Windows Clean Install Guide¶

In this post, I'll show you how I configure my windows installs.

Warning

Do not use ShutUp10, BleachBit and other scripts that could explode Windows. Don't touch the OS, the OS must remain intact.

Verify Windows Version¶

Verify you're on Windows 11 Pro. Otherwise, buy or change it. There's cheap grey market keys everywhere.

Remove Unwanted Programs¶

Control Panel¶

One Drive → Unlick computer before removing…
Sign int
Remove everything in backup folder settings
Uncheck every sync in the sync settings
Remove OneDrive folder from User folder
Unlink account
Quit OneDrive
Uninstall
Remote Desktop Connection

Add or Remove Programs¶

You can safely remove almost… Everything. Just keep the calculator and notepad I guess.
Don't forget to clean the start menu as well…

Start-up App Using Task Manager¶

Remove unwanted apps there.

Updates¶

Microsoft updates should be fine by default.
But go launch Microsoft store apps updates manually now. It'll helps for Terminal settings.

Controls¶

Enhance Mouse Precision¶

Settings > Mouse > Additional mouse settings > Pointer Options
Uncheck Enhance pointer precision.

Disable Alt + Maj Shortcut¶

Spam ALT+SHIFT
Click on the notification
Set key sequence to None

Language & Time¶

Language¶

Download language packs, text to speech and speech recognition for your languages.
Language for non-unicode program should be English US in the region format.
But then to make it save properly :

1. Open Control Panel, select Clock and Region.
2. Click Region.
3. Select Administrative tab.
4. Click on Copy Settings.
5. Under Copy your current settings to, check the box for Welcome screen and system accounts. Click OK and restart your PC.

Issues with Old Language Keyboards¶

If you have issues with languages and keyboard layouts coming back, try this :

Success

I had a similar problem to the OP: for the English language, I had US, Canadian Multilingual Standard as well as Canadian French as keyboard layouts and I could not remove the last two.

As I do not have administrator rights on my work PC, I could not use @harrymc's solution by editing the registry but I am able to edit language options. I tried the following and it worked for me:

Add the extra unwanted keyboard layouts using the PC Settings > Time & Language > Language menu so they're all actually listed.
Save.
Afterwards, come back to the Languages screen and remove the extra layouts.
Again, press Save.

I'm not quite sure how nor why but now those extra keyboard layouts are gone.

EDIT: I'm not sure if it's new or it existed when I added that solution but this solution does not persist through reboots.

You can also try uninstalling old keyboard layouts using :

WIN + R
lpksetup # OPEN LANGUAGE PACK MANAGER
lpksetup /u en-gb # EXAMPLE UNINSTALLING EN-GN KEYBOARD

Time Zone¶

Make sure the Set time zone automatically is checked as well as every other automated settings.

Colors and Theme¶

Remove Trash Icon¶

Start > Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.
Uncheck RecycleBin

Background¶

Set Windows Spotlight
Right clic to desktop > View > Uncheck Show Desktop Icons

Colors¶

Dark mode
Check Transparency effects
Accent color to Automatic
Check Show accent color on Start and taskbar
Check Show accent color on title bars and windows borders

Night Light¶

Schedule sunset to sunrise

Taskbar¶

Uncheck every taskbar items settings
Uncheck every system tray icons settings
Let the rest as default

Disable new context menu:

reg.exe add "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}\InprocServer32" /f /ve

Restore new context menu:

reg.exe delete "HKCU\Software\Classes\CLSID\{86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2}" /f

Sound¶

Sound settings > Communications > Do Nothing
If you use a Bose headset : Fix Bose QC35 Headset Communication Issue on Windows 11

Storage¶

Storage Sense¶

Activate storage sense
Check Cleanup of temporary files
Check Automatic User content cleanup
Run storage sense Every month
Delete files in my recycle bin if they have been there for over 30 days
Delete files in my Downloads folder if they haven't been opened for more than 30 days

Show Hidden Files and Drives¶

Win + E > Triple dots > Options > View
Check Show hidden files, folders and drives
Uncheck Hide extensions for known file types

Gaming¶

Disable Game Mode¶

Basically, go inside windows settings, gaming, and uncheck everything.

