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ChamberTech Playbook v1.4.0-beta.1

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@github-actions github-actions released this 22 Oct 16:16
· 13 commits to main since this release
v1.4.0-beta.1
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⚠️ Pre-release. Not yet tested on every Windows build. Try it on a spare PC or a VM, or wait for the full release.

Install

  1. Download Chamber.apbx below.
  2. Open AME Wizard and drag the file in.
  3. Pick your options and let it run. Video walkthrough

New here? Start with the README. Check your download against SHA256SUMS.txt.

What's new in 1.4.0

Chamber is now the ChamberTech Playbook, and the repository moved to ChamberTechFPS/Playbook (old links redirect). This release compares the playbook against ReviOS, AtlasOS and Privacy+ with one goal: everything in Windows keeps working, games get every gain that holds up, and less runs in the background.

Highlights

  • Game audio no longer drops during Discord calls, and End task is on the taskbar right-click menu.
  • Windows stays on its current yearly release, so a big upgrade can't undo your setup. Monthly security updates still install.
  • Windows Search, the emoji panel and clipboard history are no longer turned off. Search pauses while you play instead.
  • Pause Windows Updates replaces Stop automatic Windows Updates. You can click Resume in Settings any time.
  • New option: stop Windows Update replacing your GPU driver with an older one.
  • More telemetry off, and Outlook and Dev Home stay removed.
  • Laptops must be plugged in to run it.

Minor bump: a new option, a renamed option and several defaults changed.

Added

  • Fault Tolerant Heap off (phase 4). After an app crashes a few times, FTH applies heap compatibility fixes to it for good. rundll32 fthsvc.dll,FthSysprepSpecialize clears the fixes already applied; HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\FTH\Enabled = 0 stops new ones. From AtlasOS.
  • Feature release pin (phase 7, every install). TargetReleaseVersion = 1, ProductVersion = Windows 11, and TargetReleaseVersionInfo set to the release the PC is on, with 25H2 as the floor. Monthly updates continue; Windows stops moving to the next yearly release on its own, which is what reset settings and brought removed apps back. A 24H2 PC is pinned to 25H2 because 24H2 Home/Pro left servicing on 2026-10-13. Raise the floor before 25H2 Home/Pro leaves servicing in October 2027. Windows 11 Home may ignore the policy. From AtlasOS.
  • New option: Stop Windows Update installing drivers (block-wu-drivers, off by default, security page). ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate = 1, so Windows Update cannot replace a GPU driver with an older one. Off by default because on a USB install a PC whose Wi-Fi driver comes from Windows Update would have no Wi-Fi. Recorded in the deployment receipt like every other option. From ReviOS.
  • Gaming quality of life (phase 8): Windows no longer turns other audio down during calls (UserDuckingPreference = 3), End task on the taskbar's right-click menu (TaskbarEndTask = 1), and Dynamic Lighting off (AmbientLightingEnabled = 0) so it doesn't fight iCUE, Armoury Crate or SignalRGB. From AtlasOS and ReviOS.
  • Search (phase 5): indexing pauses during Game Mode and heavy CPU or disk load (RespectPowerModes = 1), search highlights off (IsDynamicSearchBoxEnabled = 0, downloaded daily), and web results blocked by policy as well (ConnectedSearchUseWeb = 0).
  • More telemetry off (phase 5): the SetupPlatformTel boot logger, the DataCollection policies DoNotShowFeedbackNotifications, LimitDiagnosticLogCollection, LimitDumpCollection and AllowDeviceNameInTelemetry = 0, feedback prompts (NumberOfSIUFInPeriod = 0), and the .NET SDK and PowerShell 7 telemetry opt-out environment variables. From ReviOS.
  • Outlook and Dev Home stay removed (phase 6). Windows Update's orchestrator reinstalls them; deleting their UScheduler_Oobe keys and marking the UScheduler jobs workCompleted = 1 stops that. The two key deletes are not in the verification manifest (it lists them as unparsed). From AtlasOS.
  • PluggedIn requirement. AME Wizard will not start on a laptop running on battery, so a run cannot die halfway.

