New Install
Basic Install Reference
Info
Winget will automatically install most applications.
Chocolatey will install applications not available on Winget.
A manual install is still required.
Step 1 - Install & Update Windows
Rufus can be used to mount an ISO to a USB.
Using a local account
Warning
Install without a network cable or internet connection.When Windows 11 asks for a network simply Alt+F4. A new window will appear where you enter user account details.
Once the operating system boots, you can plug the network cable back in.
Step 2 - Drivers
Warning
Make sure Windows is up to date before proceeding.SDIO
Download indexers. Download all drivers except GPU drivers.
DDU
Warning
Download the latest version of NVidia drivers and unplug the network cable.Remove GPU drivers installed by Windows. DDU has an option to prevent Windows from installing a new driver.
Step 3 - Install Apps
Info
These are scripts used for automatically installing as many applications listed on this page as possible.Winget
Install the latest version of Winget from here.
winget install --id=7zip.7zip -e && winget install --id=SyncTrayzor.SyncTrayzor -e && winget install --id=eloston.ungoogled-chromium -e && winget install --id=IrfanSkiljan.IrfanView -e && winget install --id=DuongDieuPhap.ImageGlass -e && winget install --id=Radionomy.Winamp -e && winget install --id=stax76.mpvdotnet -e && winget install --id=PrestonN.FreeTube -e && winget install -e --id Streamlink.Streamlink && winget install --id=Streamlink.Streamlink.TwitchGui -e && winget install --id=plex.Plex -e && winget install --id=Prusa3D.PrusaSlicer -e && winget install --id=BlenderFoundation.Blender -e && winget install --id=GIMP.GIMP -e && winget install --id=Inkscape.Inkscape -e && winget install --id=KDE.Krita -e && winget install --id=HandBrake.HandBrake -e && winget install --id=OBSProject.OBSStudio -e && winget install --id=Discord.Discord -e && winget install --id=Mumble.Mumble -e && winget install --id=VSCodium.VSCodium -e && winget install --id=Microsoft.VisualStudio.2022.Community-Preview -e && winget install --id=OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS -e && winget install --id=Yarn.Yarn -e && winget install --id=Python.Python.3 -e && winget install --id=ojdkbuild.openjdk.11.jre -e && winget install --id=Microsoft.PowerShell -e && winget install --id=GOG.Galaxy -e && winget install --id=Valve.Steam -e && winget install --id=Ubisoft.Connect -e && winget install --id=ElectronicArts.EADesktop -e && winget install --id=SumatraPDF.SumatraPDF -e && winget install --id=GitHub.GitHubDesktop -e && winget install --id=Audacity.Audacity -e && winget install --id=RuneLite.RuneLite -e && winget install --id=Resplendence.LatencyMon -e --force && winget install --id=TechPowerUp.GPU-Z -e && winget install --id=Balena.Etcher -e && winget install --id=EpicGames.EpicGamesLauncher -e && winget install --id=JeffreyPfau.mGBA -e && winget install --id=Cockos.REAPER -e && winget install --id=Microsoft.WindowsTerminal -e && winget install --id=GitHub.GitHubDesktop -e && winget install --id=CPUID.CPU-Z --force -e && winget install --id=REALiX.HWiNFO --force -e && winget install -e --id Git.Git
Chocolatey
Info
Run Get-ExecutionPolicy. If it returns Restricted, then run Set-ExecutionPolicy AllSigned or Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process.Install Script
Set-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process -Force; [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol = [System.Net.ServicePointManager]::SecurityProtocol -bor 3072; iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://community.chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))
Install Apps Script
$Packages = 'lossless-cut', 'youtube-dl', 'sketchup', 'quixelbridge', 'spacesniffer', 'ddu', 'sdio', 'sysinternals', 'rockstar-launcher',
ForEach ($PackageName in $Packages)
{
choco install $PackageName -y
}
Manual Install
Info
Unfortunately, these apps currently aren’t available via Winget or chocolatey. These require manual download and installation.Step 3 - Configure Windows
Registry File for Opening with VS Codium.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with VSCodium]
@="Edit with VSCodium"
"Icon"="C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe,0"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\Open with VSCodium\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe\" \"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\vscode]
@="Open Folder as VSCodium Project"
"Icon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe\",0"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\vscode\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe\" \"%1\""
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\vscode]
@="Open Folder as VSCodium Project"
"Icon"="\"C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe\",0"
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\Background\shell\vscode\command]
@="\"C:\\Program Files\\VSCodium\\VSCodium.exe\" \"%V\""
Applications
General
7-Zip
File archiver that is open source.
