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[not mine, crosspost] Tools I use to make Windows 10 work for me (programming.dev)
submitted 1 day ago by andioop@programming.dev to c/deshittification@thebrainbin.org
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Wanted to post about O&O Shutup since I just used it on my work computer, and was looking for a preexisting Threadiverse post mentioning it. Found this.

cross-posted from: https://lotide.fbxl.net/apub/posts/8985

The first thing I use is Windows 10 decrapifier.

To use this, open up Powershell ISE as an administrator, and paste the script into a new editor window, then run it. It will automatically remove all the garbage Windows 10 installs by default. It works pretty well with Windows 11 as well.

https://community.spiceworks.com/scripts/show/4378-windows-10-decrapifier-18xx-19xx-2xxx

Next, O&O Shutup10

This tool shuts down a lot of the different telemetry stuff to keep windows 10 your own. It also works with Windows 11.

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

Finally, I like to install OpenShell, a start menu replacement for Windows 10. Right now it doesn't easily work on Windows 11, I use Start11 on windows 11. Openshell doesn't just replace the start menu with a windows 7 style start menu, it reimplements search so the search works much better and doesn't rely on windows search service.

https://github.com/Open-Shell/Open-Shell-Menu

Here's a bonus tip that only applies to Windows 11: If you use the open source tool rufus to create your installation media, you can tell rufus to create installation media that bypasses all the new TPM requirements. I have a computer capable of running windows 11, but I don't want to give them access to my TPM, I don't want secure boot, I don't want any of this stuff. I want to run my computer the way I want to, and this install media allows that. You lose some minor features here and there.

https://rufus.ie/en/

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[-] Auster@thebrainbin.org 3 points 1 day ago

My use in computer is usually keyboard-centric, so Windows' overdependence on the mouse breaks the workflow a lot for me.

Annoyed for it, I found a tool, WinLaunch, that works like the MacOS Launchpad (according to itself), Ubuntu's launchpad (best part of the OS imo), and Android's app menu:
https://winlaunch.org/

It even supports browsing with the keyboard! And a tip, afaik, no program uses Shift Esc on Windows, so it ends up being a practical key combo to open the pad. =)

Another that imo improves the Windows experiece, though a bit unothordox and if I remember correctly from my tests, is ncdu through WSL.

When the storage is full on Windows, it can be a pain to clean up. But as the Linux tools through WSL can interact with the host system, you can use ncdu's sorting by the folders' total sizes to see what is taking away your storage.

In line of storage management, VisiPics is the best tool I found for finding duplicated images, and it's exclusive to Windows. Not quite refined, but helps a bunch once you get past the learning curve.

Its site seems down, but it's still on Sourceforge:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/visipics/

If you like the command poweroff from Linux for ease to type but not shutdown /s from Windows, you can place a file poweroff.txt in your user folder, put shutdown /s inside, and rename the extension to .bat. Can't remember if there's a more quick way to summon the DOS terminal, but using Win R > type "cmd" > enter > type "po" followed by tab is a very quick way to open the bat file. Also tab in the DOS terminal allows browsing by files that start with what you wrote if there's more than one starting with "po".

Can't remember any more at the time.

[-] Auster@thebrainbin.org 1 points 1 day ago

Oh, right, another unothordox solution involving comes to mind, though theorethical as I don't have a baremetal Windows 10 or 11 with me to test.

If an older program runs on full screen, it can mess the resolution of the system, be it on Linux or Windows.

Though on Windows there are tools specifically for running full screen programs windowed, Wine through WSL could help too with its virtual desktop flag, while also tackling another of Windows' problems, its backwards compatibility is spotty at best, specially the older a program is.

The command is:
wine explorer /desktop=some_name,window_size /path/to/executable.exe
"some_name" can be anything, and "window_size" is the size of the virtual desktop and ideally should be the same as the size of the fullscreen program.
Example:
wine explorer /desktop=MyDesktop,800x600 Game.exe

Another thing, LibreOffice Calc is much, much lighter than Excel. And I say that despite using both the 2010 or 2016 versions of Excel, depending on the Windows edition I need to use, and having tested LibreOffice Calc on Windows.

From my experience, the more stuff you put on an Excel sheet, the more of a memory hog it becomes. But if you save the sheet and then open it on LibreOffice Calc, suddenly it becomes perfectly browsable, and it takes much longer to have LibreOffice be a memory hog too.

this post was submitted on 06 Feb 2026
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