Windows has been designed for a wide variety of applications. Unfortunately that means that, out-of-the-box, it works correctly for office or entertainment applications, but for DAW applications, several settings and features have to be fine-tuned.
Native users should also refer to this page for additional recommendations.
Windows 10 Fall Creator (1709) : Pyramix 11.0.6 / Ovation 7.0.6 / VCube 7.0.6 / AMR 11.0.6 required
Windows 10 Spring Creator (1803) : Pyramix Pyramix 11.1.4 / Ovation 7.1.4 / VCube 7VCube 7.1.4 4 / AMR 11.1.4 required. (MassCore mode : RTX64 3.4 version)
Windows 10 October update 2018 (1809) : Currently under test, Merging recommends you do not install this version for the moment.Merging highly recommends Pyramix 11.1.6 / Ovation 7.1.6 / VCube 7.1.6 / AMR 11.1.6 required. (MassCore mode : RTX64 3.6.2 version)
Windows 10 May 2019 update (1903) : Currently under test, Merging recommends you do not install this version for the moment.
Merging highly recommends you "defer feature updates" in Windows 10, see Updates section below.
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During Windows installation, on “Get Going fast”, do not use Express settings, select Customize.
On the first page, set all options to have off.
On the second page, set all options to have off.
On the third, you can leave Smart Screen option on, set the other options to offplease take the time to customize your installation and select the required additional features.
Diagnostic Data to Microsoft can be set to "Basic".
If you don’t have a Microsoft account, you can click on “skip this step” at the bottom of the page when Windows prompt you for your Microsoft account.
Merging recommends you don’t activate Cortana now, but configure it later once the OS is installedlater once the OS is installed.
Version 1809 only:
Select "Offline Account" to use a standard local account rather than an online Microsoft account.
A note on drag & drop and Run as Administrator in Windows 10.
In Windows 10, when you run a program by forcing it in “administrator mode” / “Run as administrator”, drag & drop to and from this application will be disabled.
DEVICE DRIVERS
Merging Merging recommends to install WHQL (Driver certified by Microsoft) or if not available, the latest drivers from the manufacturer website.
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To access Windows 10 Anniversary (1607) Control Panel, right click on Windows Start and select Control Panel.
To access On other Windows 10 Creator Update versions (since 1703) Control Panel, type "control panel" in Windows Search box.
You can right click on the control panel icon from the search result and pin it to the Start menu or Taskbar.
For ease of use, it is recommended to set the Control Panel to Small Icons.
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MassCore users have to first disable the "Fast Boot feature", which indeed put the computer to sleep when you select shut down.
Click on "Choose what the power buttons do” on the left hand side of Power options page.
Then click on "Change Settings that are currently unavailable" and uncheck the "Turn on fast startup" option. Click on Save Changes. Note also that hibernate / sleep is not supported by MassCore engine.
This is also not supported by the Ovation / Pyramix ADR keyboard.
In the main Power options page :
Native users : Set the power scheme to High Performance or Ultimate Performance (Spring Creator)
MassCore users : Set the power scheme options page :
Native users : Set the power scheme to High Performance or Ultimate Performance (version 1803 and above)
If the Ultimate Performance power plan is not available:
Open a command prompt (CMD) and paste the following line :
powercfg -duplicatescheme e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61
Hit Enter, the power plan will be added to the list.
MassCore users : Set the power scheme RTX – recommended.
Native & MassCore : then Change plan settings
Screen Saver (Turn off the display) is usually set to Never. If you are recording, you surely don’t want the display to turn off after several minutes!
Put the computer to sleep must be set to Never
Access Change advanced power settings and make sure that:
Hard Disk > Turn off Hard disk after: Never
Desktop background settings > Slide show: Paused
Sleep > Sleep after: Never / Allow hybrid sleep: off / Hibernate after: Never / Allow wake timers: Disable.
USB Settings > USB selective suspend setting: Disabled
Intel(R) Graphics Settings : Maximum Performance
PCI Express > Link State Power Management: Off
Processor power management > System Cooling policy : Active
Minimum and Maximum processor state: 100%
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Settings page can be accessed through Windows Start > Settings icon (and 
+ i)
System
- (Spring Creator1803 and above) Display > Graphic settings : graphic performances can be configured per application.
Select "Classic App" and browse to C:/Program Files/Merging Technologies.
Add Pyramix.exe - Ovation.exe - VCube.exe depending on your configuration.
Then select the application(s) and click on Options, set the graphics preference to High Performance. - In Notifications & actions, you can configure which quick action tile and notification will be displayed.
Merging recommends to only have “All settings” & “Network” tiles active.
In the Notifications section, you can configure how and which application can send Notifications.
Merging recommends to disable the “Get tips, tricks, and suggestions as you use Windows” and "Show me the Windows welcome experience..." for better performance. - Focus assist can be configured to remove several Windows notifications. (Windows 10 Spring Creator1803 and above)
- Multitasking : Merging recommends to set all Snap options to off, especially for computers not using dedicated graphic cards.
Switching between Virtual desktops is not recommended during real time operation.
