====
====Virtualization====


7-Zip | Audacity | CDBurnerXP | Chrome | Firefox | GIMP | Inkscape | InfranView | KeePass | LibreOffice | MediaMonkey | .NET 3.5 Runtime (XP) | Notepad++ | Opera | Paint.NET | PDFCreator | Pidgin | Skype | Steam | SumatraPDF | Thunderbird | TrueCrypt | qBitTorrent | VLC
{{bc|choco install qemu virtualbox virtualbox.extensionpack}}
{{bc|winget install SoftwareFreedomConservancy.QEMU Oracle.VirtualBox}}


====Not Taken Care Of With Ninite====
{{ic|winget}} does not have a package for the [https://www.oracle.com/virtualization/technologies/vm/downloads/virtualbox-downloads.html#extpack Virtualbox Extension Pack].


AVIDemux | CamStudio | CCleaner | Dia | Exact Audio Copy | Flash Player | Handbrake | LADSPA for Audactiy | LAME for Audacity | Lightscribe
====Video====


===Recommended For Advanced Users===
{{bc|choco install handbrake.install mpvnet.install obs-studio.install vlc}}
{{bc|winget install HandBrake.HandBrake KDE.Kdenlive mpv.net OBSProject.OBSStudio VideoLAN.VLC}}


====Can Be Taken Care Of With Ninite====
===Not Taken Care Of With Chocolatey===


PuTTY | VNC | WinDirStat | WinSCP
CPU Burn-in | Joystick2Mouse 3 | LADSPA for Audactiy | Lightscribe


====Not Taken Care Of With Ninite====
=Ongoing=


Alcohol 52% | CPU Burn-in | CPU-Z | HWiNFO | HWMonitor | HxD | Joystick2Mouse | MyDefrag | VirtualBox (Extensions) 
==Extend Evaluation Periods==


===Limited-Use Programs===
If you are using an Enterprise Evaluation edition of Windows, you can re-arm the 90-day evaluation period up to 3 times:


ASUS Update | eBLU | nLite | rt7lite
slmgr /rearm

Latest revision as of 17:09, 23 April 2024

Current Version: Windows 11
Developer Microsoft
RTM 2021-06-24
General Availability 2021-10-05
Written in C, C++, C#, assembly language
Platforms x86-64, ARMv8
Website https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows11
Previous Version: Windows 10
Developer Microsoft
RTM 2015-07-15
General Availability 2015-07-29
Support Ends 2025-10-14
Written in C, C++, C#, assembly language
Platforms IA-32, x86-64, ARMv7, ARMv8
Website https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10
In Extended Support: Windows 8.1
Developer Microsoft
RTM 2013-08-27
General Availability 2013-10-17
Support Ends 2023-01-10
Written in C, C++, C#, assembly language
Platforms IA-32, x86-64
Website https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Pre-Setup

BIOS Time Set To UTC vs Local Time

Windows 8 and 10 have support for setting the time to UTC and may even detect if the system time is in UTC or local time.

There are still a couple of bugs as noted below, but the trade-off may be worth it to you. Every other OS expects the clock to be set to UTC.

  • Windows will not sync to time servers if told that the BIOS clock is UTC.
  • Windows may hang if running during the switch to and away from DST if told that the BIOS clock is UTC.

If you are unsure of how UTC relates to your time zone, you can use Google to query UTC time.

Partitioning

Please read Drive Partitioning first as it contains a lot of good information.

BIOS+MBR vs UEFI+GPT

Windows falsely ties GPT with UEFI and MBR with BIOS.

It's strongly suggested to use UEFI with GPT when possible as it allows for at least 128 partitions. In general, you can let Microsoft (and OEMs) do whatever they want to your hard drive as it's nearly impossible to deplete the alotment of partitions.

If your system uses legacy BIOS with MBR, you may wish to partition the drive yourself, especially if you plan on installing a second OS onto the drive.

  • Any bootable Windows parition must occur on a primary partition
  • MBR is limited to 4 primary paritions
    • One of which can be an extended partition (which then lets you create unlimited logical partitions)

Parition Alignment

Starting with Vista, Windows will align partitions to 1MiB boundaries, so basic partitioning via Windows Setup is OK.

Shrinkinng NTFS Partitions

Windows Vista introduced the ability to shrink NTFS partitions, even those currently in use. This can be incredibly useful on OEM PCs if you want to make room for a second OS.

If you're trying to end a Windows partition at a particular boundary, you may want to under-allocate and then use something like GNU parted to re-create the Windows partition at the boundary you want and then use diskpart with expand filesystem when you get back into Windows.

Microsoft Reserved Partition

Starting with 7, Windows will create a Microsoft Reserved partition when given a GPT disk with no partitions:

  • Windows 7 & 8: 128MiB
  • Windows 10: 16MiB

Windows Recovery Parition

Starting with 8, Windows will create a Windows Recovery partition:

  • Windows 8: 300MB as the first partition, shown during volume selection
  • Windows 10: 450MB as the last partition, hidden during volume selection

This partition is different from an OEM recovery partition.

