🔧 What is hellzerg's Optimizer?
If you haven't heard of Optimizer yet, stop what you're doing. This might be the most useful software you'll ever install on your Windows PC. Created by hellzerg, Optimizer is a free, open source, portable tool that brings together dozens of tweaks, cleanups, and privacy adjustments for Windows — all in a graphical interface, with no need to manually edit the registry or run random scripts you found on Reddit at 2am.
The official repository is at: github.com/hellzerg/optimizer. Worth noting: the repository was archived by the author in January 2026 — meaning no new updates — but version 16.7 still works perfectly on Windows 10 and 11. Think of it as that old car that never breaks down.
⚠️ BEFORE ANYTHING: Create a Restore Point
This step is not optional. Before enabling anything in Optimizer, create a Windows restore point. If something goes wrong (unlikely, but possible), you can roll back in minutes.
How to create a restore point:
1. Press Win + S and search for "Create a restore point".
2. Select the C: drive and click "Configure".
3. Enable system protection and set disk space (10% is fine).
4. Go back and click "Create...".
5. Name it something like "Before Optimizer" and confirm.
Done. Now if you accidentally break something, you can restore. Like a save point before a boss fight.
📥 How to Download and Open Optimizer
Go to the official repository: 👉 github.com/hellzerg/optimizer
Click Releases → download Optimizer16.7.exe. No installation needed — it's a portable executable. Just double-click and run.
On first launch, the program will inspect your hardware automatically (you'll see a purple screen with a ✔ "inspecting hardware"). This is normal — it's just identifying your system to show compatible options.
🗂️ Understanding the Interface — Tab by Tab
Universal — General optimizations
This is the main tab and works on any version of Windows. It contains the safest and most recommended tweaks.
System:
✅ Enable performance tweaks — Changes CPU priorities to favor foreground applications.
✅ Remove menu delay — Eliminates that annoying hover delay in menus.
✅ Disable network throttling — Removes Windows bandwidth throttling in the background.
✅ Disable Error Reporting Service — Stops sending crash data to Microsoft.
Telemetry:
✅ Disable Office / Chrome / Firefox / NVIDIA Telemetry — Your usage data stays on your machine.
Disk Drives:
✅ Disable Superfetch — If you have an SSD, disable this. Superfetch was built for HDDs and causes unnecessary SSD writes.
✅ Disable hibernation — Frees GBs of space on C: by removing hiberfil.sys.
Windows 10 — OS-specific tweaks
✅ Hide weather widget from taskbar — Nobody asked for it.
✅ Disable Cortana — Goodbye.
✅ Disable news and interests — That horrible news tab on the taskbar.
✅ Disable Start Menu ads — Yes, Windows has ads in the Start Menu. This removes them.
✅ Enable Game Mode — Prioritizes system resources for the active game.
✅ Disable Xbox Game Bar — One less background process while gaming.
UWP Apps — Remove bloatware
Lists all UWP apps installed on the system. Enable the "Only Uninstallable" filter to see what you can safely remove. Don't click "Select All" — some system UWP packages are needed even if you don't use them directly.
Startup Apps — Speed up boot
Complete startup manager. Uncheck anything you don't need launching at boot — Discord, Steam, Epic Games Launcher, OneDrive... your choice. Fewer startup items = faster login to desktop.
Applications — Quick installs
A built-in software installer with categories: System & Tools, Internet, Coding, Video & Audio. Download and install 7-Zip, VLC, VS Code, Discord, Node.js and more with one click. Great after a fresh Windows install.
Clean — Free up disk space
Removes temp files, BSOD dumps, error logs and browser cache. Click "Analyze" first to preview what will be freed, then "Clean".
Pinger (DNS) — Lower latency
Quickly change your DNS server. Switching to Cloudflare (1.1.1.1) or Google (8.8.8.8) can improve connection stability and reduce name resolution times.
Hardware — Detailed system info
A built-in hardware inspector showing CPU model, cores, threads, cache sizes, RAM slots, speed, type, and more. A lightweight alternative to CPU-Z for quick checks.
Options — Optimizer settings
Change language, theme color, and access diagnostic options. The program is open source under the GNU GPL 3.0 license — full credit to hellzerg for this outstanding work.
🏆 Best Optimizations to Enable — Quick Checklist
✅ Safe to enable:
Performance tweaks · Remove menu delay · Disable network throttling · Disable all telemetry · Disable Superfetch (SSD users) · Disable hibernation · Disable Cortana · Disable news/widgets · Disable Start Menu ads · Enable Game Mode · Disable Xbox Game Bar · Exclude driver updates · Clean temp files.
⚠️ Enable with care:
Disable automatic updates · Disable SmartScreen · UWP app removal (pick individually).
❌ Leave alone:
Disable System Recovery · Disable search (if you use it) · Mass UWP uninstall.
💾 Conclusion
hellzerg's Optimizer is, without exaggeration, one of the best free Windows tools ever made. In under 10 minutes you can clean telemetry, speed up boot, improve gaming performance, and customize your system — all through a visual interface, no registry editor required.
The archived repository doesn't change anything in practice: version 16.7 is stable, mature, and covers everything you need.
🔗 Official Optimizer repository: github.com/hellzerg/optimizer
🔗 Developer (hellzerg): github.com/hellzerg