MAUS-0.8.1 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.8.1-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: c23c9a5d2e8c1244fe875eac8a9ec489faface94fc03fe4c5a8b9cfb32d977af
Build provenance: this installer was built by GitHub Actions from this repository; anyone can check it with gh attestation verify MAUS-0.8.1-installation.exe -R TERMINATORmdel101/MAUS.

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.8.0

• No administrator prompt when MAUS opens. MAUS now starts without administrator rights and without launching its engine. A MAUS message offers to enable all features ("Yes, I want all the features" shows the Windows permission prompt; "No, continue without" keeps MAUS read-only; the offer can be turned off, and back on in Settings).
• Permission asked only when needed. The administrator engine (same closed list of operations, same private channel restricted to the user and to the window that started it) starts at the first action that needs it: audit, applying or undoing a fix, fix history, Windows repair, driver actions, advanced sensors (new "Enable advanced sensors" button), memory details, driver latency, frame counter, weekly audit. Declining cancels only that action; MAUS stays usable without rights.
• Administrator rights close by themselves after 15 minutes without a request (never during a request, a benchmark or a stability test), and when the window closes. The next action asks again.
• Benchmark: with the PawnIO driver installed, starting the benchmark asks for permission so that the processor temperature safety stop works; declining still runs it, with the graphics card safety stop only.
• Display choices (language, theme, frame counter, search engine) are now stored in the user's own folder; choices that drive the audit and fixes stay in the administrators-only folder and only go through the engine.
• Memory tab (Intel Core 6th to 10th gen): memory clock checked against the speed reported by Windows (it was shown doubled on a Coffee Lake PC with DDR4-4000), durations in nanoseconds corrected, CAS latency in nanoseconds, tWR and tRTP shown and marked as derived, tRCD and tRP on one line (a single value in this controller), memory sheet comparison in MT/s.
• Microsoft Store package: the Windows component store check now works inside the package (the in-process DISM API failed there; dism.exe /CheckHealth, read-only, is used instead).

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).

MAUS-0.8.0 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.8.0-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: e37ac8e476fd1341439ffacd51c1cbc376b66f27cdeb71f19183c91290134354
Build provenance: this installer was built by GitHub Actions from this repository; anyone can check it with gh attestation verify MAUS-0.8.0-installation.exe -R TERMINATORmdel101/MAUS.

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.7.6

A security and stability release, following an eleven-point review: each point was first checked in the code, then fixed when it was real.

• The window no longer runs as administrator. Everything that reads the system in depth or changes it is done by a separate engine process (MAUS.exe --engine), started with the usual Windows permission prompt and connected to the window through a private channel:
  • the channel has a random name, is restricted to your account and closed to the network; each side checks with Windows which process is on the other end;
  • the engine only accepts a closed list of operations and never receives a ready-made write or command: fixes are designated by their identifier and taken from its own plan, command windows (DISM, winget, pnputil) are built by the engine itself, a process to stop is re-read by the engine, every identifier, folder and setting is checked;
  • the engine stops with the window; if the permission is refused, MAUS opens in limited mode (audit without admin rights, no fixes) and says so.
• Failed rollbacks stay visible: when a fix failed and restoring the original values failed too, the change could stay in Windows without an "Undo" button. It is now kept as "to resume", "Undo" retries it, and MAUS warns at startup.
• No more operations surviving a cancel: the Windows Update search is really aborted in Windows on timeout or cancel; a command started by MAUS (winget…) is stopped when you cancel.
• Benchmark safety stop: the benchmark stops if the graphics card reaches its slowdown threshold or the processor goes 5 °C past its limit (limits reported by the chips themselves).
• No more false "stable" results: the core-by-core test no longer reports "all cores held, no WHEA error" when some cores were not tested or the WHEA log could not be read; a test that verified nothing gives no verdict.
• Less misplaced trust: a program running from a Windows folder that any user can write to (C:\Windows\Temp, Tasks…) is no longer shown as a Windows component; the weekly audit task file is written to an administrators-only folder instead of the user's temp folder.
• Benchmark comparisons: different benchmark versions, interfaces, interrupted runs and different test sets are flagged; the combined score is only compared between identical test sets.
• Every build is identifiable: the commit is shown next to the version number (About, maus --version, logs); all tests run on GitHub for every change, and the installer is only built when they pass.
• Also: native libraries are only loaded from System32, a process-list leak is fixed, folder scans and loops are bounded, public functions check their parameters, benchmark thumbnails are kept on disk instead of in memory.

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).

MAUS-0.7.6 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.7.6-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: bcd0b2dfa5dfd2e3d07557e53db0a2af39493390dbc531bc1c485ca4b034b832

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.7.5

Bug fixes and stability.

