AtlasOS free tool for optimizing Windows

I have now tried a few of these custom OS builds and have gained some knowledge of how they work. The general rule of thumb I have learned is the older the windows build the better the performance and the lower the latency will be but on the negative side there will be less compatibility with newer software. As I only need the custom OS for offline use with Traktor the question was how old can the build be before Traktor would not work.

The oldest build i could find of a custom OS was by World Of PC with their Nexus Superlite based on Windows 10 1607. The trouble I had was that Native Access would not work due to NTKDaemon service not starting so I could not install Traktor. I followed the advice on the NI troubleshooting guide but to no avail.

This was no surprise as 1607 is only the 3rd build of Windows 10 from August 2016 so I decided to try a newer build.

I got hold of a stock version of 1703 which is the 4th build of Windows 10 and Native Access installed this time. There is no custom build of 1703 so to customise it myself I used a debloating tool by Heuz. It is a really good tool to stop loads of unnecessary services, programs, telemetry etc. You can download it via his YouTube channel. Windows will say it is a virus but it is a false positive and I have used it with no problems. He also has his own discord called 'FreeZone' so check that for more information. Also check out Kev's reviews YouTube channel where he reviews this tool along with many other custom OS versions.

If you would rather just install a custom OS and not use a tool then RekOS is the oldest build that Native Access will install with. It is based on 1709 so I tried that along with 2 other custom OS by FoxOS and KernelOS that are both based on 1809. After testing all 3 with LatencyMon I can conclude that RekOS was the best in my tests. The load bar hardly moved and I have used it for 2 3 hour + sets now on my 2012 Intel I7 machine. It also comes with a host of custom power plans so I had to test each one to see which was best for my system and the results did change. The best 2 were plans by 'Hands' and 'Unixcorn' but results will vary system to system so your results might differ from mine so Test Test Test would be my advice.

I didn't test Atlas as it is a newer build of Windows 10 as are a lot of others like ReviOS and ggOS. As I said earlier the older the build the lower the latency will be so I would go with RekOS that is 1709. I would only use it offline and a lot of things have been stripped out like windows updates, system restore, windows defender etc so installing drivers without Windows Update can be more time consuming. You can use a fantastic program called Snappy Driver instead that installs all missing drivers at the click of a button and it is free. The only downside is that it is slow to download. It also tells you if an older driver is better than a new one so it is a really good program.

The only thing I had trouble with was getting 2 drivers for my Kontrol S4 Mk3 to install that are needed for the screens to work. You can download these from the Windows driver website manually and use device manager to install them.

RekOS can be found on discord along with others like FoxOS etc. Links can be found on the xbitlabs website on 'The Best Custom Windows 10 ISO for Gaming' artcle.

If you download a piece of software called 'Ventoy' you can stick numerous ISO files on one thumbdrive so you can have all your Windows builds in 1 place and install via a menu when you boot from USB. Handy when comparing. It is also a good idea to have a Vanilla stock copy of Windows 10 just in case you run into problems.

One last piece of advice would be to avoid Windows 11 as this offers less performance and even more bloat than Windows 10.

I would just avoid using Atlas for Traktor use as we don't need Windows Defender or Windows Update. With every update the performance of Windows drops. Traktor should be used offline as the main problem that causes real-time audio issues is the network adaptor so this should be the first thing to disable if you encounter spikes in load.

And as for Windows Defender that uses up quite a bit of resources and as long as you don't do anything stupid or go on dodgy websites you will be fine.

I only went online to download Traktor and disabled the network service immediately afterwards. I have my custom ISO on a separate partition and have an up to date stock Win10 on another partition for my non-Traktor online life.

Now if you are blessed with a flagship PC having a custom ISO might not be needed but I have seen top of the line laptops struggle with low latency audio. As most people can't afford such luxury hardware custom ISOs breathe new life into dated tech.

Using an older version of Windows like 1709 and 1809 is the way to go if you require performance and low latency so avoid Atlas and go for RekOS is my advice, especially as Atlas is using a newer version of Win10 with security enabled.

Atlas is also a pain to install too as they stopped giving people an ISO so you have to go through some monotonous tasks to get it to work whereas others like RekOS make it simple by letting users download an ISO file that takes 10 mins to install.

Nice site.

I'm not a fan of Windows 11 as it is just Windows 10 with a face lift and even more bloat. I did find this version does run Traktor really well but still not as good as RekOS 1709.

https://archive.org/details/windows-10-enterprise-v1703-x64

Have you heard about KB5030219 'mandatory' security update on Windows 11? It's causing all kinds of issues since it was released earlier this month. Microsoft loves us to beta test their updates for them. Stock Windows 11 gives users no option to opt out of the update either as Microsoft says it is 'compulsory'. Another reason to not update by using a custom os or debloating tool to turn Windows Update off.