Pre-Download

Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft keeps its ISO updated.

You may also wish to download video card drivers before hand, as AMD and NVIDIA usually offer drivers that are more up-to-date than what's available via Windows Update. Download either AMD Driver Auto-Detect or NVIDIA GeForce Experience (obsolete) or the NVIDIA App (in beta).

Use Windows Updates Downloader to download security updates for your version of Windows.

  • Use FOR %U IN (*) DO START /W %U /QUIET /NORESTART to execute all security updates in a given folder.

Download Anti-virus such as Avira or Kaspersky if Windows' built-in Defender isn't enough for you.

During Setup

Administration

The default in Windows is that the first user created is part of the Administrators group and subsequent accounts are Standard Users. This wiki recommends you choose one of the following:

  1. Create one account not named Administrator that will be part of the Administrators group and use that for administrative duties while creating Standard User accounts for daily use. This allows you to have laxer password complexity on the account that acts as an Administrator.
  2. Create an account for yourself that you will later drop to Standard User after re-enabling the Administrator account using net user administrator /active:yes. This route requires that you know full-well that people will try to attack the Administrator account but you feel confident in your password complexity.

Use a short name rather than a full name when creating user accounts to get short directory names. (E.g., john instead of John Smith) You can use netplwiz to change full details. Changes to the name in User Accounts in Control Panel only affect the full name.

Microsoft Account

Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft really, really wants you to use a Micrsoft Account to log into Windows. While the prospect of not having to tune settings on every individual machine you own might be a nice prospect for some, others won't like the privacy implications of tying your Windows usage to an account under Microsoft's complete purvue.

Privacy implications aside, one useful feature of using a Microsoft Account is that Microsoft allows you to manage your Windows licenses. To tie a Windows license for a machine to your Microsoft Account, use your Microsoft Account as the first account created during Windows Setup. Should something go horribly wrong, Microsoft Tech Support will be looking for this tie. Once the Windows license is associated with your account, you can stop using and delete the Microsoft Account from the machine if you want.

Post Setup

Common Configuration Options

DPI settings

For HTPC setups, 96 DPI is unreadable from 9 feet away.

  • Control Panel → Appearance and Personalization → Display → Set Custom text size (DPI)

This will only affect your login. To make this change to the login screen, you need to edit the registry.

NB: word values are hexadecimal, not decimal. 0x60 is 90 decimal, 0x78 is 120 decimal, and 0x90 is 144 decimal. 

reg add "HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop" /v LogPixels /d 90 /t REG_QWORD /f

Replace QWORD with DWORD for 32-bit Windows.

Re-Enable the Administrator Account

net user administrator /active:yes
net user administrator <new-password>

Configure/Disable Password Expiration

Starting with Windows 11, Windows enables password expiration after 42 days.

The age at which passwords expire can be changed: 

net accounts /maxpwage:<days>

Password expiration can also be disabled altogether: 

wmic UserAccount where Name="<username>" set PasswordExpires=False

Disable Search Indexing

  • Control Panel > Indexing Options
  • Control Panel > File Explorer Options > Search
  • Drive Properties > Uncheck Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties
sc config wsearch start=disabled
sc stop wsearch

Temporarily Disable System Restore

Internet Explorer, Windows Media Player, some Hotfixes, and some third-party installers will all create a restore point. No sense having this running during the initial setup of Windows as you're so close to sqaure one anyway. 

rstrui.exe

Hibernation

For desktop computers, or computers with SSDs, you may not want to hibernate. 

powercfg -h off

Power Management

For at least the duration of setting up Windows, you may want to keep the computer fully awake.

Page File

With the RAM that most computers have nowadays, it makes little sense to have much of a swap file. You still want some space so that Windows can swap out parts of memory that aren't really being used. Some Windows programs will balk with the lack of a swap file. 

wmic pagefileset where name="C:\\pagefile.sys" set InitialSize=512,MaximumSize=512

Disable Fast Startup

Windows Fast Startup does a hybrid sleep where everything is closed down on the software side, but the hardware is put into a sleep state before shutdown. If you multi-boot, this can be more of a hindrance than a feature. The major cause of concern is that mounted filesystems in Windows remain in a "in-use" state (the "dirty bit") and unsafe to mount.

  • Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > (left pane) Choose what the power buttons do > uncheck Turn on fast startup

Set Windows to use RTC in UTC

Only do this if your BIOS clock is set to UTC instead of local time! 

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TimeZoneInformation" /v RealTimeIsUniversal /d 1 /t REG_QWORD /f

Replace QWORD with DWORD for 32-bit Windows.

