Mining on Windows is extremely easy on convenient for users just starting out. It is an OS that you are used to and are probably running right now on your computer. Unfortunately it is not the best OS for Crypto mining, but here are a few tips that will help you get the maximum performance out of your Windows System while mining.
Quick Overview:
1.Update your System
2.Turn off Background Apps
3.Performance Mode
4.Mine on Startup
5.Power and Sleep Options
6.Windows Debloater
Update your system:
Keeping your operating system up to date will insure you have the latest security updates as well as bug fixes for other know issues. This will ensure that you have more uptime, instead of wasting time troubleshooting. This will also check other drivers on you system like your network adapter, disk drives and Universal Serial Bus Controllers. You should also try to stay up to date on your graphics drivers, as these will also help prevent random crashes, blue screens and make the GPU more efficient.
Turn off Background Apps:
When you first install windows on your new miner, make sure you create an offline account and disable: Online speech recognition, Location, Find my device, Diagnostic data, Inking and typing, Tailored experiences and Advertising ID. If you have already installed Windows these can be disabled in the Windows privacy settings.
More background apps can be disabled by going to the windows start button, typing background apps and just moving the top slider to off. Allowing these applications to run in the background allows them to send and receive information, download and install updates and slow down your system. Disabling these still allows you to open them up when you want to.
Performance mode:
Turning on performance mode will disable some visual effects that were created to make windows a smoother experience. This will make Windows more responsive, to do this open Control Panel and under Systems and Security, select System. Then click on Advanced System Settings, under the Visual Effects check the box that says Adjust for best performance.
Now is also a good time to set the virtual memory for your system. Go to the Advanced tab in the System Properties box and click Virtual memory. Click change and set a custom size, the recommended way to set this is 1.5x the memory. Example: 8GB of VRAM, 8x1.5=12, Max size = 12,000. A good rule for setting the Initial size is 2,500mb per GPU in the system. So if you had two GPUs, set it to 5,000. This will help prevent the can not create DAG on GPU error. If you are using NiceHash or CudoMiner you will see your GPUs start mining, but the will randomly stop and report no jobs failing. This happens because the DAG file can't load so no error is output. The job isn't failing, its just not starting.
Mine on Startup:
If you are not using a miner like NiceHash or CudoMiner then you will have to create a start up process for your miner. For miners like NBminer, T-Rex and lolMiner you'll have to navigate to your batch file you normally run to start mining. Right click on your file and select Create Shortcut. Press the Windows key + R to bring up the run menu.
Type in Shell:Startup, this will bring you to a startup folder for Windows. Move the shortcut we just created for the mining file over to this folder. Now whenever you restart your computer, the miner will automatically start. You can also head into your bios and set the Restore AC Power Loss setting to power on. This will turn your computer back on if it were to shut down randomly. However I personally don't enable this option for safety concerns.
Power and Sleep Options:
You don't want your computer to go to sleep or turn off after a period of inactivity. By default Windows 10 puts your display to sleep in less than half an hour of inactivity. The pc will then enter hibernation mode for an hour or two before completely shutting down. It is an awful feeling leaving for work in the morning only to see that your mining rig has been turned off. So make sure you adjust these setting by Clicking on the Windows Start Button, Searching Power and Sleep, then switch the drop down menus to Never.
There is another section under related settings called Additional power settings. Make sure to click on that and select the preconfigured High Performance mode.
Windows Debloater:
This community made application allows you to removed many of the pre-installed applications on Windows 10. This isn't a necessary step in setting up your miner but can help the system run faster. In this PowerShell Script you have the option to remove all of the "bloatware" along with OneDrive, Unpinning titles from Start Menu, Disabling Telemetry tasks and removing bloatware registry keys. What is extremely cool about this tool, is that you can revert back to the original state of Windows if you want to or if you run into issues after removing items. When you run the scripts you will have to run them in PowerShell in Admin mode. To do this open Task Manager, Click File, Run New Task, Check the box that says "Create this task with administrative privileges". Blow that there will be a browse button, open that and navigate over to where you extracted the scripts. Run the Scripts and watch all the bloatware disappear!
