-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DE-BLOATED STREAMLINED WINDOWS 10 ISO INSTALLATION IMAGE FOR PROFESSIONAL WORKSTATION USAGE by ELENA DESIGN BUILD: Jan-08-2025 DOC: Jan-18-2025 www.elenadesign.eu elena@elenadesign.eu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIS WINDOWS INSTALLATION IS *NOT* FOR AVERAGE USERS ! PLEASE READ THIS WHOLE DOCUMENT ! IF THIS ISO WORKS FOR YOU THAT'S FINE, OTHERWISE PLEASE DO NOT REPORT PROBLEMS BECAUSE I CANNOT MAKE IT COMPATIBLE FOR EVERYONE ! RATHER, CONSIDER DOING A BETTER JOB YOURSELF STARTING FROM THE PROVIDED INSTRUCTIONS ! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- MOTIVATION ---------- THE PURPOSE OF THE PRESENT WORK IS *NOT* ALLOWING WINDOWS 10 TO RUN ON ANCIENT HARDWARE, BUT ALLOWING IT TO RUN BETTER AND FASTER ON MODERN AND FAST MACHINES ! IF THE FORMER APPLIES, THAT IS JUST A NICE SIDE EFFECT. I invested quite some time and efforts to provide myself with a fast, streamlined Windows 10 installation for my machines, to finally replace the old but still good (for my purposes) Windows 7, and now as usual I am happy to share with you the product of my work. Actually, similar solutions are available already since some time, like Tiny10/Tiny11 or Windows-X-Lite, but they are either experiments for fun, to demonstrate one can run Windows 10 or 11 on ancient hardware, or they are just minimally de-bloated or totally broken. In particular, the author of Tiny10 made the worst job: just worried about winning the competition for the lightest ISO, he removed a lot of useful stuff breaking many core functions, yet leaving a lot of major bloats inside. Last but not least, the respective authors can't be contacted for support and hide behind ridiculous walls, like Wordpress, X, Discord or Telegram... The ISO I came up with installs in few minutes, boots and shuts down in few seconds, is immediate, reactive, responsive, has zero annoyances and disturbances and allows an unpaired professional working experience, yet maintaining all basic useful Windows features, resulting even better than what could be attained with a hyper-optimized Windows 7. The phylosophy behind the whole job, which costed me almost two months, is that a Computer must NOT be a "big smartphone", but must retain its main orientation towards serious and professional usage, for those who have always been using computers and know what they are doing, without unnecessary distractions; and that we are and must remain the unique owners of our machines and have full control over them, not the other way around. Unfortunately, it seems that Micro$oft (and most big industries, like Apple and Google) are gradually moving to the opposite direction and without our consent. To learn more about my phylosophy and radical positions in IT and in general, please visit my homepage and scroll towards the end. SUPPORT MY WORK --------------- If you share a similar phylosophy and "forma mentis" and appreciate my work, you may consider supporting it with a donation: www.paypal.com/paypalme/elenadesigncreations Otherwise or in addition, much appreciated would be a message by you to SynthEdit's creator, reprimanding him for how he treated somebody who gave so much to the SynthEdit community, pressuring him to offer me his most sincere and genuine apologies. Alternately or even in addition, you would be very kind supporting my SynthEdit Feature Requests on GitHub (github.com/JeffMcClintock/SynthEdit-Tracking/issues) casting a +1 to all my requests: it will cost you nothing ! ISO DOWNLOAD ------------ Please download the ISO from this external link (it is almost 4 GB, 7z-packed just to still save some 100 MB): https://drive.google.com/file/d/12utFQb5FgIpW1vOxQLx_z7dUIPh1_aD1/view?usp=sharing DESCRIPTION AND INSTRUCTIONS - PLEASE READ ! -------------------------------------------- The whole work at present must still be considered EXPERIMENTAL, since it was not tested enough yet. In no way I can be deemed responsible for any malfunctioning, damage or data loss ! In case you find bugs or you experience issues, you are free to report them but hardly I will offer a fix. Contenting everyone in this scenario, where there is wide variability with hardware setups and expectations, is impossible. Rather, consider improving the result by yourself following the instructions given in the next chapter ! The referenced ISO image contains a Windows 10 22H2 (Build 19045.5073) installation suitable for professional usage, either in audio or graphics workstations or for generic office purposes. The ISO image was fully "de-bloated" using NTLite (www.ntlite.com), removing all un-necessary components for core functioning, i.e all those programs and services whose unique purpose is slowing down the system, causing privacy concerns, distraction, which can be defined "intrusive" or simply "annoying" (and which, believe it or not, constitute more than half of Windows 10 content !) In addition, some optimal settings for performance and better pro-usage experience are already set up by