you’re asking yourself, why windows? for me it’s mainly because of the fact it works the best on my workstation, I’ve got 2 HIDPI screens, a majority of work I do is around windowsin some regard, whether it’s publishing software, reverse engineering or just having a bit of fun on some games :3

it’s that time of the year again, so i thought to write a blog post about it, just something short & silly

i start of via backing up everything either onto a 256gb usb for important things, then github for my projects, and finally google drive for photos, music & more (i have google one so that 2tb of storage is pretty nice :P)

the backup process is usually the easiest part, noting id say im quite organised with how i manage stuff, i try to avoid having a messy filesystem, as having a neat one makes my life a lot easier

once the backup process is done, i usually download my iso’s from https://massgrave.dev and i put them on my ventoy usb with the 10s of other isos on there, (iirc i have around 40 isos on that usb alone o_O) after that i’ll do a final sweep of my system, just to make sure i’m not missing anything before i wipe everything, and if everything seems good, i restart and boot into my uefi, from there i shall select my usb, and we’ve officially started the install :3

from there it’s pretty self explanatory if you’ve ever installed windows, i just walk through all the prompts, i accept the terms of blablabla & then i select the disk to install it on, for my windows installs i have a 1tb samsung nvme that i use (for any operating system install really), after that it seems to restart my computer a few times as it plasters my screen with “INSTALLING WINDOWS 11”

while that’s installing, lets about the software i install. i tend to install a LOT, whether it’s qol, stuff for development or just video games :3, my list usually includes:

  • intelji idea (for anything java/kt)
  • clion (for c++/c development)
  • openssl (i use it frequently in my projects)
  • prismlauncher (the best mc launcher ever..)
  • discord (i like talking to my friends :3)
  • signal (i like talking to my friends more privately :3)
  • visual studio code (i mean im litewally using it to write this post ..)
  • obs & mpv (FUCK VLC)
  • 7zip (FUCK WINRAR)
  • spotify (mgfgmfmfggf music)
  • steam (other video games)
  • inkscape

some of the more dev orientated things i install include rust, bun, python, go & more, i also install llvm & it’s tooling, i install msys2 whenever i need to build openjdk i also install the windows sdk & the wdk for whenever i write drivers, and for reverse engineering i will install azalea, ida pro, x64dbg, windbg and ghidra, not entirely dev related although i install ffmpeg too.

i also like package managers so i install both chocolately & winget & i also set vcpkg up for c++ devel, i tend to use chocolatey to install a lot, mainly mingw & mpv as im semi lazy :3

and hey, looks like stuff has finished, so lets start of via selecting our region/country, im british so i pick the UK, same for my keyboard layout, although before all of this, i press shift + f10, and type in OOBE\BYPASSNRO so i wont need to use wifi during the install (i still hate microsoft for removing the no wifi option in the menu D: ), i usually name my account “april” if not april i just name it admin or smth dumb like meow lol , afterwards i type in my pin & setup my security questions, and then i get to not letting microsoft use my data (which they definitely stick to..) and we’re in windows finally :3 !

from here, i start of via connecting to the wifi, and then i open edge to download chrome, it’s my preferred browser as i already use many of googles services, after im done downloading chrome, i start setting the basics up! this includes creating folders for projects, wallpapers & any subdirectories needed, and then i add my ssh keys (windows including openssh is so nice :3) in terms of how i structure my file system includes

  • Docuemnts
    • Projects
    • Important
    • Docs
    • Other
  • Pictures
    • Wallpapers
    • Camera
    • Funny
  • Music
    • FLAC
    • WAV
    • MP3
    • Other
  • Videos
    • Recording
    • Edited
    • Exports
    • Clips
    • Funny

i do such mainly to stop stuff from looking like an absolute MESS, and it makes my life a lot easier when trying to find stuff (although everything by voidtools is also quite handy) after i’ve setup my filesystem, i usually activate windows via massgrave, i grab a few wallpapers, i love the windows spotlight wallpapers so i usually look there first, i setup my monitors orientation, i put stuff into dark mode, i login to a few things such as my browser, from there i start installing such including discord & spotify, as a bit of music during an installation is always nice :3

from here really it’s just installing my package managers, and then my development tools and more, and spending a LOT of time logging into accounts .. also i will usually setup git & stuff, i like kraken for doing git stuff it’s great :3

and from here it’s just more of the boring stuff, not much after this apart from a few tweaks, installing drivers & more if you read this entire thing i hope u enjoyed :3