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Published in · 7 min read · Jan 23, 2020
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Besides a dedicated mining OS, minerstat also supports Windows mining. In this blog post, we have prepared a quick checklist that will help you prepare your Windows rigs for mining, so you will never forget or skip any important settings anymore.
What makes Windows that much different than Linux is the fact that it is mostly intended for personal use and thus the default environment is set for personal use as well. This includes the following settings:
- Energy-saving mode with sleep feature;
- Advanced antivirus and firewall protection;
- Regular updates;
- Locked login screen, and more.
But since it also offers a visual interface and more flexible drivers control, some miners prefer to use it over Linux. We understand this, which is why we want to assure the best experience for our Windows miners as well.
⚠️ Disclaimer: We should emphasize at this point that we do not recommend mining with personal computers as most of the mining clients are closed sourced and to assure the best experience and uptimes, you will need to turn some protection mechanisms off. Do not do this with a computer that you are using for personal purposes and is used for saving sensitive data (personal data, banking data, private key, etc.).
Windows will always come with Windows Defender turned on. In case you are using any other firewall and/or any other antivirus software, they will in most cases also block the mining software. This is expected as mining software was used in the past for harmful purposes and since most of the mining clients are closed source, so you can’t check what is going on in the background of the software.
There are few things you can do to prepare your mining rig on Windows to not be blocked by Windows Defender.
A) Whitelist minerstat’s Windows Node folder
Navigate to Virus & threat protection by looking it up in your search bar or following Start » Settings » Update & Security » Windows Security » Virus & threat protection. Then click on Manage settings and navigate to Exclusions » Add or remove exclusions.
Click on the button Add an exclusion and select the files, folders, or file types you want to white-list. If you select one folder, the exclusion will apply to all files and subfolders within this folder. In this step, select the minerstat folder.
🎥 Windows Defender Exclusion - detailed instructions with video tutorial
B) Disable Windows Defender
First, you will need to turn off tamper protection by following Settings » Update & Security » Windows Security »Virus & Threat protection settings » Manage settings » Tamper protection. Then click on the toggle button to set it to Off.
To permanently disable Windows Defender you will need to use Registry. Detailed instructions with a video tutorial are available in the bottom link.
🎥 Disable Windows Defender - detailed instructions with video tutorial
Sleep mode is very useful when you are using Windows on a personal computer as it will save energy and still keep all the folders and files in a quick start mode for when you are ready to continue using your computer. On a mining rig, this feature is more annoyance than a feature as it will stop all software, including the mining clients and communication with the dashboard.
You can disable sleep mode by navigating to Settings » System » Power & sleep and make sure that the following settings are set:
- Screen: When plugged in, turn off after [Never]
- Sleep: When plugged in, PC goes to sleep after [Never]
Tablet mode usually isn’t enabled when using a personal computer, but it can get enabled if you are using a small portable screen with your Windows rig.
To disable tablet mode, navigate to Settings » System » Tablet mode and make sure the following settings are set:
- When I sign in: Use desktop mode
- When this device automatically switches tablet mode on or off: Always ask me before switching
As a default, Windows offers a login screen where you need to enter your password or PIN number in order to login to the OS. This is great to prevent other users from using the computer while you are not around, but if you are using triggers on your mining rig and the trigger reboots your machine, you don’t want to have a login screen popping up and waiting for you to enter the password. The login process should be automated.
In your Windows search type netplwiz and press enter to open the settings. Uncheck (disable) Users must enter a name and password to use this computer and press OK. The system will ask you for your password, enter it, and click OK.
Then navigate to Settings » Accounts » Sign-in options and make sure the following settings are set:
- Require sign-in: [Never]
Windows updates are an important part of your personal computer as there is always a patch that needs to be done to keep software in the best health. However, Windows updates can happen at unusual hours and once they are finished, you can lose your old settings. This is why a lot of miners disable Windows updates and apply them when they have time to inspect what will new changes bring.
You can disable Windows updates for up to 1 month by navigating to Settings » Update & Security » Windows Update » Advanced options » Pause updates and select a date until which the updates should be paused.
To permanently disable Windows updates you will need to use Registry. Detailed instructions with a video tutorial are available in the bottom link.
🎥 Disable Windows updates - detailed instructions with video tutorial
Mining is a lot more extensive activity than regular usage of Windows OS. It also requires more memory (depending on the algorithm), so we suggest to increase the virtual memory before the errors and troubles start to arise on your rig.
You can increase virtual memory by navigating to Settings » System » About » System info » Advanced system settings » Advanced » Performance » Settings » Advanced » Virtual memory » Change… and do the following:
- Uncheck Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.
- Select the option button Custom size.
- Set Initial size (MB) as 16000 (this is around 16 GB).
- Set Maximum size (MB) as 16000 (this is around 16 GB).
- Click Set.
After confirming all settings by clicking OK, reboot the machine. Detailed instructions with a video tutorial are available in the bottom link.
🎥 Increase virtual memory - detailed instructions with video tutorial
User Account Control is a security tool that notifies you once an app wants to install software or make a change to your computer. You can disable UAC by navigating to Control Panel » User Accounts » User Accounts » Change User Account Control settings » Advanced system settings » Advanced and set Never notify.
🎥 Disable User Account Control - detailed instructions with video tutorial
If your AMD GPUs are performing worse than expected it might be due to graphics mode being enabled instead of computing mode. Some AMD drivers on some GPUs allow you to switch between graphics and compute mode, where the latter is better for mining performance.
You can enable compute mode in AMD Radeon Settings, under the advanced menu, or follow the steps as explained in the following article.
📓 How to enable AMD compute mode
Happy mining!
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