Tuning Windows performance

Disable 8.3 name support
Disable last access time
Allow symlink evaluation
Exclude directories for Windows Defender
Exclude directories Windows Search Indexing

Disable 8.3 name support

Check status in elevated shell:

fsutil behavior query disable8dot3

Disable 8.3 names on all volumes:

fsutil 8dot3name set 1
fsutil behavior set disable8dot3 1

Corresponding registry leaf (1 - disable, 0 - enable):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/121007/how-to-disable-8-3-file-name-creation-on-ntfs-partitions: How to disable 8.3 file name creation on NTFS partitions.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc959352(v=technet.10): About registry key NtfsDisable8dot3NameCreation.

Disable last access time

Check status in elevated shell:

fsutil behavior query disableLastAccess

Disable last access time for all NTFS volumes (1 - user setting, 3 - system setting):

fsutil behavior set disableLastAccess 1
fsutil behavior set disableLastAccess 3

Corresponding registry leaf (1 - disable as user, 3 - disable as system):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/fsutil-behavior: Docs for fsutil behavior.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/it-pro/windows-2000-server/cc959914(v=technet.10): About registry key NtfsDisableLastAccessUpdate.

Allow symlink evaluation

Query current setting:

fsutil behavior query SymlinkEvaluation

Registry keys:

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem]
SymlinkLocalToLocalEvaluation=dword:00000001
SymlinkLocalToRemoteEvaluation=dword:00000001
SymlinkRemoteToLocalEvaluation=dword:00000000
SymlinkRemoteToRemoteEvaluation=dword:00000000

Exclude directories for Windows Defender

Open Windows Defender Settings.
Click "Virus & threat protection".
Click "Virus & threat protection settings".
Scroll down to "Exclusions" and click "Add or remove exclusions".
Click "Add an exclusion" and select "Folder" from the drop-down menu.
Navigate to the directory to be excluded, or paste its path into the "Folder" text-box, and click "Select Folder".

Same from elevated CLI:

powershell -Command Add-MpPreference -ExclusionPath "C:\tmp"
powershell -Command Add-MpPreference -ExclusionProcess "java.exe"
powershell -Command Add-MpPreference -ExclusionExtension ".java"

To show and delete settings:

powershell -Command "Get-MpPreference | Select -Expand ExclusionPath"
powershell -Command "Get-MpPreference | Select -Expand ExclusionProcess"
powershell -Command "Get-MpPreference | Select -Expand ExclusionExtension"

powershell -Command Remove-MpPreference -ExclusionExtension ".java"

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4028485/windows-10-add-an-exclusion-to-windows-security: Add an exclusion to Windows Security.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/defender/add-mppreference: Modifies settings for Windows Defender from PowerShell.
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/module/defender/remove-mppreference: Removes exclusions or default actions.

Exclude directories Windows Search Indexing

Open Windows Control Panel.
Search for "index" and choose "Indexing Options".
Click the "Modify" button
Under the appropriate drive letter, navigate to the folder you want to exclude, and make sure it is unchecked.
Double-check your work by verifying the directory shows up in the "Exclude" column of the "Summary of selected locations" table.