Changed

  • WSearch, SysMain, TabletInputService and TapiSrv are back at their Windows defaults (phase 3), written explicitly so an in-place upgrade turns them back on. Neither ReviOS nor AtlasOS disables any of them.
    • WSearch: off made file search in Start and Explorer slow and broke Outlook search. It now pauses during Game Mode instead, and the phase 9 indexer priority demotions finally have a process to apply to.
    • SysMain: no measured gain from turning it off, and it can lengthen load times.
    • TabletInputService: off can break the emoji panel, clipboard history, the touch keyboard and Chinese/Japanese/Korean input.
    • TapiSrv: manual start, so it cost nothing; off can break dial-up, PPPoE and Windows' built-in VPN.
  • NetworkThrottlingIndex back to the Windows default of 10 (was 0xFFFFFFFF). Published testing found no latency benefit, ReviOS reverted it too, and Chamber never measured one.
  • Stop automatic Windows Updates is now Pause Windows Updates, and its option ID is now pause-updates (was disable-updates). Receipts from older runs still list disable-updates. Instead of the notify-only policy, it uses Windows' own pause, extended to 2038 with the values ReviOS's Revision Tool writes. Settings shows Resume, so the user can turn updates back on without a registry edit, and Settings no longer says the PC is managed. The old NoAutoUpdate / AUOptions policy is deleted on every run, so an upgrade cleans it up.
  • Boot menu timeout 0 → 15 seconds. Only dual-boot PCs ever see the menu; at 0 they had no way to pick an OS.
  • Renamed to ChamberTech Playbook. The wizard title, descriptions, first-boot (OOBE) bullets, post-install menu, Verify and Restore headers, and the power plan's display name all use it. Internal names stay as they were so upgrades and Restore keep finding things: Chamber.apbx, C:\ChamberTech, the power plan GUID, script names, and AME's <Name> and <UniqueId>.
  • Repository moved from ChamberTechFPS/Chamber-Playbook to ChamberTechFPS/Playbook. GitHub redirects the old URLs. playbook.conf's <Git> points at the new one; 1.3.0 installs still carry the old URL and rely on the redirect for AME's update check.
  • README rewritten for a typical PC gamer: badges, plain-language feature list, 4-step install, an options table, and an FAQ (bans, FPS, undo, Windows Update, Game Pass, laptops, files, antivirus warnings). The ISO injection guide moved to docs/ISO-INJECTION.md, and the phase table, what the playbook leaves out, the debloat list and Verify/Restore details moved to docs/HOW-IT-WORKS.md. Removed the claim that the playbook blocks telemetry at the firewall (phase 5 deliberately adds no firewall rules).
  • Post-install menu (START-HERE.bat): plain-language labels (Check my PC, Undo the playbook) with the same keys, and it now stops with instructions when not run as administrator instead of failing partway.
  • Release notes are built from this CHANGELOG by the release workflow, with install steps on top. A tag with a suffix (v1.4.0-beta.1) is published as a prerelease, which keeps it off /releases/latest.
  • Issue templates: removed the link to Discussions, which are not enabled on the repository.

Removed

  • Hosts-file telemetry blocks. Chamber leaves Defender on, and Defender flags these entries as SettingsModifier:Win32/HostsFileHijack and can strip them. The six domains were mostly legacy endpoints, and telemetry is already stopped by services and policies. Update-HostsTelemetryBlocks.ps1 is now Remove-HostsTelemetryBlocks.ps1: it removes exactly the six lines older versions added and nothing else. The manifest's hostsEntries became hostsRetired; Verify warns if any remain, and Restore's hosts scope still clears them.
  • AutoEndTasks = 1. It closed apps at shutdown without asking, losing unsaved work. Deleted on upgrade; the shorter shutdown timeouts stay.
  • docs/BENCHMARKING.md.

Rollback notes

  • Every new value has a Windows default in Restore-Chamber.ps1, so -Apply reverts it.
  • Feature pin: delete TargetReleaseVersion, ProductVersion and TargetReleaseVersionInfo under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate. Restore removes the first two; the third is written by a script, so it is not in the manifest, and it does nothing without TargetReleaseVersion.
  • Pause: click Resume in Settings > Windows Update, or delete the seven Pause* / FlightSettingsMaxPauseDays values under HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\WindowsUpdate\UX\Settings.
  • FTH: set HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\FTH\Enabled back to 1. Fixes it already cleared are not reapplied.

Full Changelog: v1.3.0...v1.4.0-beta.1

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