Prepare Windows for the kernel driver

Step-by-step

1. Download the ISO above

   About ~5.4 GB. Save it somewhere with free space (Downloads is fine). While it downloads you can already do steps 2 and 3.

2. Make a bootable USB with Rufus

   Grab rufus.ie (portable, no install). Plug in an 8 GB+ USB stick, open Rufus, pick the ISO you just downloaded, keep the defaults (GPT partition, UEFI (non-CSM) target), click Start and wait ~5 minutes. Everything on the stick is wiped.

3. Disable Secure Boot in the UEFI

   Reboot, spam the BIOS key on POST (Del / F2 / F10 depending on the board). Find Security → Secure Boot and set it to Disabled. Save and exit. On some ASUS/Gigabyte boards you also need to enable Other OS under OS Type.

   If you have BitLocker on your system drive, run manage-bde -protectors -disable C: in an admin cmd before this reboot — otherwise Windows asks for the recovery key.

4. Install Windows 10 22H2 from the USB

   Boot from the USB (F8/F12 boot menu). Pick Custom install, wipe / format the target partition, let it run. When it asks for a product key, hit I don't have a key — you can activate later or leave it unactivated. Skip the Microsoft account (there's a "domain join instead" trick or use OOBE\BYPASSNRO at the network step) if you prefer a local account.

5. Turn off HVCI (Memory Integrity)

   Open Windows Security → Device security → Core isolation details. Toggle Memory integrity to Off. Reboot.

   If the toggle is missing, greyed out, or flips back on (common on fresh installs — the setting exists but isn't exposed in the UI), open an admin PowerShell and force it via bcdedit:

   bcdedit /set hypervisorlaunchtype off

   Reboot after running it.

6. Turn off Windows Defender (mandatory, always off)

   This step is non-negotiable. Even with folder exclusions, Defender scans the driver on load and blocks it. It has to be fully off, and it has to stay off — every session, forever.

   1. Disable Tamper Protection first.

   Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings → toggle Tamper Protection to Off. Without this, every other setting on that page snaps back on within minutes.

   2. In the same panel, turn everything else off:

   Real-time protection → Off · Cloud-delivered protection → Off · Automatic sample submission → Off · Tamper Protection → Off (again, if it flipped).

   3. Reboot. Real-time protection should stay off. If Windows Security shows a warning triangle after reboot, ignore it — that's exactly what we want.

   Optional — nuclear option, if the toggles keep flipping back on: some 22H2 updates re-enable Defender after Windows Update runs. If that happens on your machine, kill it via Group Policy (admin PowerShell):

   reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender" /v DisableAntiSpyware /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /freg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender\Real-Time Protection" /v DisableRealtimeMonitoring /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

   Reboot again. Alternatively, a small tool called Defender Control gives you a one-click toggle — ask in Discord and staff will point you to a trusted mirror.

7. Verify everything is off

   Open msinfo32. Under System Summary you want:

   Secure Boot State — Off
   Virtualization-based security — Not enabled (or the row is absent entirely)
   OS Version — 10.0.19045.xxxx (22H2)

   Then in Windows Security → Virus & threat protection, you should see a red triangle and "Threat service has stopped" or "Real-time protection is off". That means Defender is fully out of the way.

   If all three are correct (22H2, VBS not enabled, Defender off), you're ready. Head back to the loader page, download VS-Loader.exe, paste your key, start the game and hit Start.