Put windows 10 in test mode for mining ethereum

If you’re like me and you run a software that requires ‘unsigned’ windows drivers to function properly, in my case the software I’m running is the patched ATI file for my modified bios that gets me more hashrates.

To enable Test Mode on Windows, open an elevated command prompt (Press Start->Search->cmd then right-click on it and click Run as administrator) and enter the following command:

 bcdedit /set testsigning on

and reboot after running the command above

To disable Test mode, open an elevated command prompt as above and enter the following command:

bcdedit /set testsigning off

and also reboot after running the above command

Once you reboot, there would be a watermark message as shown below that would confirm that Test Mode is on.

Disable windows updates when mining ethereum (windows 10)

Turn off Windows Updates in Windows 10

You can do this using the Windows Update service. Via Control Panel > Administrative Tools, you can access Services. In the Services window, scroll down to Windows Update and turn off the process. To turn it off, right-click on the process, click on Properties and select Disabled. That will take care of Windows Updates not being installed on your machine.

Fig 2 - Turn off Windows Update in Windows 10

But since Windows is a Service now onwards, you have to keep your computer updated. To be able to install the next set of features or a newer build, you will require the earlier updates to be installed. That’s why if you use the above workaround, you will have to go to the Services and turn it on once in a while to download and update your copy of Windows.

After you turn on the Windows Update service, when you open Windows Update in PC Settings, you will see a message that updates were not installed because computer was stopped. You will have to click on Retry so that all the available updates are downloaded and installed. This may take two or three “Check for Updates”. You will have to keep on clicking “Check for updates” until it says your computer is up to date. Then you can go back and turn off the Windows Update service until next time you feel you are free enough to spend time updating your copy of Windows 10.

If your version of Windows 10 has Group Policy, you can also change some settings using the Group Policy Editor. Run gpedit and navigate to the following policy setting:

Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update.

On the right-side, double-click on Configure Automatic Updates and change its settings to suit your requirements.