Tweaks

  • Disable Homegroups
    • Leave the homegroup
    • Disable HomeGroup services
    • Edit registry
      • Take ownership of HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}
      • Add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\{B4FB3F98-C1EA-428d-A78A-D1F5659CBA93}\System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree=qword:0

Other Programs

It's recommended to rely on Chocolatey (Windows 10 and earlier) or winget (pre-installed in Windows 11) for program installation and to keep your programs updated. However, some applications are auto-updating and it's best to install them directly.

Chocolatey

In PowerShell: 

Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))

WinGet

winget comes pre-installed in Windows 11.

WinGet used to default to machine (system) scope when run as Administrator and user scope otherwise. WinGet now defaults to user scope all the time. This can be changed by running winget settings and specifying installBehavior.preferences.scope = user: 

"installBehavior": {
    "preferences": {
        "scope": "user"
}

GSudo

Windows Terminal is a per-user application (installed in C:\Users\$USER) not a system application (installed in C:\Program Files). This breaks the Run As Administrator function. 

choco install gsudo
winget install gerardog.gsudo

Applications

Standard Utilities

These are basic utilties recommended for every user. 

choco install 7zip.install [ cdburnerxp | imgburn | infrarecorder ] chocolateygui greenshot kdeconnect-kde keepass.install vscodium.install
winget install 7zip.7zip [ Canneverbe.CDBurnerXP | LIGHTNINGUK.ImgBurn | ChristianKindahl.InfraRecorder ] Greenshot.Greenshot KDE.KDEConnect DominikReichl.KeePass VSCodium.VSCodium

Power-User Utitlies

choco install hxd ultravnc windirstat winmerge
winget install MHNexus.HxD uvncbvba.UltraVnc WinDirStat.WinDirStat WinMerge.WinMerge

GNU/Linux Utilities (Windows Native Ports)

choco install git.install gnuwin32-coreutils.install wget xming
winget install Git.Git Xming.Xming

winget does not have a package for GnuWin32. It does have a small subset of individual utilities that can be found with winget search gnuwin32.

Audio

choco install audacity audacity-ffmpeg audacity-lame eac mediamonkey

Cloud Storage

choco install dropbox google-backup-and-sync sugarsync pcloud
winget install Dropbox.Dropbox Google.GoogleDrive pCloudAG.pCloudDrive

winget does not have packages for SpiderOak services nor SugarSync

Fonts

choco install jetbrainsmono lato robotofonts sourcecodepro ubuntu.font

winget does not have packages for any font.

Grpahics

choco install gimp inkscape paint.net
winget install GIMP.GIMP Inkscape.Inkscape paint.net
Edit with GIMP

If you want to keep the association with Windows' Photos for image viewing but be able to get a right-click option to edit with GIMP: 

edit-with-gimp.reg
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP]
"Icon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.10.exe\""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\image\shell\Edit with GIMP\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\GIMP 2\\bin\\gimp-2.10.exe\" \"%1\""
reg import edit-with-gimp.reg

Hardware

choco install amd-ryzen-chipset crystaldiskmark cpu-z hwinfo.install hwmonitor intel-chipset-device-software
winget install CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskMark CPUID.CPU-Z CPUID.HWMonitor REALiX.HWiNFO

winget does not have packages for AMD chipset drivers nor Intel chipset drivers.

Internet

choco install [ chromium | firefox | googlechrome | ungoogled-chromium ] nextcloud-client qbittorrent syncthing thunderbird
winget install [ Hibbiki.Chromium | Google.Chrome | eloston.ungoogled-chromium | Mozilla.Firefox ] Nextcloud.NextcloudDesktop qBittorrent.qBittorrent SyncTrayzor.SyncTrayzor Mozilla.Thunderbird

Communication

choco install mumble pidgin skype
winget install Mumble.Mumble Pidgin.Pidgin Microsoft.Skype

Office

choco install dia foxitreader librecad libreoffice-fresh libreoffice-help onlyoffice
winget install gnome.Dia Foxit.FoxitReader LibreCAD.LibreCAD TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice TheDocumentFoundation.LibreOffice.HelpPack ONLYOFFICE.DesktopEditors

Virtualization

choco install qemu virtualbox virtualbox.extensionpack
winget install SoftwareFreedomConservancy.QEMU Oracle.VirtualBox

winget does not have a package for the Virtualbox Extension Pack.

Video

choco install handbrake.install mpvnet.install obs-studio.install vlc
winget install HandBrake.HandBrake KDE.Kdenlive mpv.net OBSProject.OBSStudio VideoLAN.VLC

Not Taken Care Of With Chocolatey

CPU Burn-in | Joystick2Mouse 3 | LADSPA for Audactiy | Lightscribe

Ongoing

Extend Evaluation Periods

If you are using an Enterprise Evaluation edition of Windows, you can re-arm the 90-day evaluation period up to 3 times: 

slmgr /rearm
Retrieved from "https://wiki.bwt.com.de/index.php?title=Installing_A_Windows_Desktop&oldid=687"