diff --git a/electron/main/index.ts b/electron/main/index.ts
index 0c6a29034..dd0da3067 100644
--- a/electron/main/index.ts
+++ b/electron/main/index.ts
@@ -57,21 +57,17 @@ if (isE2EMode && requestedUserDataDir) {
   app.setPath('userData', requestedUserDataDir);
 }
 
-// Disable GPU hardware acceleration globally for maximum stability across
-// all GPU configurations (no GPU, integrated, discrete).
-//
-// Rationale (following VS Code's philosophy):
-// - Page/file loading is async data fetching — zero GPU dependency.
-// - The original per-platform GPU branching was added to avoid CPU rendering
-//   competing with sync I/O on Windows, but all file I/O is now async
-//   (fs/promises), so that concern no longer applies.
-// - Software rendering is deterministic across all hardware; GPU compositing
-//   behaviour varies between vendors (Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Apple Silicon) and
-//   driver versions, making it the #1 source of rendering bugs in Electron.
-//
-// Users who want GPU acceleration can pass `--enable-gpu` on the CLI or
-// set `"disable-hardware-acceleration": false` in the app config (future).
-app.disableHardwareAcceleration();
+const portableExecutableDir = process.env.PORTABLE_EXECUTABLE_DIR?.trim();
+const isPortable = Boolean(portableExecutableDir) || process.argv.includes('--portable');
+if (process.platform === 'win32' && isPortable) {
+  const baseDir = portableExecutableDir || process.cwd();
+  app.setPath('userData', join(baseDir, 'DeskClawData'));
+}
+
+const disableGpu = process.argv.includes('--disable-gpu') || process.env.DESKCLAW_DISABLE_GPU === '1';
+if (disableGpu) {
+  app.disableHardwareAcceleration();
+}
 
 // On Linux, set CHROME_DESKTOP so Chromium can find the correct .desktop file.
 // On Wayland this maps the running window to clawx.desktop (→ icon + app grouping);
@@ -288,20 +284,6 @@ async function initialize(): Promise<void> {
     `Runtime: platform=${process.platform}/${process.arch}, electron=${process.versions.electron}, node=${process.versions.node}, packaged=${app.isPackaged}, pid=${process.pid}, ppid=${process.ppid}`
   );
 
-  if (!isE2EMode) {
-    // Warm up network optimization (non-blocking)
-    void warmupNetworkOptimization();
-
-    // Initialize Telemetry early
-    await initTelemetry();
-
-    // Apply persisted proxy settings before creating windows or network requests.
-    await applyProxySettings();
-    await syncLaunchAtStartupSettingFromStore();
-  } else {
-    logger.info('Running in E2E mode: startup side effects minimized');
-  }
-
   // Set application menu
   createMenu();
 
@@ -313,6 +295,22 @@ async function initialize(): Promise<void> {
     createTray(window);
   }
 
+  if (!isE2EMode) {
+    void (async () => {
+      void warmupNetworkOptimization();
+      const telemetryEnabled = await getSetting('telemetryEnabled');
+      if (telemetryEnabled) {
+        await initTelemetry();
+      }
+      await applyProxySettings();
+      await syncLaunchAtStartupSettingFromStore();
+    })().catch((error) => {
+      logger.warn('Deferred startup initialization failed:', error);
+    });
+  } else {
+    logger.info('Running in E2E mode: startup side effects minimized');
+  }
+
   // Override security headers ONLY for the OpenClaw Gateway Control UI.
   // The URL filter ensures this callback only fires for gateway requests,
   // avoiding unnecessary overhead on every other HTTP response.