default, thus not requiring their manual configuration after installing. The destination system partition for installation should be at least 30-40 GB long. In theory 20 GB would be enough, but to leave room for restore points (always suggested !) and possible huge drivers, I suggest to provide more. However, I suggest to NEVER use your system partition to store data and programs, but rather use at least three partitions: one for the system (C), one for your programs (D) and one for your data/work/downloads (E). The present ISO install image shall be 'burnt' to a bootable USB stick (at least 4 GB capacity, better if USB3) with a suitable tool (Rufus suggested, see rufus.ie). If you are using Rufus, please leave all options to customize Windows installation disabled (they are NOT required with this modified image) and ignore any further requesters by always pressing OK. (Not mandatory) I also suggest to prefer MBR/BIOS method over GPT/UEFI, provided you have properly set your BIOS to "Legacy Only" accordingly. This however is up to you. Keep in mind that using MBR you will be able to install Windows on a single partition, while GPT/UEFI forces you to use unallocated disc space and several partitions will be created, causing a big mess (but this is now the trend, which does NOT always mean progress). In case you want to follow my suggestion, you shall also select MBR vs. GPT manually in Rufus panel. The installation process on a fast machine (i7+) with fast SSD drive will take about 5 minutes and no Internet connection is required. Despite not mandatory, it is advised to leave the Ethernet cable disconnected during installation. In theory, every service which may try to access the Internet was removed or disabled, but given the complexity of Windows, one can never say for sure. You will boot directly into an Admin account, whose password is set by default as "1234". The first time you will be required to log-in twice, since a reboot is invoked for some settings to become suddenly effective. You may change your user name and password later as needed. In case after the second login you should accidentally boot into a black screen (on some setups it *might* happen, still unclear why), you can simply reset or turn off your PC, and at the subsequent boot everything should be fine. The resulting Windows 10 installation can be activated executing the KMS VL ALL AIO cmd script (github.com/abbodi1406/KMS_VL_ALL_AIO/releases) choosing option #2 (auto renewal), which you will also find included in C:\ for convenience after install. No Internet connection is required. Note that the popular Massgravel script will NOT work, because some components like Microsoft Account have been removed. Standard Windows activation is unlike to work for the same reason (not tested, I never bought one Windows license in my life, I would buy one only if Windows were distributed in the same de-bloated and streamlined shape I am presenting here). In theory you could even avoid activating, I didn't try, so I have no idea of what could happen... Everything seems fully functional even without activating, but chances are in one month or so a harmless watermark would show up at the right-bottom of the screen and (likely) nothing else. The present installation was tested with several either open source or non-Micro$oft programs and drivers and everything seems working as intended. However keep in mind that it has still to be considered experimental. Also keep in mind that most Micro$oft programs, requiring Micro$oft Accounts or Micro$oft $tore (surely Office or Visual Studio), will likely NOT work, since these components have been eradicated. The same *might* be true for "pachidermic" or particularly "intrusive" or "bloated" commercial packages requiring some core Micro$oft services or the $tore. Note that programs distributed in .appx or .uwp format will likely not work by choice (appx/uwp support and Micro$oft $tore support are removed). PLEASE NOTE THAT WINDOWS UPDATE HAS BEEN DISABLED ASWELL and all relevant components eradicated. At present I can't say if individual update packages can still be installed manually or not, I haven't tried. HOWEVER I STRONGLY ADVISE YOU AGAINST INSTALLING ANY UPDATES: DOING THAT CAN POTENTIALLY RESTORE SOME BLOATS OR UNWANTED COMPONENTS WHICH HAVE BEEN REMOVED OR MESS UP WITH SOME OPTIMAL SYSTEM SETTINGS ! DO IT ONLY IF YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND NOT WITHOUT HAVING CREATED A RESTORE POINT OR SYSTEM BACKUP IMAGE IN ADVANCE ! If you really need to install any updates, limit to functional ones and avoid those targeted at "security", apps or other cr@p. Also, Defender and Windows Security have been eradicated. Never use any antivirus, they are worse than actual viruses (accidentally, the same was true for the COVID...) and will just slow down your machine, also causing a lot of false positives and unnecessary warnings. If you really want to browse the Internet and / or install unsafe software, use some *responsibility and know how* and exploit