In another episode of "Windows does what it wants but we are more stubborn", our quest for applications to modify and/or optimize the behavior of the operating system continues. Today we arrive at the doors of Ultimate Windows Tweaker, a development from The Windows Club portal, and an old acquaintance at NeoTeo. Its version 5.1 has multiple categories with dozens of tweaks focused on performance, appearance, and security of Windows.
Every "fresh" installation of Windows needs optimization. Obviously, each user will try to reproduce their preferences on the new environment, but there are certain factory aspects that can (and should) be modified. Two of my favorite applications for this task are AppBuster and ShutUp10++, which remove preinstalled apps and disable different telemetry elements. However, there is much more to change in the operating system, especially now that Windows 11 is among us. Ultimate Windows Tweaker points in that direction, and offers us a section dedicated to Redmond's flagship system.
Optimizing Windows 10 and 11 with Ultimate Windows Tweaker
The application is completely portable and does not need any formal installation. Its only recommendation (for logical reasons) is to create a restore point before applying the first tweaks, but it is quite mature software, with several years on the market. In fact, I would dare to say that some of its adjustments have lost validity (and were not removed due to its conservative profile), such as the priority for IRQ8 in the Performance section, but the rest of its options seems to be in order.
The tab dedicated to Windows 11 allows us to restore classic Alt+Tab and the traditional Windows context menu, disable aspects such as the Ink Workspace or transparency effects, and customize (to a certain extent) the functions available in the power menu. We can also add special shortcuts to the "This PC" (the Control Panel is an excellent candidate to place here), order File Explorer to run in a separate process, indicate the emptying of the paging file when the computer shuts down, and more.
The Performance category focuses on timeouts for closing applications, and on index, Prefetch, and Superfetch controls, in addition to limiting Edge preloading in the system, and disabling secondary services (among them, the print spooler that is only used with a connected printer). Security & Privacy helps us block access to different functions (Registry Editor, Control Panel, Task Manager, console, etc.), and disable elements such as biometrics, telemetry, geographic access, synchronization, camera, microphone, and app access.
To finish, I would like to highlight the Context Menu section that enables customization of the context menu, and Additional that offers network values and other minor details. Download a copy!
Official site and download: Click here
