How to manage Microsoft Windows without losing your sanity:

FOR THE LOVE OF SANITY, DO NOT INSTALL ON PHYSICAL HARDWARE, only a virtual machine ! ! !
- Use VirtIO for the disk type
- Consider using VirtIOFS for sharing data with the host
FOR THE LOVE OF SANITY, don't put anything other than the OS on the OS boot drive ! ! !
- Change the "Program Files" directory to a separate drive/filesystem
- Change the "ProgramData" directory to a separate drive/filesystem
- Move the pagefile to a separate drive/filesystem
- Move the "users" directory to a separate drive/filesystem
Whenever possible, install the Server Core / non-Desktop Experience version for a more minimal install
Install TightVNC and enable service mode (console access) and regular mode (on port 5901) for desktop session access
Install Cygwin with:
- ssh server
  See: https://docs.oracle.com/cd/E24628_01/install.121/e22624/preinstall_req_cygwin_ssh.htm#EMBSC150
  netsh firewall add portopening TCP 22 "SSH TCP Port 22"
- rsync
- vim
- tmux/screen
Install OpenControl Center agent
Install Emergency Management Services (EMS) redirection
bcdedit /ems '{current}' ON
Install Recovery Console
Install Classic Shell
Install Firefox
Install Everything Search Engine
Put windows version on desktop
Registry edit:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\PaintDesktopVersion
Set DWORD value 1
Install JDiskReport for disk usage analysis
Use WSUS Offline Update
Update Microsoft Windows and Office without an Internet connection

sysinternals tools
Install in c:\bin and add to system path.
Windows Servers Tools (Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit [SDK])
- Vista

System

Secunia PSI - Keeps apps updated, shows you outdated versions and updates available
WinCDEmu - Mount ISO files as virtual CD-ROM drives
HashTab - Provides file hashes in the file properties dialog

Usability

4t Tray Minimizer - Provides the much-needed winshade functionality to the Windows "windows manger"
VirtuaWin - Provides virtual desktop capability

MFCMAPI

If you have the cygwin SSH server installed but not TightVNC yet, you can do the following in order to connect to the desktop:

Copy psexec.exe and tvnserver.exe to the server

scp tvnserver.exe psexec.exe user@server:/cygdrive/c/

Accept psexec EULA

user@server# /cygdrive/c/psexec.exe -accepteula

Start TightVNC Server on desktop session 1

user@server# /cygdrive/c/psexec.exe -s -h -i 1 "c:\Program Files\TightVNC\tvnserver.exe"

In another shell, connect out to remote

user@server# /cygdrive/c/tvnserver.exe -controlapp -connect jeremybryansmith.com

Shut it down

user@server# /cygdrive/c/tvnserver.exe -controlapp -shutdown