diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index d9fdbb77..56b6a726 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -719,15 +719,15 @@ using the GUI  (winXP or later):
 connecting from commandline (win7 or later; `wark`=password):
 * `net use w: http://192.168.123.1:3923/ k /user:wark`
 
-on windows (xp or later), disable wpad for performance:
-* control panel -> [network and internet] -> [internet options] -> [connections] tab -> [lan settings] -> automatically detect settings: Nope
+**however,** you probably want to run [webdav-cfg.bat](./contrib/webdav-cfg.bat) first --
+* fixes inability to access files larger than 47.6 MiB (changes the limit to 4 GiB which is the highest windows can go)
+* optionally allows/enables login over plaintext http
+* optionally disables wpad for ~100x performance
 
 known client bugs:
 * win7+ doesn't actually send the password to the server when reauthenticating after a reboot unless you first try to login with an incorrect password and then switch to the correct password
   * or just type your password into the username field instead to get around it entirely
 * connecting to a folder which allows anonymous read will make writing impossible, as windows has decided it doesn't need to login
-* win7+ cannot access servers which require authentication unless you use https or [enable basic auth](./contrib/webdav-basicauth.reg) for http
-* win7+ cannot download files larger than 47.6 MiB by default; [registry fix](./contrib/webdav-unlimit.bat) to allow files up to 4 GiB (actual absolute max on windows)
 * win7+ opens a new tcp connection for every file and sometimes forgets to close them, eventually needing a reboot
   * maybe NIC-related (??), happens with win10-ltsc on e1000e but not virtio
 * windows cannot access folders which contain filenames with invalid unicode or forbidden characters (`<>:"/\|?*`), or names ending with `.`
diff --git a/contrib/webdav-basicauth.reg b/contrib/webdav-basicauth.reg
deleted file mode 100644
index 3d34d0b2..00000000
Binary files a/contrib/webdav-basicauth.reg and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/contrib/webdav-cfg.bat b/contrib/webdav-cfg.bat
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..14367293
--- /dev/null
+++ b/contrib/webdav-cfg.bat
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+@echo off
+rem removes the 47.6 MiB filesize limit when downloading from webdav
+rem + optionally allows/enables password-auth over plaintext http
+rem + optionally helps disable wpad
+
+setlocal enabledelayedexpansion
+
+net session >nul 2>&1
+if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
+    echo sorry, you must run this as administrator
+    pause
+    exit /b
+)
+
+reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WebClient\Parameters /v FileSizeLimitInBytes /t REG_DWORD /d 0xffffffff /f
+reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters /v FsCtlRequestTimeoutInSec /t REG_DWORD /d 0xffffffff /f
+
+echo(
+echo OK;
+echo allow webdav basic-auth over plaintext http?
+echo Y: login works, but the password will be visible in wireshark etc
+echo N: login will NOT work unless you use https and valid certificates
+set c=.
+set /p "c=(Y/N): "
+echo(
+if /i not "!c!"=="y" goto :g1
+reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WebClient\Parameters /v BasicAuthLevel /t REG_DWORD /d 0x2 /f
+rem default is 1 (require tls)
+
+:g1
+echo(
+echo OK;
+echo do you want to disable wpad?
+echo can give a HUGE speed boost depending on network settings
+set c=.
+set /p "c=(Y/N): "
+echo(
+if /i not "!c!"=="y" goto :g2
+echo(
+echo i'm about to open the [Connections] tab in [Internet Properties] for you;
+echo please click [LAN settings] and disable [Automatically detect settings]
+echo(
+pause
+control inetcpl.cpl,,4
+
+:g2
+net stop webclient
+net start webclient
+echo(
+echo OK; all done
+pause
diff --git a/contrib/webdav-unlimit.bat b/contrib/webdav-unlimit.bat
deleted file mode 100644
index 831f2ac9..00000000
--- a/contrib/webdav-unlimit.bat
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,15 +0,0 @@
-@echo off
-rem removes the 47.6 MiB filesize limit when downloading from webdav
-
-net session >nul 2>&1
-if %errorlevel% neq 0 (
-    echo you must run this as admin
-    pause
-    exit /b 1
-)
-
-reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\WebClient\Parameters /v FileSizeLimitInBytes /t REG_DWORD /d 0xffffffff /f
-reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\WebClient\Parameters /v FsCtlRequestTimeoutInSec  /t REG_DWORD /d 0xffffffff /f
-net stop WEBCLIENT
-net start WEBCLIENT
-pause