Predator Control v1.2.5 — Security Hardening & System Optimization Toggle

What's New in v1.2.5

🔒 Security Hardening

• IPC pipe hardened — Named pipe now restricted to authenticated users only (was open to all local processes)
• Auto-updater URL validation — Download URL is now validated to be HTTPS and from github.com before executing
• Removed personal file paths — Developer-local paths have been removed from the compiled binary
• Repository cleaned — Private conversation export file removed from public repo

⚙️ System Optimization Toggle (New)

• Added SYSTEM OPTIMIZATION section at the bottom of settings
• Toggle to disable Acer bloatware services (AcerCareCenter, QuickAccess, DeviceInfo, SystemMonitor) — opt-in only, no longer runs silently on every launch
• Toggling off restores all services back to Automatic

🌈 RGB Boot Fix

• Upgraded boot watchdog from 2 pulses to 4 pulses (at 1s, 3s, 6s, 10s after logon)
• More reliably beats AcerLightingService amber reset race condition

📦 Build

• Task scheduler priorities normalized (no longer kernel-level)
• Single-file compression enabled — standalone exe stays at ~50 MB
• Version: 1.2.5

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PredatorControl-standalone.exe — Self-contained, no .NET runtime required (~50 MB)
PredatorControl-win-x64.exe — Requires .NET 10 runtime (~3 MB)