Windows capability to create Restore points or even system backup images. Always prefer open-source programs where feasable, like Libre Office, Firefox, VLC for playing videos and music, CodeBlocks/GCC for developing, an open-source email client (there are many, eg. Claws Mail), an open-source PDF reader (you can use the same Firefox or Sumatra or many others), VokoScreen for screen recording (a great proggy !), and so on. Always prefer "portable" installations of your preferred programs where available, and AVOID INSTALLING ANY PROGRAM IN C:\ with exception of hardware drivers ! Cracked software from *reputable* crackers (intact archives with an official accompanying Readme) is generally safe. Keep in mind that so called "freemium" software (i.e every software nowadays which is free to use but not open-sourced or explicitely labeled "freeware") is much more likely to contain bloatware, adware or malware than cracked software ! NOTE: in case after the second login you should boot in a black screen with just the mouse pointer visible (this happens sometimes and on some setups, still unclear why), you have just to restart your PC, and at the subsequent boot everything will be fine. NOTE: by default, Performance Options / Processor Scheduling is set for best performance of Programs. In case of Audio Workstation usage, it is advised to switch this setting to "Background services", as it has always been good practice to. No other fine-tuning is needed (please check the list of default settings and tweaks below). NOTE (Remote Desktop): with the Firewall Service removed, you will be unable to activate the Remote Desktop switch in the Settings panel (it will issue an error about TCP port 3389). To accept Remote Desktop sessions even with this switch turned OFF, it is enough to set the following Registry values: reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server" /v fDenyTSConnections /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000000 /f reg add "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\RDP-TCP" /v UserAuthentication /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 /f These have NOT been set in the referenced ISO, given not everybody may want to use the Remote Desktop. WHAT TO DO IN CASE YOU WOULD LIKE A DIFFERENT, CUSTOMIZED OR LESS "DE-BLOATED" SETUP ? DOING THE GOOD JOB BY YOURSELF -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In case you need a different configuration or you want some components restored, or (why not ?) even more removed, you are advised to do the job yourself following the instructions provided here. Please don't ask me to supply on-demand ISOs, I can't afford to do this job for everyone and not even upon payment !! You need to download NTLite (www.ntlite.com) and purchase a basic license, which costs €40 but, trust me, it is really *worth it* and one day you will thank me for this suggestion (it will turn out useful to do the *same* job even with Windows 11 eventually !!!) You then obviously need an up-to-date Windows 10 x64 ISO image already complete with the last updates available (22H2, build 19045.5073 at the moment of writing). I strongly suggest you to get one at uupdump.net. You also need the present archive (ED_W10_NTL.zip) which contains all the needed material used to produce the referenced ISO image, and which represents therefore a starting point for further modifications. The present archive contains the following items: -The current NTLite Preset used (xml) - THIS SHALL BE COPIED TO NTLITE/Presets ! -Some Registry files to be automatically integrated during installation, which are referenced by the current NTLite Preset (all tweaks are documented in comments inside the .reg files); -A Registry file used to restore the legacy Photo Viewer against Windows Photos; -Some convenient app replacements used in the present ISO, like classic Sticky Notes, Calculator and Magnifying Glass, plus the official 7Zip package, which are referenced by the NTLite preset included. NOTE: you will likely need to change the paths of these referenced files in the current Preset ! To do so, you can even and more easily edit the xml directly. I have also included two patched system DLLs with Micro$oft signature check removed, which are required if one wants to install custom Themes, like the one provided. They should either be replaced by hand in the ISO image or after installation, if required (NOTE: you need to take ownership on those system DLLs before replacing. Also, they will cause fsck to detect integrity problems, in case of a scan) You MUST remove the master NTLite protection before using the included Preset, by simply editing NTLite/settings.xml and changing false to 'true', otherwise you won't be allowed to remove some fundamental bloats ! Keep in mind that NTLite offers several levels of protection simply to prevent unexperienced users breaking Windows functionality with uncautious removals, but in this case we are doing everything under our whole responsibility. In no way NTLite shall be deemed