Note that most of these tweaks will require a reboot to take effect, so for best efficiency, reboot after all changes have been made

Disable Edge from Running the Background & At Startup

By default, Edge will run in the background. You can disable this:

Open Edge, click the 3 dots menu > Settings > System and Performance(uncheck the following):

Startup Boost

Continue running background extensions and apps when Microsoft Edge is closed

Disable Hibernation & Fast Startup

Hibernation is used when Standby fails - it is enabled by default and is unreliable (in my experience)

Fast Startup causes performance issues and bugs when performing driver updates, BIOS upgrades, etc when you don't fully shut down

1. In Windows, click on search and type in powercfg.cpl and press Enter

2. On the left-hand side, click on "Choose what the power buttons do"

3. Tap on the top where it says "Change settings that are currently unavailable"

4. Uncheck both Turn on fast startup (recommended) and Hibernate, leave Sleep checked

Install Direct X Runtimes

For game compatibility, ensure that Direct X Runtimes are updated:

Download Direct-X User Runtime (Make sure to un-select "Install the Bing Bar" during install)

Disable Windows Driver Updates

Windows will automatically include driver updates in normal Windows Updates, this can cause issues. It's highly recommended you at least disable driver updates

Open a Command Prompt window as Administrator and type/paste in the following:

reg add "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\DriverSearching" /v "SearchOrderConfig" /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f

Reboot for it to take effect

(Optional/Risk) Disabling Windows Upgrades/Feature Updates

Installing this app will prevent Windows from upgrading major releases/feature updates

Download the app InControl:

https://www.grc.com/incontrol.htm

Run it and click the button to block updates. No further action is necessary

(Optional/Risk) Disabling Windows Telemetry(and all Windows Updates)

If you would like to disable updates entirely, or just block Windows Telemetry(SophiApp should have already handled this part), or both, you can use O&O Shutup to do so.

Note that disabling Windows updates entirely, does increase the security risk.

Download, install and run O&O Shutup:

https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10

1. Search in the top-right for "Telemetry" and toggle all to be On/Blocked

2. Search again in the top-right for "Windows Update" and toggle all to be On/Blocked

(Optional/Risk) Enable Automatic Login & Unlock on Wake

If you don't want to be prompted for your Windows password when powering on, or waking from sleep, follow these instructions:

1. Download, open and run Autologon by Sysinternals/Microsoft

2. Make sure the correct account is set and put in your password, then click Enable (application doesn't need to run again unless your password changes)

3. To disable from asking for password when waking from sleep, run Command Prompt as Administrator and enter the following command:

PowerCfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0

PowerCfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_NONE CONSOLELOCK 0

Reboot to apply

Proceed to the next step 4. Armoury Crate Setup

If you didn't use SophiApp in previous section, follow below:

Install Visual C++ Modules

If you didn't already do this in Windows OS Tweaks using SophiApp, then do this now

For game and application compatibility, please install this all-in-one Visual C++ package

Visual C++ All-In-One Releases

(Optional/Risk) Disabling User Account Control

This prevents constant pop-ups when installing software, or when launching any programs that have to "Run as Administrator"

1. Open Control Panel > User Accounts > User Accounts > Change User Account Control Settings

2. Change the slider all the way down to the bottom to Never Notify

3. Click OK and reboot to take effect

Proceed to the next step 4. Armoury Crate Setup