# AnWave: a Windows toolbox for AMD and NVIDIA driver housekeeping

> AnWave is a personal C# project for Windows 10 and 11 that bundles driver download and custom-install handling, an advanced cleanup utility for AMD and NVIDIA software, a Windows settings organizer, and a set of toolkit releases for restoring removed Windows features. It ships as a WinRAR archive from GitHub releases, and the repository holds nothing but a README and a confirmation document.

**SimonMacer/AnWave** — AnWave Personal Development Project - Manage and customize AMD Radeon drivers and more

- Repository: https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave
- Website: https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave
- Stars: 703 · Forks: 23
- Language: Unknown
- License: not declared
- Published: 2026-10-21 · Updated: 2026-10-21 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/simonmacer-anwave

## A personal project, packaged as a release archive

AnWave is described as a personal development project, and the repository makes the scale obvious: the top level contains exactly two files, README.md and ConfWU.md. There is no source tree published in the tree listing, and the primary language is recorded as unknown, even though the introduction states it was developed with Visual Studio 2022 in C#. The default branch is a non-standard name, AnWabe-Stable.

The distribution model is a release archive rather than a package. The README points to the GitHub releases page for the latest release, and states that the author compresses files with WinRAR 7.0 or above and recommends the latest WinRAR to open them. That is an unusual choice in 2026 and it shapes the install experience: this is a set of executables you unpack, not something you install through a package manager or a signed installer path.

The versioning is also unusual. The latest release is AnWave-v8.1.9.23, titled as the October 20, 2026 update of the 2024 version, so the product name embeds a 2024 lineage while the release number tracks 2026. Alongside it sit standalone release tags for individual pieces, including RollbackDolby for the Dolby AC-3 and WordPad optional-in, NVPMMan for NVIDIA power management, and separate tags for the DLSS standalone and for a Defender Uninstaller standalone.

The last push was on 2026-10-19 and the project is not archived, so this is active personal maintenance rather than an abandoned dump.

## Four features, one of them a driver front end

The README lists four main features. The AnWave UI manages downloaded AMD and NVIDIA drivers, the AMD Radeon Software Customize Setup is included, there is an Advanced Cleanup Utility, and Windows Key-Point organises the best Windows 10 or 11 settings options.

The driver workflow is the part that gives the tool its reason to exist. You download the driver yourself, from the AMD Radeon series driver page or the NVIDIA download page, and the README is specific that you should download the offline version. You then set the path to the driver package in AnWave and press Extract, which decompresses it. After that, pressing Custom opens the AMD Radeon Software Customize Setup interface, where you can pick a version from the Driver Version menu in the Executable File Package tab, or pick an unpacked driver from the tree view in the Extracted Packed tab. Pressing Install instead runs a default installation.

That is the classic reason power users install the Adrenalin customize setup separately: choosing which components to install instead of accepting the default package. AnWave bundles the decompress step and the chooser in one window, so the practical value is convenience rather than any capability the AMD installer lacks.

Windows Key-Point is the least documented of the four. The description calls it an organiser of the best Windows 10 or 11 settings options, and the introduction repeats the phrase, but the README gives no list of which settings it changes or how it decides what counts as best. Treat that feature as a black box you inspect before you let it run.

## The cleanup utility covers more software than you probably installed

The Advanced Cleanup Utility is reached from the AnWave window through the Feature menu, opening the Advanced Cleanup Utility Center, where you select an option for the cleaning process. The supported list is long and specific: AMD Ryzen chipset driver, AMD Software Adrenalin Edition, AMD Software PRO Edition, AMD ROCm software, AMD Privacy View, AMD Chatbot, AMD Install Manager, NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready Driver, NVIDIA Studio Driver, NVIDIA GeForce Experience, NVIDIA App, NVIDIA Broadcast, NVIDIA FrameView and the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit.

Two things are worth pulling out of that list. The AMD and NVIDIA graphics driver cleanup is the core use, and it is the one that saves disk space and avoids version conflicts when you reinstall. The rest, from ROCm to CUDA Toolkit, covers software many people installed deliberately for machine learning or development work, and removing those can break workflows that have nothing to do with graphics drivers.

The README does not document what the cleanup actually removes, whether it removes user data or configuration as well as program files, or whether the removal is reversible. It is also silent on whether the cleanup is limited to a specific set of versions. The safe reading is that this is a removal utility for the listed packages, so the check before running it is a check of what you installed, and the README does not say otherwise.

## Restoring what Windows 11 24H2 removed

The RollbackDolby release exists because Microsoft removed the AC-3 codec and WordPad from Windows 11 24H2 and later builds. The toolkit installs the AC-3 codec, Dolby Digital, and the WordPad features on demand, and the README lists two feature packages: Dolby AC-3 Features On Demand and WordPad Features On Demand, both described for the Windows or Windows Server operating system version 24H2. You download the Dolby AC-3 and WordPad FoD Optional-In package from that release tag.

This is the clearest example in the project of a feature Windows removed for a reason rather than by accident. AC-3 decoding was dropped in favour of the platform decoder, and WordPad was retired as a legacy app. A toolkit that re-enables them is a convenience for someone who needs the specific capability, and it is also a way to put a component back on a system that a vendor considers obsolete. The README says nothing about how the optional-in packages are sourced or whether Microsoft still serves them.