Disable Core Isolation¶

Windows Security > Core isolation > Uncheck Memory integrity.

Attention

Ne faire ceci qu'en cas de performances gaming pas suffisantes. Autant le laisser si aucun problème n'est à relever.

Power Options¶

Disable Fast Startup and Hibernation¶

Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > System Settings
Click Change settings that are currently unavailable
Uncheck Turn on fast start-up
Uncheck Hibernate or use command powercfg -h off

Closing the Lid¶

Set everything to sleep.

Turn Off Display and Sleep¶

Auto turn of display after 1 min, but no auto sleep.

Remove Windows Telemetry¶

Privacy and Security > General¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Speech¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Inking & Typing Personalization¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Diagnostics & Feedback¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Activity History¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Search Permissions¶

Uncheck everything.

Privacy and Security > Searching Windows¶

Change nothing.

Install Scripts¶

Install WSL¶

Open CMD as admin
wsl --install
Reboot.
Username : mat
Password : You know what.

Scripts¶

Taskbar Setup¶

Windows Terminal¶

Startup¶

Default profile Ubuntu
Default terminal app Terminal

Is your profile using wsl.exe -d Ubuntu or Ubuntu.exe?

The latter will not respect the starting directory, and always opens in $HOME

Appearance¶

Application theme Use windows theme
Use acrylic in tab row

Color Scheme¶

Create new color scheme
Name it Github Dark
Copy this in your settings.json

{
  "name": "GitHub Dark",
  "black": "#000000",
  "red": "#f78166",
  "green": "#56d364",
  "yellow": "#e3b341",
  "blue": "#6ca4f8",
  "purple": "#db61a2",
  "cyan": "#2b7489",
  "white": "#ffffff",
  "brightBlack": "#4d4d4d",
  "brightRed": "#f78166",
  "brightGreen": "#56d364",
  "brightYellow": "#e3b341",
  "brightBlue": "#6ca4f8",
  "brightPurple": "#db61a2",
  "brightCyan": "#2b7489",
  "brightWhite": "#ffffff",
  "background": "#101216",
  "foreground": "#8b949e",
  "selectionBackground": "#3b5070",
  "cursorColor": "#c9d1d9"
}

Defaults¶

Run as administrator

Defaults > Appearance¶

Retro terminal effect
Automatically adjust lightness of indistinguishable text Always
Enable acylic material 75%

PowerToys¶

General > Always run as admin
PowerRename :
- \b
- Use regular expressions
- $YYYY-$MM-$DD_$hh-$mm-$ss_
- Filename only

Auto Dark Mode¶

Launch
Sunset sunrise (location service)
Settings > 24h clock

Firefox¶

Login to Mozilla Acount
When prompted, choose never save password
Wait for sync
Accept prompted extensions
Install magnolia1234 / Bypass Paywalls Firefox Clean · GitLab
Delete stupid bookmarks
Put extensions icons correctly :
Change shortcuts :
Bitwarden : CTRL+SHIFT+L
Omnivore : ALT+A
Tab Session Manager : ALT+W
Log in to Tab Session manager, auto-save every 5min, check auto sync.
Log in to Bitwarden, remember me, unlock with pin (you know what password) and uncheck the master password on browser restart.
Log in to Omnivore
uBlock Origins → Filters Lists → Annoyances :
AdGuard
Easylist
uBlock
Translate web page → Uncheck Show the button to translate the selected text
Show bookmark toolbar

Google Drive¶

Sign in
Skip everything, you don't need folder and photos backup
Mirror files for Google Drive

Obsidian¶

Log in
Enter vault password
DONT SYNC NOW
Go to sync and check everything to sync
Resume sync
Wait forever
Turn on community plugin
Restart
Login to Todoist
Reorganise icons
Activate French et English spellcheck

Super Productivity¶

Settings
Sync : Check Enable Syncing & Enable Compression
Log in to DropBox and copy the key
Keep remote

