System Setup

Follow every step below before running any Reaper loader. Skipping steps is the most common cause of failures.

Secure Boot — Must Be Enabled

Required for all Reaper products: Secure Boot must be ON. Our loaders will not function with Secure Boot disabled.

What is Secure Boot?

Secure Boot is a UEFI firmware feature that ensures only trusted, signed software runs during the boot process. All Reaper Softwares products are built to operate with Secure Boot enabled — this is intentional and required.

How to verify Secure Boot is enabled

  1. Press Win + R, type msinfo32, and press Enter.
  2. In System Information, find Secure Boot State on the right panel.
  3. It must read On. If it reads Off or Unsupported, follow the steps below.

How to enable Secure Boot in BIOS/UEFI

  1. Restart your PC and enter BIOS/UEFI setup (usually Del, F2, or F12 during startup).
  2. Navigate to the Boot or Security tab.
  3. Find Secure Boot and set it to Enabled.
  4. If Secure Boot is greyed out:
    • Set the OS Type to Windows UEFI mode (not Legacy/CSM).
    • Disable CSM (Compatibility Support Module) if present.
    • Ensure Windows is installed on a GPT partition, not MBR.
  5. Save changes and exit (F10 on most boards).
  6. Boot back into Windows and confirm Secure Boot State: On in msinfo32.

Do not disable Secure Boot after enabling it. Reaper requires it to remain active at all times.

Disable Windows Defender Completely

Windows Defender will block or interfere with Reaper loaders. You must fully disable real-time protection before running any Reaper product. We strongly recommend Sordum Defender Control for a reliable, persistent disable.

Step 1 — Disable Tamper Protection (required first)

  1. Open Windows Security (search in Start).
  2. Go to Virus & threat protection.
  3. Under Virus & threat protection settings, click Manage settings.
  4. Turn Tamper Protection to Off.
  5. Confirm the UAC prompt if asked.

Step 2 — Disable Real-Time Protection manually

  1. Still in Manage settings.
  2. Turn Real-time protection to Off.
  3. Turn Cloud-delivered protection to Off.
  4. Turn Automatic sample submission to Off.
  5. Turn Tamper Protection off again if it re-enabled itself.

Note: Windows may re-enable Real-time protection after a reboot. This is why Defender Control is recommended.

Step 3 — Sordum Defender Control (recommended)

Sordum Defender Control fully disables Microsoft Defender with one click and bypasses Windows' automatic re-enable behavior.

Download & extract

  1. Download from sordum.org/downloads
  2. Extract the ZIP — archive password is sordum (lowercase).
  3. If your browser blocks the download, click Keep in the download bar, or temporarily adjust Safe Browsing in browser Security settings.

Run Defender Control

  1. Ensure Tamper Protection is Off.
  2. Right-click dControl.exe → Run as administrator.
  3. On first run: Menu → Add it to the exclusion list (creates desktop shortcut and prevents deletion).
  4. Status indicators:
    • Green = Defender running
    • Red = Defender disabled
    • Orange = Defender cannot start
  5. Click Disable Windows Defender.
  6. Wait until status shows red — "Windows Defender is turned off".

If Defender won't stay disabled

  • Confirm Tamper Protection is off.
  • Always run Defender Control as Administrator.
  • Uninstall or disable third-party antivirus (Norton, McAfee, Avast, etc.).
  • After Windows Updates, re-run Defender Control.
  • To re-enable later: open Defender Control → Enable Windows Defender → restart PC.

Step 4 — Add Reaper folder exclusions (optional)

  1. Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Manage settings.
  2. Exclusions → Add or remove exclusions.
  3. Add a Folder exclusion for your Reaper loader folder (e.g. C:\Reaper).

Disable Core Isolation & Memory Integrity

Memory Integrity uses virtualization to protect kernel-mode processes. It conflicts with Reaper loaders and must be turned off on all products.

Disable Memory Integrity

  1. Open Windows Security.
  2. Go to Device security.
  3. Under Core isolation, click Core isolation details.
  4. Turn Memory integrity to Off.
  5. Restart your PC when prompted.

Verify after reboot

  1. Return to Core isolation details.
  2. Confirm Memory integrity is still Off.
  3. Windows Updates sometimes re-enable this — check before every session.

Alternative path (Windows 11)

  1. Win + I → Privacy & security → Windows Security → Device security.
  2. Follow the same Core isolation steps.

Disable Exploit Protection Settings

Windows Exploit Protection applies mitigation policies that can block injection and memory operations used by Reaper.

Open Exploit Protection

  1. Open Windows Security.
  2. Go to App & browser control.
  3. Click Exploit protection settings.

Disable system-wide mitigations

On the System settings tab, set each to Off by default:

  • Control flow guard (CFG)
  • Data Execution Prevention (DEP)
  • Force randomization for images (Mandatory ASLR)
  • Randomize memory allocations (Bottom-up ASLR)
  • Validate heap integrity
  • Validate exception chains (SEHOP)
  • Validate image integrity

Clear program-specific overrides

  1. Switch to the Program settings tab.
  2. If your game or the Reaper loader appears, select it → Edit.
  3. Set all mitigations to Off, or remove the override.

Restart your PC after changing these settings.

Additional Requirements & Troubleshooting

Run as Administrator

Always run the Reaper loader as Administrator. Right-click → Run as administrator.

When to run the loader (games)

For Call of Duty, CS2, and Bloodstrike: launch the game first, go to the main menu, and run the loader while you are on the screen showing your character/operator. Never run the loader from the desktop or before the game is open.

Disable other antivirus

Third-party antivirus must be fully uninstalled or disabled — not just Windows Defender.

Virtualization in BIOS

Intel VT-x / AMD-V should be enabled in BIOS. This is separate from Memory Integrity — VT-x ON, Memory Integrity OFF.

Hyper-V / VBS

  1. Open Turn Windows features on or off (optionalfeatures).
  2. Uncheck Hyper-V, Windows Hypervisor Platform, and Virtual Machine Platform if not needed.
  3. Restart and verify Memory Integrity is still off.

Pre-launch checklist

  • Secure Boot: ON
  • Windows Defender: OFF (via Defender Control)
  • Memory Integrity: OFF
  • Exploit Protection mitigations: OFF
  • Tamper Protection: OFF
  • Loader run as Administrator
  • Game open on main menu — character/operator screen visible