diff --git a/lib/startup-renderer.js b/lib/startup-renderer.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..7b3a90a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/startup-renderer.js
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+function configureStartupRenderer(app) {
+  app.disableHardwareAcceleration();
+}
+
+module.exports = { configureStartupRenderer };
diff --git a/main.js b/main.js
index afb1580..6331fd1 100644
--- a/main.js
+++ b/main.js
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 process.env.UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE = process.env.UV_THREADPOOL_SIZE || '8';
 const { monitorEventLoopDelay, PerformanceObserver } = require('perf_hooks');
 const { app, BrowserWindow, ipcMain, dialog, clipboard, nativeTheme, Tray, Menu, nativeImage } = require('electron');
+const { configureStartupRenderer } = require('./lib/startup-renderer');
+configureStartupRenderer(app);
 nativeTheme.themeSource = 'dark';
 const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs');
@@ -27,16 +29,6 @@ const stats = require('./lib/stats');
 const { createCollectors } = require('./lib/diagnostics-collectors');
 const { createAgent } = require('./lib/diagnostics-agent');
 
-function _gpuDisableFlagPath() {
-  try { return path.join(app.getPath('userData'), 'gpu-disabled.flag'); } catch { return null; }
-}
-(function maybeDisableHardwareAcceleration() {
-  let disable = false;
-  try { if (/^RDP/i.test(process.env.SESSIONNAME || '')) disable = true; } catch {}
-  if (!disable) { try { const f = _gpuDisableFlagPath(); if (f && fs.existsSync(f)) disable = true; } catch {} }
-  if (disable) { try { app.disableHardwareAcceleration(); } catch {} }
-})();
-
 const _eventLoopDelay = monitorEventLoopDelay({ resolution: 10 });
 _eventLoopDelay.enable();
 let _eldLastLog = 0;
@@ -1236,6 +1228,7 @@ function createWindow() {
     minWidth: 800,
     minHeight: 550,
     backgroundColor: '#16181c',
+    show: false,
     autoHideMenuBar: true,
     webPreferences: {
       contextIsolation: true,
@@ -1245,6 +1238,9 @@ function createWindow() {
   });
 
   mainWindow.webContents.setBackgroundThrottling(false);
+  mainWindow.once('ready-to-show', () => {
+    mainWindow.show();
+  });
 
   mainWindow.webContents.on('render-process-gone', (_event, details) => {
     _writeCrashLog('RENDER PROCESS GONE', new Error(details.reason || 'unknown'), details);
@@ -1288,12 +1284,12 @@ function createWindow() {
   app.on('child-process-gone', (_event, details) => {
     _writeCrashLog('CHILD PROCESS GONE', new Error(details.reason || 'unknown'), details);
     debugLog(`CHILD PROCESS GONE: type=${details.type} reason=${details.reason} exitCode=${details.exitCode}`);
-    if (details && details.type === 'GPU') {
-      try { const f = _gpuDisableFlagPath(); if (f) fs.writeFileSync(f, new Date().toISOString(), 'utf-8'); } catch {}
-    }
   });
 
-  mainWindow.loadFile(path.join(__dirname, 'renderer', 'index.html'));
+  mainWindow.loadFile(path.join(__dirname, 'renderer', 'index.html')).catch((err) => {
+    _writeCrashLog('LOAD FILE FAILED', err);
+    debugLog(`LOAD FILE FAILED: ${err && err.stack ? err.stack : err}`);
+  });
 }
 
 function createTray() {
diff --git a/tests/startup-renderer.test.js b/tests/startup-renderer.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a769f33
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/startup-renderer.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const test = require('node:test');
+const assert = require('node:assert/strict');
+const { configureStartupRenderer } = require('../lib/startup-renderer');
+
+test('configureStartupRenderer disables hardware acceleration', () => {
+  let calls = 0;
+  configureStartupRenderer({ disableHardwareAcceleration() { calls++; } });
+  assert.equal(calls, 1);
+});