• Responsive frame counter (monitoring window and in-game overlay), measured with a test window at fixed frame rates (60, then 200, then 90, a pause, then 60):
  • the big number is now the last second ("Right now"), with the ten-second average next to it. A change of frame rate is followed in 1 to 2 seconds instead of about ten;
  • refreshed twice a second; first figure 1.3 s after the game starts (3 s before); 1 % lows only from 100 frames;
  • after a pause (menu, minimized window, loading screen), the frame that contains the pause no longer distorts the result (it showed 7 FPS instead of 60 when the game resumed);
  • a closed or paused game is no longer shown with its last figure: back to "waiting for a game" after 3 seconds without frames;
  • Windows delivers frames to PresentMon in batches of about one second: that is the minimum delay.
• Closing the monitoring window during a measurement froze MAUS for up to 8 seconds. It now closes instantly, and no PresentMon process or Windows trace session is left behind, even when MAUS itself is closed during a measurement.
• Benchmark: a graphics driver crash is recognized and explained (results already measured are kept) instead of the benchmark stopping without a message.
• Stability: an unexpected error behind a button is logged and explained, but no longer closes MAUS.
• More accurate findings: NVMe SSDs whose health log is read are no longer reported as "not sharing reliability counters"; startup entries whose program was deleted show "program not found".

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).

MAUS-0.7.5 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.7.5-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: 8ae85891b35e739816c1eb65c022808c1700419b5030eedb82704a631307cde5

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.6.2

• Visual benchmark, with its own page in the left menu: about ten minutes in full screen (twelve with the ray tracing test), in a separate process, with DirectX 12 or DirectX 11. Points are proportional to speed (twice the points = twice as fast) and compare at the same render resolution: 720p light (integrated graphics, small laptops), 1080p, 1440p or 4K.
  • Five graphics scenes, each pushing one capability: geometry (the ring of a giant planet), effects (a tank battle on hilly ground: shells pierce the armour, turrets fly off and land on the ground), bandwidth (a galaxy collision with 5.5 million stars and gas clouds), textures (a cabinet of curiosities with scanned objects lit by a real HDR sky) and compute (a fractal forge).
  • Ray tracing test, "Hall of Mirrors" (DirectX 12, DXR 1.1, separate score): a baroque gallery whose facing mirrors reflect it endlessly, gold, chrome and glass statues, crystal chandeliers, soft sun shadows, bounced light and sunbeams, all traced ray by ray by the card. It is skipped, with the reason, on cards or APIs without hardware ray tracing.
  • Processor: path tracing on all cores and on one core, and vector maths.
  • Temperature, clock and power during the measurement, with a warning if the card or the processor slowed down to protect itself; a result image to share; comparison with a friend's result (a MAUS-BENCH-1 code in the copied text, read back without any server) or with your previous run.
• Memory tests at the maximum (Workshop > Tests): by default, all the free RAM and all the free video memory, whatever the amount installed (16, 24, 32, 64 GB…), keeping only a small margin for Windows and the display. Smaller sizes remain available for a quicker test.
• Pastel style in all secondary windows.

Third-party assets: scanned models, textures and HDR sky by Poly Haven (CC0), authors credited in THIRD-PARTY-NOTICES.md. The ray tracing shaders are compiled when MAUS is built, by Microsoft's DirectX Shader Compiler, which is not shipped with MAUS.

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).

MAUS-0.6.2 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible. MAUS is designed and coded with Claude, an AI by Anthropic, under the direction of its author.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.6.2-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: 77b4a1e9c798a1c95e172eeb80338e642cabb4b7970486bf7661e037d8a913a3

Not signed: this installer has no code signature yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Our application for free signing by the SignPath Foundation was declined for now (the project is still too new); we will apply again later.

What's new since 0.5.2

• New look: simpler home page that offers to fix right after the audit, findings sorted by importance (the rest on demand), lighter Fixes page, clearly separated sections, pastel colours in light and dark themes.
• "Fix" button on findings, one card per topic, web links as buttons, before/after health score, summary before applying, fixes grouped by module, first-launch welcome card.
• Frame-rate counter (monitor window): average, slowest 1% and 0.1%, graphics card busy share (Intel's "GPU Busy" method), screen refresh rate, and what is limiting the frame rate. Can be shown over the game (click-through window, nothing injected into the game), with adjustable size, opacity and corner.
• Game recording now includes frame rates, measured by Intel PresentMon (MIT licence), shipped with MAUS and only launched if its file matches Intel's signed release.
• Driver latency (Workshop > Tests): names the drivers that hold the processor longest (audio crackles, micro-stutter), from the Windows kernel trace, read-only. Administrator rights required.
• NVMe SSD health: spare capacity and the manufacturer's threshold, warnings declared by the drive, wear, errors.
• Common beliefs MAUS does not follow, each with its Microsoft source.
• Reliability fixes from 0.5.3: dates and numbers in the chosen language, CSV in Windows' regional format, crash safety net on every thread, a single MAUS at a time, settings and journal files never overwritten after a failed read.

Full details: CHANGELOG.md (in French).

MAUS-0.5.2 alpha

MAUS (Maintenance · Audit · Updates · Security) is a free, open-source (GPL-3.0) Windows 11 utility: a read-only audit first, then fixes chosen by the user, each one explained and reversible.

This is an alpha version in active development: some features may be incomplete and bugs may occur.

Download: MAUS-0.5.2-installation.exe (installs to Program Files, .NET included, uninstall from Settings > Apps).
SHA-256: 6c9ab37dd25540d4a238ec22473f3392a796a1a7e1f44719a14666a00ab7b79a

Code signing policy: free code signing provided by SignPath.io, certificate by SignPath Foundation. The application is in progress: this build is not signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen may show a warning ("More info", then "Run anyway"). Details: https://github.com/TERMINATORmdel101/MAUS#code-signing-policy