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Windows + Office

Installation

  1. Download the latest Windows 11 Business ISO from here: Massgrave Windows 11 Links

  2. Download the latest Rufus portable from here: Rufus

  3. Run Rufus and select your flash drive.

    • If you're using usb drive like an NVMe drive to USB or an external HDD, expand "advanced drive properties" and check "List USB Hard Drives".
    • Boot selection Disk or ISO Image, then hit SELECT and pick your Windows ISO file.
    • Leave everything defaulted, GPT partition etc.
    • Flash the ISO to the USB drive, selecting all the optional checkboxes it pops up with when you select "Start". This will give you an offline account and bypasses Windows 11 restrictions.

  4. Go into your BIOS and select the UEFI boot option for your windows installer USB drive under boot overrides.

    • I prefer just doing a one-time boot override as opposed to changing the boot order of stuff.

  5. Install Windows

    • Select custom install
    • Determine the disk you want to install windows onto. Delete every partition on that disk until it is just "unallocated space".

  6. Activate with Massgrave's Microsoft Activation Scripts

    • Powershell as admin command to auto-dl and run: irm https://get.activated.win | iex
    • Run it and select HWID Activation

If not using Rufus: "Discovered by user @witherornot1337 on X, typing "start ms-cxh:localonly" into the command prompt during the Windows 11 setup experience will allow you to create a local account directly without needing to skip connecting to the internet first."

Microsoft Office

This is the logical place to put this since it uses the exact same download/activation method as windows. Grab it from massgrave and use the same tool to activate it. done.

Setup

Here's how I like my Windows installations set up. My "design philosophy" is to be minimally invasive, and open source wherever possible.

Windows Core Tweaks

  • AlchemysWindowsTweakingScripts
    • A shitpile of scripts that set various things on Windows
  • MSEdgeRedirect
    • Reroutes Microsoft Edge calls to alternative apps etc.
  • EarTrumpet
    • Reimplements the sound tray icon with a total overhaul.
    • Pairs with a Windhawk mod that removes the quick-settings trapped sound icon.
    • Note: Mouse settings->Use scroll wheel flyout open does use a global hook but its lifecycle is managed properly
      • Scroll wheel hovering over tray icon does not use a global hook at all.
  • Equalizer APO
    • Makes audio great again. This gives an audiophile experience even without exclusive-mode playback methods i.e. WASAPI or ASIO. It also colossaly lowers the latency due to the lowered/removed processing. As a bonus its also a complete equalizer program. This program works by replacing the vanilla Windows APO with itself per-device.
    • The linked project is a fork that has 64 bit audio processing, and AVX2 and AVX512 support. Do not download the AVX512 version unless you're sure your CPU contains that instruction set. If you have a very old CPU that doesn't have AVX2, You can download the Original Project
  • NetworkTrayAppWpf
    • Reimplements the network tray icon with some neat features.
    • Pairs with a Windhawk mod that removes the quick-settings trapped network icon.
  • Nilesoft Shell [https://nilesoft.org/download]
    • Replaces the right-click menus with a version that actually works, while looking like Windows 11. This is fully customizable.
  • Twinkle Tray
    • Actual brightness control for almost any display.
    • I've made a couple improvements that are pending PR approval, so download from my repo for now.
    • Settings -> Greyed out bug at bottom -> Disable Mouse Events ON (avoids global mouse hook, you lose scroll-over-tray-icon brightness adjustment).
    • DDC Features -> Enable Power State for every display. Set Power State Signal (at bottom) to 4 or 5 (test them).
    • You can add day/night auto brightness values under Time Adjustments, based on the sun.
  • Windhawk [https://windhawk.net/]

Manual Tweaks (for now): * Settings->Personalization->Start->Folders * Check whatever you want. Some seem broken? Settings works though, all I wanted. * For those with logitech products * Start Menu->"services.msc"->LGHUB Updater Service * Stop it, then "Properties" and "Startup type": Disabled

Tweaks for Developers

  • AlchemysWindowsTweakingScriptsDevExtras
    • Additional scripts for developers and power users
  • Add2Path
    • Shift-right-click menu has a new entry to add current/selected folder to system PATH.
  • sshfs-win-OpenSSHTerminalHere
    • depdenency: sshfs-win
      • run this with an interval of like 5-10 after install (fixes ctx menu initial lag): https://github.com/winfsp/sshfs-win/blob/master/ServerAliveInterval.reg
    • SSH connections turned into network drives. Right-click menu lets you instantly open a logged in ssh terminal to the cwd.
  • NewFileAndFolderShellExtension
    • Adds "New Folder" and "New Text Document" to the root context menu so you aren't digging into the "New" submenu for the only two things you ever use.

Hardware Control Programs

  • FanControl
    • Lets you to control your PWM stuff! Much better than messing with the BIOS and bloatware, lets you set your nice Noctua fans very low.
  • MSI Afterburner
    • Lets you slide up the power settings on your GPU and overclock it, as well as control the fans.
  • Control My Monitor

Software to Avoid

  • ExplorerPatcher: way too unstable, and everything it does (old taskbar, explorer tweaks), can functionally be reimplemented with Windhawk + accessories.
  • "Files" and other file-explorer replacements: Performance is extremely poor, UI/UX is rough, cluttered, generally no features worth remembering.

Graphics Driver Setup (Nvidia)

  • disable vsync (turns on multi-pane overlay)
  • set power plan to high performance
  • turn low latency mode "On" or "Ultra". Ultra has a good chance of producing stuttering on underpowered systems.

Notes to Self

VPN and Local Network Devices

For when you have things like a NAS or whatever and want to access them while on your VPN, and "local network sharing" or whatever feature just isn't working.

Run PowerShell as Administrator The command for my network to add the route is route add -p SUBNET_I_WANT_TO_REACH mask SUBNET_MASK MY_DEFAULT_LAN_GATEWAY Example: route add -p 192.168.0.0 MASK 255.255.0.0 192.168.5.1

Network Drive Notes

Add your NAS ip to trusted intranet sites to disable warning popup for file transfers. I have a script in AlchemysWindowsTweakingScriptsDevExtras which can facilitate this.