Todoist¶

Log in
Settings > Theme > Mode sombre automatique

VS Code¶

Backup and sync settings : Sign in with Github

Bulk Rename Utility¶

REMOVE :
- Digits
- Sym.
AUTO DATE :
- Prefix
- Modified (Current)
- Fmt : Custom : %Y-%m-%d_%H-%M-%S_
Then save settings using CTRL + S

TortoiseGit¶

Advanced
OverlaysCaseSensitive : false

ShareX¶

Remove Windows Snipping Tool shortcut :

Settings > Accessibility > Keyboard menu
Toggling the Use the Print Screen key to open Snipping Tool to off

Hotkey Settings¶

Capture region : Print Screen
Capture entire screen : CTRL + Print Screen
Capture active window : SHIFT + Print Screen
Scrolling capture : ALT + Print Screen
Start/stop screen recording (GIF) : ALTGR + Print Screen = CTRL + ALT + Print Screen

Application Settings¶

Use custom screenshots folder : Downloads
History : Uncheck everything.

Task Settings¶

File naming : %yy-%mo-%d_%h-%mi-%s_%pn

AHK Scripts¶

Launch Todoist Minimized¶

Launch Todoist Minimized on Windows Startup

Run, %localappdata%\Programs\todoist\Todoist.exe
WinWait, ahk_exe Todoist.exe
WinClose, ahk_exe Todoist.exe

Auto-Dim Taskbar¶

OLED Display AutoHotkey Script for Automatically Dimming the Taskbar

SysGet, Monitor, Monitor                   ; Get monitor dimensions
SysGet, WorkArea, MonitorWorkArea          ; Get monitor work-area without taskbar
dimtop := % WorkAreaBottom + 1             ; taskbar is assumed to start below the work-area
Gui Color, 0,0                             ; Black color
Gui -Caption +ToolWindow +E0x20            ; No title bar, No taskbar button, Transparent for clicks
Gui Show, X0 Y%dimtop% W%MonitorRight% H63 ; Create a semi-transparent cover window
WinGet ID, ID, A                           ; Get its HWND/handle ID
Winset AlwaysOnTop,ON,ahk_id %ID%          ; Keep it always on the top
WinSet Transparent,99,ahk_id %ID%          ; Transparency 99/256
SetTimer, coverIt, 500                     ; Repeat setting it to be on top of the taskbar
return

GetCurrentMonitor()
{
  SysGet, numberOfMonitors, MonitorCount
  WinGetPos, winX, winY, winWidth, winHeight, A
  winMidX := winX + winWidth / 2
  winMidY := winY + winHeight / 2
  Loop %numberOfMonitors%
  {
    SysGet, monArea, Monitor, %A_Index%
    if (winMidX > monAreaLeft && winMidX < monAreaRight && winMidY < monAreaBottom && winMidY > monAreaTop)
      return A_Index
  }
  SysGet, primaryMonitor, MonitorPrimary
  return "No Monitor Found"
}

coverIt:
    WinGet style, Style, A                 ; Get active window style and dimensions
    WinGetPos ,,,winW,winH, A
    ; 0x800000 is WS_BORDER.
    ; 0x20000000 is WS_MINIMIZE.
    ; check no border and not minimized
    isfull := ((style & 0x20800000) = 0 and winH >= A_ScreenHeight and winW >= A_ScreenWidth)
    isPrimaryMonitor := (GetCurrentMonitor() = 1)
    if (isfull and isPrimaryMonitor) {
        WinHide, ahk_id %ID%
    } else {
        WinShow, ahk_id %ID%
        Winset AlwaysOnTop,ON,ahk_id %ID%      ; Ensure it is still on the top
    }
    return

Spotify¶

Edit > Preferences > Startup and windows behavior
Don't open on startup
Minimize on close

Discord¶

Don't open on startup

Windscribe¶

Add Swiss Locations to favorites
Don't open on startup

Stremio¶

Log in
Touches directionnelles : 5s
SHIFT + touches directionnelles : 10s

Chrome Remote Desktop¶

Open Chrome Remote Desktop
Follow instructions under Set Up Remote Access
Remove unwanted firefox extension

Bitlocker Drive Encryption¶

Add a classic Windows password resistant to dictionary attacks.
Encrypt the PC with Bitlocker.