Install & calibrate
Acquire the EXE, confirm ProBalance is armed, and let defaults run through a real workload day before customizing.
Open walkthrough →walkthroughs
Operator walkthroughs
Short routes from install to durable CPU control — without drowning in every checkbox. Follow the paths below for first-run calibration, ProBalance tuning, affinity discipline, Watchdog automation, and Governor deployment.
v18.2.2.10
5 walkthroughs
Windows 7–11
Bitsum
Baseline window
24h
Observe before writing rules
Rule depth
3 tiers
Default → profile → hard pin
Workloads
Gaming · Dev · SRV
Scenario walkthroughs below
Service mode
24/7
Governor keeps policies alive
Tune input smoothness
Learn when ProBalance should nudge priorities versus when a persistent rule is the cleaner fix.
Open walkthrough →Pin & isolate cores
Keep latency-sensitive apps on clean logical processors and push noisy helpers to the edges.
Open walkthrough →Automate guardrails
Watchdog caps runaway builds, memory hogs, and stuck helpers — Governor makes it survive logoff.
Open walkthrough →First-run calibration
Process Lasso is most effective when you understand your machine’s baseline before stacking rules. Treat day one as telemetry, not surgery.
1
Install
Run the 2.72 MB EXE with admin rights. Keep defaults.
2
Verify
Confirm ProBalance and Governor show active in the tray menu.
3
Observe
Use your normal apps — games, IDE, browser tabs — for 24 hours.
4
Rule
Promote repeat offenders to named rules only after patterns emerge.
- Download from the official bay. fetch build 18.2.2.10 from download.html and verify the package size (~2.72 MB) before running elevated setup.
- Leave ProBalance enabled. It is the default input smoothness guard. Disabling it on day one removes the signal you need to judge whether custom rules are necessary.
- Skim the process list once per session. Note which processes spike CPU during your heaviest tasks — compilers, game launchers, backup agents, browser GPU helpers.
- Defer affinity pins. Until you know which cores stay cool under load, pinning can accidentally trap latency on busy logical processors.
- Export a blank config snapshot. After week one, save your .ini so future experiments have a rollback point.
Signals worth a custom rule
- Same executable pegs CPU every launch despite ProBalance
- Background indexer runs during competitive play
- Remote-desktop helper starves foreground input
- Backup job overlaps nightly compile batches
Signals to ignore (for now)
- One-time Windows Update CPU burst
- Short post-boot indexer pass
- Antivirus scan you scheduled yourself
- Game launcher patching while idle
ProBalance tuning
ProBalance dynamically restrains CPU hogs so foreground work keeps keyboard and mouse latency intact. It is not a replacement for affinity rules — it is the first responder.
When ProBalance is enough
- Occasional background spikes during office or browsing sessions
- Single rogue tab or helper process during gaming
- Laptops on battery where you want gentle throttling, not hard caps
When to add persistent rules
- Process repeatedly fights ProBalance after every launch
- You need guaranteed priority for audio / input pipelines
- Server role requires fixed class regardless of foreground state
Practical tuning ladder
- Default aggressiveness — run one week unchanged. Note stutter events in a simple log (time, app, CPU%).
- Per-process restraint — right-click repeat offenders → “ProBalance restraint” before hard priority changes.
- Foreground boost pairs — boost your game or DAW class only if ProBalance alone cannot keep frametime stable.
- Disable per title — rare competitive titles with anti-cheat sensitivity may need exclusions; document why in your config notes.
Affinity discipline
CPU affinities pin processes to logical processor sets. Used well they isolate latency; used early they can trap workloads on the wrong cores.
Core selection heuristics
- Reserve the highest-clocked cores for games, audio, and input-heavy apps
- Push Windows services + updaters to the last 2–4 logical processors on large CPUs
- Keep hypervisor / WSL2 pools separate from your gaming set when possible
- On hybrid CPUs, prefer P-cores for latency; E-cores for render batches
Common mistakes
- Pinning everything to CPU 0 — the oldest core is rarely the cleanest
- Matching game + Discord + browser on one pair — spikes stack
- Copying random .ini affinities from forums without checking core count
- Forgetting to clear affinities after hardware upgrades
Watchdog recipes
Watchdog rules automate responses when processes exceed CPU, memory, or instance thresholds — ideal for compile farms, modded games, and unattended helpers.
Runaway compiler
If cl.exe or rustc holds >90% CPU for 90s while idle desktop, reduce priority and log the event.
Memory hog
Cap helper suites that leak over sessions — restart when working set crosses a defined GB threshold during overnight jobs.
Stuck launcher
Auto-restart game platform processes that hang at 0% CPU with a frozen window for more than 3 minutes.
Watchdog checklist
- Define the trigger metric (CPU %, memory, instance count, runtime)
- Choose a proportional action before a nuclear one — throttle, then terminate
- Log actions when running on shared workstations for audit trails
- Test rules during low-stakes hours; document false positives
Governor on servers & GUI-less rigs
Process Governor is the Windows service that keeps Process Lasso policies alive after you close the GUI — essential for servers, render nodes, and kiosk PCs.
- Install with service option enabled during setup or via Options → “Start Governor at boot”.
- Confirm service recovery in services.msc — set restart on failure for unattended racks.
- Apply policies from a template machine then export/import .ini for fleet rollout.
- Restrict who can edit rules on shared hosts; pair with the Safety & integrity deployment checklist.
Server profile
- Persistent priority for database / queue workers
- Affinity maps that keep noisy agents off socket 0
- Watchdog on runaway maintenance scripts
Workstation profile
- ProBalance for daily desktop input smoothness
- Per-game affinity only after baseline week
- compact Watchdog on mod tools and dev servers
Workload scenarios
Pick the lane closest to your machine — each path stacks the earlier walkthroughs in a sensible order.
Frametime first
- Day 1: ProBalance only + baseline logging
- Day 3: Affinity for game + audio; push launchers outward
- Day 7: Watchdog on known leaky overlay tools
Compile + IDE harmony
- Keep ProBalance for browser + indexer noise
- Affinity: IDE on P-cores, batch compiles on E-cores / tail set
- Watchdog on runaway test runners
Policy durability
- Governor at boot with recovery enabled
- Persistent rules for service roles
- Change control on imported .ini files
When rules fight each other
Symptoms like micro-stutter, uneven frametime, or “stuck” priorities usually mean overlapping policies — not a broken engine.
Diagnostic order
- Temporarily disable newest Watchdog entries
- Clear affinities on suspects; retest 15 minutes
- Lower manual priority boosts — let ProBalance breathe
- Re-import last known-good .ini snapshot
Still stuck?
Check the الأسئلة for antivirus exclusions, Governor permissions, and licensing boundaries. Integrity verification steps live on Safety & integrity.