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I built a Windows optimizer that refuses to run if Outlook is open

DEV Community·Jude Hilgendorf·20 days ago
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I wrote a PowerShell script that hardens and tunes Windows 10/11. Pretty standard stuff. Disables telemetry, kills bloatware, tweaks the registry for performance, hardens a few obvious holes (SMBv1, AutoRun, Remote Desktop if you don't use it). Writing those tweaks isn't hard. The hard part is what happens when you run a script like that on a machine someone is actually using. My first version was clean. Smooth even. Then I ran it on my dad's laptop while he was on a Zoom call. The script disabled a couple of audio services it thought were unused. Mic cut out mid-meeting. He was not impressed. That was the moment I added context-aware safety. Now before the script touches anything, it scans for running processes and connected hardware that would care. Outlook running? Skip the network resets. RDP session active? Don't touch firewall rules. Touchscreen detected? Leave the tablet input services alone. Print job queued? Don't kill the spooler.…

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