SimpleTool: Windows tweaks you can undo

Tweaks in four groups

Tick the tweaks you want and press Apply. Each one comes with a full explanation and lists exactly which registry values, services and scheduled tasks it changes, with their current state: Applied, Partly, Not applied, or Not found when what it targets is not on this PC.

• Privacy: Windows and NVIDIA telemetry, the advertising ID, settings sync, data collection tasks, location
• System: startup delay, AutoPlay, switching the keyboard layout with Ctrl+Shift, the classic Windows Photo Viewer
• File Explorer: file extensions, This PC on Win+E, long file paths, recent files history, menu delay
• Context menu: take ownership, block a program’s internet access in the firewall, file hashes, copy image, tools in the This PC menu

Revert and system snapshots

Before a tweak is applied for the first time, SimpleTool saves the original values, and Revert puts them back; where there is no saved copy, it sets the Windows defaults. On top of that, it takes a snapshot of every setting it can change before each Apply, Revert and restore, so you can go back to any earlier state.

• The original state is kept for good: SimpleTool saves it the first time it runs as administrator, before it changes anything
• Any snapshot can be restored from the System snapshots page
• The same page has a button that creates a Windows restore point

Memory limiter

Keeps chosen programs within a RAM limit while SimpleTool is open. It lists the programs installed on the PC, with the ones running now first and the memory they use. Pick one, or any running program, then set the limit and the mode.

• Soft, the default: the limit is for the whole program, all its processes together. When it goes over, SimpleTool trims the largest processes first until the program is back under the limit
• Hard: Windows caps the memory of every process of the program. It holds the limit firmly, but a program that really needs more memory can slow down
• Neither mode closes a program or takes memory away from it: pages it is not using move out of RAM, and Windows brings them back when they are needed, sometimes with a short pause
• With the limiter on, closing the window hides SimpleTool to the notification area, and it keeps working
• System processes such as Explorer and svchost cannot be added

System overview

At startup SimpleTool checks which Windows services for telemetry, location, performance, Xbox and security are on, off or not installed, and explains what each one does. If it cannot read something, it says why and how to fix it.

Before you apply anything

SimpleTool changes the registry, services and scheduled tasks. It is a beta, which means it is still being tested and may contain errors, and you use it at your own risk.

• Create a Windows restore point first: the System snapshots page has a button for it
• Back up any files you cannot afford to lose
• Read the description of a tweak before you tick it
• Use it only on a computer that is yours or that you are allowed to change; on a work or school PC, ask the administrator first
• Some changes take effect only after you restart Explorer, sign out or restart the PC

If Windows or your antivirus objects

SimpleTool.exe is not code-signed, so the first time you run it Windows SmartScreen may say “Windows protected your PC”. Choose More info, then Run anyway. Some antivirus products flag programs built with PyInstaller by mistake, and SimpleTool is built with it.

• The SHA-256 of the current file is shown next to the download button, so you can check that what you downloaded is what was published
• The source code is on GitHub, so you can read exactly what the program does, or build the exe yourself

What you need

64-bit Windows 10 or 11. There is nothing to install: SimpleTool is a single portable file, so it runs from any folder or from a USB stick.

• Run it as administrator. Without administrator rights it says so and locks the tweaks that change system-wide settings, services and scheduled tasks; the per-user tweaks still work
• Its settings, backups and snapshots stay on that PC, in %LOCALAPPDATA%\SimpleTool. It sends nothing over the internet
• The interface is in English, Russian and Ukrainian. It starts in the language of Windows, and you can switch it in the top right corner