The NVIDIA DLSS Global Override Mode sits in the same category of system-tinkering utilities. It is described as a way to let DLSS games and apps use the latest DLSS models, with the recommendation of NVIDIA GeForce R566.36 or later and NVIDIA DLSS 3.1.11 or later. The procedure is to download the DLSS DLL, the DLSS 3 Frame Generation DLL, the DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction DLL and the Streamline Integration Framework files, place those DLL files in the same location as nvidiaDlssGlom.exe, then run nvidiaDlssGlom.exe and press Update. The DLLs come from third-party download sites rather than from NVIDIA, which is the detail to weigh before running it.

## Turning off memory integrity and VBS is the part to think twice about

AnWave includes a feature for disabling and re-enabling memory integrity and Virtualization Based Security enablement, reached from the AnWave window through the System menu, where a Start button disables them and a re-enable button turns them back on. The tool also tells you to run msinfo32.exe to check the Credential Guard, VBS Key Isolation and Memory Integrity status.

The README is straight about the motivation. Some applications and hardware device drivers may be incompatible with memory integrity, which can cause devices or software to malfunction and, in rare cases, a boot failure. It links to the Microsoft troubleshooting guidance for remediation steps, and notes that changing the setting may require resetting the Windows Hello configuration for facial recognition, fingerprint recognition and PIN.

The workflow is more involved than a checkbox. You run AnWave.exe, open the menu, and start the change. Then you open Windows PowerShell, copy the text from the text box into it, paste it with Ctrl+V and press Enter. Then you reboot for the change to continue. The requirement for a manual paste and a reboot is consistent with a change that alters a boot-time security posture, since such a change cannot be applied to a running kernel configuration without a restart.

The honest framing is that this is a diagnostic and repair tool for people whose hardware or drivers conflict with VBS, and it removes a protection layer that some software genuinely depends on. The README points at the Microsoft documentation rather than arguing that the protection is unnecessary.

## A Defender uninstaller is included, and that is a different kind of decision

The repository also ships Microsoft Defender Uninstaller, a utility for uninstalling Windows Defender, bundled with AnWave and available as a standalone download under its own release tag.

This one deserves more care than the driver tools, and the README offers no argument for it at all. The feature list does not mention it, and there is no section explaining when a user would want Defender removed rather than configured. A tool that removes an antivirus product is the kind of artefact that security teams and endpoint management software treat as suspicious, and in a corporate environment its presence on a machine is often enough to trigger a policy violation regardless of intent.

For an individual on a personal machine, the realistic use is removal of a third-party antivirus that conflicts with Defender, or opting out of a system component. For anyone on a managed work device, the sensible advice is to leave it alone. The project itself is not a malware tool and does nothing covert: there is no obfuscation, no download-and-run-from-a-remote-host behaviour, no persistence mechanism described anywhere in the README. It is a visible utility with a visible button, which is the same category as the cleanup utility, except the target is the thing protecting the machine.

If your evaluation includes whether the presence of the bundle is acceptable in your environment, that is a question to answer before downloading rather than after, since the archive contains it either way.

## Conclusion

Adopt AnWave if you are on 64-bit Windows 10 or 11, repeatedly reinstall graphics drivers, and want the AMD Adrenalin custom install path plus a cleanup utility in one place, or if you specifically need the Dolby AC-3 and WordPad restore package for Windows 11 24H2. Do not adopt it as a general security tool: the package includes a Defender uninstaller and a Virtualization Based Security opt-out, and turning those off removes protections that some software and hardware need. Before you commit, read ConfWU.md in the repository root, since the licence field is not classified and the archive format expects WinRAR 7.0 or above, and check the Advanced Cleanup Utility list against the AMD and NVIDIA packages you actually want removed, because the utility covers far more software than most users install.

## FAQ

### What are the system requirements for AnWave?

The README lists Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 or newer, Microsoft Windows 10 or newer, and a 64-bit operating system. The project was developed with Visual Studio 2022 in C#.

### How do I install an AMD or NVIDIA driver with AnWave?

Download the offline driver package yourself, set its path in AnWave and press Extract to decompress it, then press Custom to open the AMD Radeon Software Customize Setup interface, where you pick a version from the Driver Version menu or an unpacked driver from the tree view. Pressing Install starts a default installation instead.

### How do I restore WordPad and Dolby AC-3 support in Windows 11 24H2?

Use the Dolby AC-3 and WordPad FoD Optional-In package from the RollbackDolby release tag, which installs the AC-3 codec and the WordPad features on demand for version 24H2. The README notes that Microsoft removed the AC-3 codec and WordPad from Windows 11 24H2 and later builds.

### What does the AnWave Advanced Cleanup Utility remove?

It supports cleanup for AMD Ryzen chipset driver, AMD Software Adrenalin Edition and PRO Edition, AMD ROCm software, AMD Privacy View, AMD Chatbot, AMD Install Manager, NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready and Studio drivers, NVIDIA GeForce Experience, NVIDIA App, NVIDIA Broadcast, NVIDIA FrameView and the NVIDIA CUDA Toolkit.

### How do I use the AnWave DLSS Global Override Mode?

Download the DLSS DLL, the DLSS 3 Frame Generation DLL, the DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction DLL and the Streamline Integration Framework files, place the DLL files in the same location as nvidiaDlssGlom.exe, then run nvidiaDlssGlom.exe and press Update. The recommended baseline is NVIDIA GeForce R566.36 or later with NVIDIA DLSS 3.1.11 or later.

## Sources

- [Issues](https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave/issues)
- [Project website](https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave)
- [README](https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave/blob/AnWabe-Stable/README.md)
- [Releases](https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave/releases)
- [SimonMacer/AnWave on GitHub](https://github.com/SimonMacer/AnWave)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/simonmacer-anwave