In the Timeline section, Merging recommends you disable the "show suggestions occasionally in the timeline". (Spring Creator) - (1809) Clipboard : you can activate the Clipboard history feature (to save multiple items in Windows clipboard).
Note : This feature is only applicable to few Windows applications for the moment. - Remote desktop : since Spring Creator update, remote desktop is disabled by defaultupdate, remote desktop is disabled by default.
Note : Remote desktop is not supported in MT Security panel, you cannot import keys thourgh remote desktop.
Personalization
Windows transparency can cause issues, especially on systems with low graphic resources.
Go in Settings > Personalization > Colors.
Turn "Make Start, taskbar, and action center transparent" or "Transparency effects" to Off.
Start menu, Taskbar and notification area can be configured in Settings > Personalization > Start and Taskbar.
Merging recommends to disable the “Occasionally show suggestions in start” option for the Start menu (to prevent Windows downloading apps without notifications).
In the Taskbar section, disable the "Use Peek to preview the desktop ...."
(Since Fall Creator1709) You may disable the People icon 
in the taskbar through Windows Settings > Personnalization > Taskbar > Show contacts on the taskbar : Off.
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In Apps and features, uninstall all unnecessary applications.
(In Windows 10 Anniversary 1607, Apps are only accessible through Settings > System)
Some applications cannot be uninstalled (Mail and Calendar for example), uninstall button will be disabled.
Bonjour is required for Merging products, do not uninstall it.
Merging recommends you uninstall Xbox Live (Fall Creator and following).
You may also remove Feedback Hub, Get Office, Microsoft Solitaire Collection, Paid Wifi&Mobile, Print3D (Fall Creator), Skype and Tips.
In Default apps, Merging recommends you set Google Chrome as your default web browser (RAVENNA users).
Click on Web Browser to select Google Chrome (it must be installed before changing this setting).
Startup : Please do not disable RTX64Bootcheck (RTX3.4 RTX64 System Tray can be disabled).
Privacy
In Account info, it is recommended to set General, Merging recommends you turn off "Show me suggested content in the Settings app".
"Let apps use my advertising ID ...." to should be turned off, to reduce the OS internet traffic.
In Background Apps, Merging recommends you only enable the required apps for better performance.
(Since Fall Creator) Merging recommends you disable the "Show me suggested content in the Settings app" in the General Tab.
(Spring Creator, Merging recommends you only enable the required apps for better performance. You may also turn it off.
(1803) In Activity history, Merging recommends you disable both "Let Windows collect my activities from this PC" and "Let Windows sync my activities from this PC to the cloud"
(1809) In Activity History : "Send my activity history to Microsoft" should be turned off, to reduce the OS internet traffic.
(Spring Creator1803 and above) In File System, "Allow Apps to access your file system" has to be turned on (default).
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Merging recommends you disable the auto updates on Windows Apps, for better performance.
Open Windows Store, and click on the profile icon on the top right corner and select settings (On Spring Creator, click on the ... icon)
Set “Update apps automatically” and show products on tile to off.
OneDrive configuration / uninstall
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Format block size: if you only use audio files, the best size is 64 Kb when formatting the drive.
But if you also need to use video files, 64Kb is not the optimal size, in that case keep the Default Allocation size (128Kb).
The best way is to use separate drives for video and audio, if possible.
SYSTEM CONFIGURATION (MSCONFIG)
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To handle real time application, the CPU gets a defined amount of time to perform the required tasks.
If those tasks are delayed, the result is usually drop-outs in the signal.
A common tool to verify if your computer is able to handle real-time audio was DPC Latency Checker, but the reported values are false in Windows 8 and 10.
The alternative solution is to use the LatencyMon tool,
Download the tool and install it on your computer.
You can start the test by clicking on the Play icon on the top left corner.
To get useful results, the tool should run for quite some time (10 minutes minimum).
The driver or process using the highest DPC or ISR is clearly stated in the main window.
If you have too high values, you can get more detailed information in the Processes or Drivers tab.
Don't pay too much attention to the hard pagefault resolution time (last indicator)
If you have higher values, you will have to search for the driver/ device that is causing the issue by disabling them one by one.
Remember that some devices cannot be disabled, proceed with caution.
Wi-Fi, LAN, specific (usually ndis.sys),USB devices, on-board audio, PCI / PCIe devices are the common culprits.
On laptops, the ACPI battery driver is also a common problem (ACPI.sys), you can try to disable (do not uninstall!) the "Microsoft ACPI Compliant Control Method Battery" and "Microsoft AC Adapter" listed under Batteries in Windows Device Manager (but pay attention to not disable any other ACPI device listed under System devices, your computer may not start anymore !)
Settings to apply when creating a user on an already configured system
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1.Use Local Users and Groups :
In Windows Start Search field, type lusrmgr.msc to access the console.
You can easily add local users, and configure if they are part of Users or Administrators groups.
2.Go in Settings > Accounts and click on "Other people" in the left hand pane.
Click on "Add someone else to this PC".
In the next page, select "I don't have this person's sign-in information", then "Add a user without Microsoft account".