Win10 Bloatware Removal/PowerShell Scripts and DAWs

[Neil Cummins]

Hi Forum,

                        I suppose this one may be able to squeeze legally into this forum if I mention CbB...Does anyone use/recommend/discourage the use of Bloatware or PowerShell scripts such as ShutUp10 to try to eke more audio optimisation from their systems,having done most of the commonly-used tweaks that most users will have adopted?

The level of intervention available in these scripts seems quite deep,and I was wondering if they have any impact upon DAW or plug-in performance,eg rendering them inoperable or degrading their performance.

Thanks

Neil Cummins

Warrington

UK

[Teegarden]

I would never use bloatware (if you refer to pre-installed software that comes from third parties without you asking for it). According to Computerworld (article is from 2015 so slightly dated), Signature PCs from Microsoft are free of third-party software and supposedly start up 104% faster, shut down 35% faster and have 28 minutes more battery life than the same laptops with bloatware. Computerworld also gives directions how to get rid of bloatware.
Logically every additional process that runs on your computer will consume a tiny bit or more of your processing power. Today's PCs are fast enough to handle many background processes, so I wonder if stopping them makes a lot of difference (never took the time to measure possible differences). However, I like to have as much power available for my DAW so I eliminate every possible process that I don't really need.

O&O ShutUp10 is a program that I use to stop as many MS processes as possible the only things I leave are the Windows Update settings where they state Recommended: "limited"or "no"
If your serious using this program you will need to check for updates after each windows update and run that latest version again: Windows regularly switches back on settings that were switched of and keeps adding new features that run in the background.

Another program useful for eliminating background tasks and processes (and also for deleting junk files etc.) that I run regularly is CCleaner: under Tools-> startup you can find several tabs with options to prevent software from running automatically in the background. 


Cheers

[Neil Cummins]

Thanks Teegarden,

                                            I probably should have phrased the question better to Bloatware removal tools such as ShutUp10.I have a fairly low spec machine which is at the limit of available hardware upgrade paths,and highly stripped down in terms of background programmes and services,Cortana off,Windows Defender off when disconnected from the Internet etc,all in the cause of some extra CPU resource.The only 3rd party software on there is audio-related.

So I suppose my question was if applications such as ShutUp10 directly affect either DAW or plug-in functionality.I would assume from your response that this isn't the case?

Regards,

Neil

[Per Westin]

O&OSU10 + CCleaner (with CCEnhancer) is what I use along with tweaking services according to these guides:
BlackViper (also has Services Explained) and (partly Windows) Tweakhound , as always if you´re not sure if what happens if you turn off service "xyz" - don´t, or at least turn off one service at a time so if there´s a problem you know which tweak caused it.

From memory I think I tweaked according to Blackviper´s "Tweaked for Desktop" last time I reinstalled W10 about 3 years ago, no problems so far.

Back when Vista was new Tweakhound´s tweaks turned my Core2Duo laptop from barely internetable to recording 16 tracks (soundcards limit) and handling at least 30 tracks in Sonar.
Does O&OSU10 affect DAW or plugins?
Not directly, but it can keep your computer safe from mistakes or not so good for DAW:s MS-updates.

[bitflipper]

Personally, I would never use any software tool that isn't crystal-clear as to exactly what it's doing and why, and (most important) logs what changes it has made and offers a convenient way to undo them.

This has been my policy since the first time I used a so-called "registry cleaner" 30 years ago that hosed my system. Newer utilities have become more sophisticated, but I still won't relinquish my authority to make such decisions myself, based on research and understanding. There is no substitute for doing your homework.

[Teegarden]

Hi Neil,
ShutUp10 is not supposed to have any effect on the DAW or plugin functionality.
For an older system it might just make the difference you need. It is a long list of options that can be deactivated so I guess it's certainly worth using ShutUp10. It does not run in the background, it just deactivates many options and when you close ShutUp10, it does not stay in the background. Al it does is take just over 1 MB of disk space. 
I understand you can't upgrade much more, but if you have the possibility try to get the maximum amount of RAM. 

[Teegarden]

2 hours ago, bitflipper said:

Personally, I would never use any software tool that isn't crystal-clear as to exactly what it's doing and why, and (most important) logs what changes it has made and offers a convenient way to undo them.

This has been my policy since the first time I used a so-called "registry cleaner" 30 years ago that hosed my system. Newer utilities have become more sophisticated, but I still won't relinquish my authority to make such decisions myself, based on research and understanding. There is no substitute for doing your homework.

I fully agree. CCleaner is in that respect very transparent (in contrast to many other tools like that). The good thing of CCleaner is that everything you do you can fully tailor to your needs so you can be sure nothing that you want to keep will be deleted. 
CCleaner is handy to switch of processes that otherwise automatically start with Windows, but that you don't need in the background. Next to that CCleaner can take away a lot of junk files and you can tell it where it has to look for junk and check what will be deleted and what not (see it as a significantly enhanced Recycle Bin).
My experience with very slow running older computers from others that regularly ask for PC help is that after some Windows tweaking and especially running several tasks of CCleaner these systems were suddenly usable again. There appeared to be many files spread over the HD that could have been deleted a long time ago. I guess with the latest Windows and new PCs these problems will be much less thanks to improved software and hardware developments. 
However, I personally do use it for many years also for cleaning the registry. Many unused items are left behind that have no function so I like to get rid of them. You can see exactly what will be deleted before you execute CCleaner, so its easy to see what you want to keep and what is absolutely safe to delete. I do however understand that many people are afraid that registry cleaners might do more harm than good. I know what I'm doing and have never had any problem that I could somehow relate to deleted registry entries, but others might want to stay away from that..

Good advice bitflipper, everyone interested in doing something with the registry and in tuning his PC should certainly try to understand it first by doing his homework.
 

2 hours ago, Per Westin said:

O&OSU10 + CCleaner (with CCEnhancer) is what I use along with tweaking services according to these guides:
BlackViper (also has Services Explained) and (partly Windows) Tweakhound , as always if you´re not sure if what happens if you turn off service "xyz" - don´t, or at least turn off one service at a time so if there´s a problem you know which tweak caused it.

From memory I think I tweaked according to Blackviper´s "Tweaked for Desktop" last time I reinstalled W10 about 3 years ago, no problems so far.

Back when Vista was new Tweakhound´s tweaks turned my Core2Duo laptop from barely internetable to recording 16 tracks (soundcards limit) and handling at least 30 tracks in Sonar.
Does O&OSU10 affect DAW or plugins?
Not directly, but it can keep your computer safe from mistakes or not so good for DAW:s MS-updates.

Nice to see you also have good experience with those. I also always use Blackviper's advice and settings en CCEnhancer makes CCleaner's Recycle Bin function even better. I'm going to check out Tweakhound, never used that one before.

Edited July 17, 2020 by Teegarden

[Neil Cummins]

Many thanks for the replies Guys...plenty to go at there!

Cheers,

Neil