XTweaker

Windows lets you  make a bit of every computer activity available through the default set of features. However, you might not need all options, and get the feeling of an overwhelmed environment. In this regard, XTweaker comes with a set of different options in order to disable or hide specific Windows functions and features.

The application can easily be carried around on a USB flash drive, because it doesn’t even need to be installed on your computer to properly function. However, you need to make sure that the PC you install it on is fitted with .NET Framework, because it was built on this platform and is one of the requirements.

There’s only a compact panel you get to work with. A handful of customization tweaks only need to be checked, with the possibility to select more at a time, depending on what you want to manage. In case you’re not really sure about what each tweak does, hovering the cursor over it shows a description in a dedicated section.

Sadly, there aren’t many features you can look into, and they’re mostly oriented towards security, but not too related to one another. Among others, you can choose to disable low diskspace check, remove shared documents, disable indexing service, add command prompt here context menu option, and a few others.

What’s more, changes you apply need to modify specific entries in system registries, so it’s best to make a backup first. The application also needs to be launched with administrator privileges so it can freely access target areas. However, it doesn’t remember changes you make, and there’s no option to revert changes, so you need to be sure you want to apply a specific option.

Taking everything into consideration, we can say that XTweaker comes with good intentions, and wants to make Windows a better environment. However, areas it targets create a bit of confusion and there seems to be a general inconsistency in between. Moreover, there’s no possibility to undo changes, which might lead to compatibility or other issues in the end.