Using the Optimize page and its modules

The Optimize page is where you choose exactly which tweaks BRUTAL applies. Every optimization is a self-contained module with its own toggle, its own description, and (for reversible modules) its own Undo button. Nothing happens until you press a Run button, and you can preview everything first.

Reading a module card

Each module appears as a card with a toggle switch, an icon, a name, a tweak count, and a one-line description of what it does. Cards carry a risk badge so you always know what you are turning on:

• SAFE (green) — standard, low-risk tweaks. No badge clutter; these are the default.
• CAUTION (orange) — heavier changes (e.g. GPU, memory, input-lag, network-adapter tuning); every CAUTION module except Modules 1 and 2 has its own Undo.
• ADVANCED (red) — changes boot or security settings via bcdedit (Module 11 VBS/HVCI + Spectre, Module 12 Timer/HPET). Enabling one of these by hand pops a one-time confirmation explaining the trade-off.

Modules are grouped into a free panel and a Pro panel. If a module is Pro-only and you are not on Pro, its card is dimmed, the toggle is locked, and it shows a lock icon and a PRO ONLY tag. See What each module does for the full list.

The action buttons

• Smart Optimize — auto-selects the modules that suit your hardware tier, then runs them. See Smart Optimize and hardware tiers.
• Run All — enables every available toggle and runs it. Advanced modules are included without the per-module prompt because Run All is an explicit power action.
• Run Selected — runs exactly the modules you have toggled on, nothing else.
• Preview — a dry run. It lists every selected module, its risk, its tweak count, and whether it is reversible — without applying anything. Always a safe way to see what would happen.
• Audit — shows the changes BRUTAL has actually applied to this PC, read back from the signed backups. This is your honest change ledger.
• Stop — cancels a run in progress; the module currently finishing completes, then it halts.

How to run an optimization

1. Toggle on the modules you want (or press Smart Optimize to let BRUTAL choose).
2. Optional but recommended: press Preview to read exactly what will change.
3. Press Run Selected (or Run All).
4. BRUTAL first creates a system restore point (once per session), then applies each module while a progress bar, percentage and live log update in real time.
5. When it finishes you will see "All modules complete" and a reminder to restart your PC for full effect.

Undoing a single module

Reversible modules grow an ↩ Undo button once they have run. Press it to restore that module's registry values to their exact pre-run state; the button's tooltip shows when the backup was taken. Undo buttons persist across app restarts, so a module you ran last week is still reversible today.

Best practice

• Start with Preview the first time so there are no surprises.
• Use Smart Optimize if you are unsure — it is tuned to your hardware and skips boot/security modules.
• Leave ADVANCED (red) modules off unless you specifically want the boot/timer change and can reboot.
• Run one batch, restart, then judge the result before stacking more.
• Check the Audit view any time you want to see what has actually been changed.

Common issues / troubleshooting

• "No modules selected" — nothing is toggled on. Pick at least one module or use Smart Optimize.
• "An optimization is already running" — only one run happens at a time to keep the backup data consistent. Wait for it, or press Stop.
• A module shows a warning icon — that module hit an error (often a setting that does not exist on your Windows build). The rest of the run continues; the error is in the log.
• Finish the current run first — Preview and Audit are disabled while a run is in flight so they cannot overwrite the live log.