SyncTrayzor
A system tray application that hosts and wraps Syncthing.
Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization application.
ungoogled-chrominium
ungoogled-chrominium is Google Chrominium without the dependency of Google web services.
Windows binaries currently aren’t updated very frequently.
Extensions
Chromium extension update checker
Ublock Orgin is a decent adblocker.
Media Consumption
ImageGlass
Lightweight Image viewer.
Winamp
Old school music player. Lightweight and does what you need for free.
MPV.net
Open-source media player that has a decent GUI based off of mpv.
youtube-dl
Commandline downloader for youtube.
FreeTube
Open-source desktop YouTube player. Limited tracking and no advertisements.
Stream Twitch Gui
A Twitch stream browser that uses Streamlink.
Set the player preset to MPV and the executable to mpvnet.exe.
Jellyfin Media Player
Jellyfin Desktop Client based on Plex Media Player.
Jellyfin Media Player works well for personal media.
Design
Sketchup Make 2017
A free version of Sketchup. Simple 3D modeling software but good enough for wood/3d printing projects.
PrusaSlicer
Open source toolpath generator optimized for Prusa printers. Converts instructions into G-code. Forked from Slic3r.
Blender
Open source 3D modeling suite.
GIMP
GIMP is an open-source free and open source graphic/image editor.
Inkscape
Open source vector graphics editor.
Krita
Open source painting program. Useful with a drawing tablet.
Video Editing & Recording
DaVinci Resolve
Video Editing software that is freemium. Do need to give some contact details to download. The studio variant has features such as GPU acceleration but isn’t required. The best part about the paid variant is it is a lifetime license! The worst part is it currently costs $469. Free version it is then!
Handbrake
Open-source video transcoder.
Losslesscut
Cut/Merge video without re-encoding. Open Source. Huge time saver when creating short clips. Accuracy depends on your encoding/recording settings as it uses keyframes.
OBS Studio
Open-source software used for live streaming/screen recording. Extremely useful and widely used.
Game Design
Quixel Mixer
Quixel Mixer is a texturing tool. Free to use with UDK.
Quixel Bridge
Quixel Bridge is an application for downloading and exporting assets for game projects. Export with various texture output setups like adding a roughness map to your diffuse alpha!
Free to use with UDK.
UDK 2011
Communication
Discord
VoIP and instant messaging platform. Closed source but extremely popular.
OpenAsar
Download page An open-source alternative of Discord desktop’s app.asar. Makes Discord much faster to start with less tracking.
Mumble
Open source VoIP application.
Mozilla Thunderbird
Open source email application.
Development
VSCodium
Open source code editor. VSCodium supports extensions, in-built terminal, language support, git support. Fast to startup.
VSCodium is a free/libre open source software binaries of VS Code.
Github Desktop
Open source Git management tool. This app makes the git process simple.
Node.JS
Node.JS is an open source backend for javascript applications.
Yarn
Install via NPM (after Node.JS install):
npm install --global yarn
Package cache management. Used on some projects
Python
Python is an open-source programming language. Downloading python allows the execution of python scripts.
Java
Java is a programming language. Downloading the Java runtime environment allows for java code to execute.
Visual Studio Community
Visual Studio Community is a free IDE, useful for C# and C++.
Powershell
Task automation and configuration command-line program. Good to have this up to date.
Gaming
GOG Galaxy
GOG Games Launcher. Required for multiplayer GOG games.
Steam
Software client for Steam. PC games.
Ubisoft Connect
Software client for Ubisoft. PC games.
Origin
Software client for EA. PC games.
Rockstar Games Launcher
Software client for Rockstar. PC games.
Maintenance
Space Sniffer
Freeware Folder size visualizer. Extremely useful for debugging things taking up too much space on your hard drive.
Display Driver Uninstaller
Useful for cleaning up old drivers.
Snappy Driver Installer Origin
Snappy Driver Installer Origin is a decent open-source automatic driver installer.
Warning
A manufacturer’s website is the best location to download drivers.
Some of the latest drivers might not be compatible with your particular configuration.
HWiNFO
Great for seeing your PC hardware temperatures and readouts.
cpu-z
Great for seeing your CPU readouts. Freeware.
Extra Stuff
Chocolatey
A package manager for windows. Winget is getting there slowly.
Microsoft Powertoys
Utilities to tune/streamline Windows.
Sysinternals
Sysinternals are a suite of utilities for Windows.