DWS Final Version
- Thread starter Kennkish
- Start date
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
Never heard of it before. I'll add it to my to-do list to check it out in the future and see if I can learn anything new from it, but that screenshot seems like it isn't doing anything that NTLite cannot do already. I rarely come across a tool that is actually necessary, since more often than not all they are doing is toggling registry key values, they're not actually doing anything complicated. The problems with tools come in several forms:
1) Integrating a key is far better than adding it post-install, so it's best to use NTLite to set or integrate a key rather than using another tool at the desktop. You can use Nirsoft's RegCompare tool to capture the keys that other tools like DWS are modifying, then you don't need DWS anymore.
2) Most tools are going to change things in unneccesary ways. For example, a particular tweak may only require a single registry key, but the tool will install several keys to achieve the outcome because the developer didn't thoroughly research or test them. This can then introduce extra problems that could have been avoided if the cleanest and simplest solution was used instead.
3) Many tools are overly aggressive and will delete files or disable services to tame a certain feature of Windows. While this works, it's a dirty way to do things and once again introduces extra problems because services typically control more than 1 feature in Windows, so you end up with dependency issues the same as if you had uninstalled a component with NTLite.
TLDR: most 3rd party tools are just ways of trying to monetize common Windows registry keys that exist on the internet for free. I could create, "Hellbovine's Windows Tweaker" just like some popular YouTubers or websites do, and put my entire Optimized Image guide into that tool, then ask people for donations with a paypal button. Alternatively, I could just give people the .reg files so they can have full transparency.
1) Integrating a key is far better than adding it post-install, so it's best to use NTLite to set or integrate a key rather than using another tool at the desktop. You can use Nirsoft's RegCompare tool to capture the keys that other tools like DWS are modifying, then you don't need DWS anymore.
2) Most tools are going to change things in unneccesary ways. For example, a particular tweak may only require a single registry key, but the tool will install several keys to achieve the outcome because the developer didn't thoroughly research or test them. This can then introduce extra problems that could have been avoided if the cleanest and simplest solution was used instead.
3) Many tools are overly aggressive and will delete files or disable services to tame a certain feature of Windows. While this works, it's a dirty way to do things and once again introduces extra problems because services typically control more than 1 feature in Windows, so you end up with dependency issues the same as if you had uninstalled a component with NTLite.
TLDR: most 3rd party tools are just ways of trying to monetize common Windows registry keys that exist on the internet for free. I could create, "Hellbovine's Windows Tweaker" just like some popular YouTubers or websites do, and put my entire Optimized Image guide into that tool, then ask people for donations with a paypal button. Alternatively, I could just give people the .reg files so they can have full transparency.
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DWS hasn't been updated since 2019(?) Compared to O&O Shutup10 which is still active, and likely has more users.
The core issue isn't whether a privacy program is good or bad, but Windows keeps changing and so any privacy tool needs to adapt with each new release. An old tool may not work as well as it used it, unless you're still using the old Windows it was written for.
The core issue isn't whether a privacy program is good or bad, but Windows keeps changing and so any privacy tool needs to adapt with each new release. An old tool may not work as well as it used it, unless you're still using the old Windows it was written for.
Kennkish
New Member
I do not like adding anything post install doe. I follow like you and put what i can get my hands on, like registry keys i look in some reg key files others have shared and then look it up on google or whatever to understand what it do. So far so good.
Kennkish
New Member
Yeah i saw that to i just thought i share it and ask if you guys seen or used it etc. I saw that it blocks and changes alooooot of things so i was like dammmn is it really needed. O&OShutup is awesome i like it. I'm atm doing an Enterprise ISO with some different live changes. only took away a few components and some tasks.
And even then it wont have kept up with recent changes to an OS(that still receives updates) it was written for.
Kennkish
New Member
Yeah exactly. I was reading some old stuff about different so called tweak software etc. Then I was thinking back to the glory days when I knew nothing of windows and was just a gamer. Now i'm Manic with looking deep into the haunted house of windows
This is not always possible. Some reg keys can't be applied to images before installation. A few services will assume they are the first ones to create the entries, or they will wipe out any previous settings during setup. You need to confirm the changes have taken effect.I do not like adding anything post install doe. I follow like you and put what i can get my hands on, like registry keys i look in some reg key files others have shared and then look it up on google or whatever to understand what it do. So far so good.
You said it pretty well, tools might also contain obsolete methods that are no longer relevant as well.