As a Linux user forced into a temporary truce with Windows for gaming handheld compatibility, I refuse to run the OS in its “out of the box” state. I’ve put together a manual optimisation guide that skips the “one-click” de-bloat scripts and focuses on permanent Group Policy (gpedit) and system-level tweaks to make the OS semi-tolerable.

The Guide Covers:

Killing AI Spyware: Disabling the “Recall” background service, snapshot recording, and “Click to Do” screen scraping.

Telemetry Lockdown: Redirecting “Allow Diagnostic Data” to the Security level (0).

Start Menu Surgery: Decoupling search from Bing to keep local file searches actually local.

Performance recovery: Disabling Virtualization-Based Security (VBS) and background hypervisors for bare-metal gaming speed.

Edge/Widget Removal: Stopping background “loitering” and accidental UI stutters.

This is a reproducible, manual workflow for those who want a clean(er) environment without relying on third-party scripts.