responsible for malfunctioning in the resulting Windows image when such protections are disabled. It is imperative to first get confident with NTLite and its operating principle before attempting to create your ISO. Please consult the help sections on NTLite web page or its dedicated support forum. NTLite working logic can be summarized as follows: -A starting Windows installation ISO image must be specified and loaded (Image section). Once it is loaded and Mounted, several sections will become available and you will also be allowed to use Presets (NOTE: ignore the Deployed part, that is for 'live' operations which are beyond our scope) -You can specify which Windows components to remove (by un-checking their boxes); -You can integrate Registry files (in standard .reg format) containing customizations or "tweaks", to be added to the installation Registry; -You can integrate programs or prompt commands to be executed once after installation, either before or after the first Login; -You can disable Windows services (in case you opt not to remove their originating Components but you simply want to disable them); -You can specify several default Windows settings, to be effective suddenly after install (sadly, not all available settings are offered, for the missing ones you will still need to integrate Registry hives); -You can specify so-called "unattended" settings, to avoid passing thru OOBE/First Steps stages during install (note that OOBE, one of the worst Windows bloats, is removed in the supplied Preset and ISO); -You can create a default account with desired name and password, to be immediately effective at the first Login; -You can integrate Update packs or remove built-in ones; -Finally, you should save your operations to a new preset (avoid overwriting the one supplied, always keep it as a reference !) and Apply your changes to the original ISO, in order to Process it to produce your final custom ISO. Pay attention that, despite Windows appears very modular in theory, in practice most things are crazily interwined in an unpredictable way. NTLite usually lists the (known !) dependencies for every Component, but don't trust it too much. Often removing an unexpected Component will have the effect of breaking other Components or subsequent programs or drivers you will install. This requires a long trial & error process, which can be very time-consuming (create ISO, install on target machine, test, go back to NTLite, revise your modifications, create a new ISO, and so on). In particular, extra care must be taken not to break proper operation of some system components, the most problematic ones being the Task Bar, the Start Menu, the Search box and some Settings panels. In fact, starting from W10, several system components and tools are provided in appx/uwp format, having a lot of 'obscure' dependencies and often failing to initialize properly on the first install. For better performance, when working with NTLite it is imperative to use a fast SSD drive and to disable Defender or any other antivirus you may have installed, considering that it shall operate on very long (GB-sized) ISO files. LIST OF REMOVED COMPONENTS IN THE REFERENCED ISO ------------------------------------------------ (Note: several hundreds components have been removed, this list only mentions the most important ones !) (Note: no hardware driver, printer driver, font, keyboard layout or language was removed) (Note: there is probably room for removing more. In case you think I have forgotten to remove some bloats or offending component, please let me know !) -Windows Update -Action Center -Telemetry -Biometrics -OOBE (i.e Out Of The Box Experience, after installation you will boot into login screen suddenly) -Defender -Firewall -Security Center -All advertising services -OneDrive/Cloud support -Parental control -Microsoft Edge and Internet Explorer (I strongly suggest Firefox) -Windows Media Player (I suggest VLC as free and open source alternative) -Cortana -Microsoft Store and related support -All wallpapers and sound themes (by default background is blue, you are then free to set your preferred wallpaper) -Autopilot -Copilot -Azure services -Background Activity Moderator -Background Media Player -Network Background Transfer services -Bing Search and all taskbar-related annoyances -Microsoft Accounts and Identity Services -Windows Feature Experience Pack (contains a lot of bloats) (NOTE: because of a NTLite bug, to remove this pack one has also to delete the relevant Update from the built-in Update list !) -All "Experience"-named components (mostly bloats) -All Sync services -All AI features -All notification services -Bluetooth support -Most Appx/UWP support (only minimal support is left for system programs like the Search box and some Setting panels to work as intended) -All Microsoft reporting services -Camera support -XBox and gaming support -Windows Insider support -Location services -MSN support -Windows 3D support, Paint 3D -Microsoft Office (please use Libre Office x64 portable, it is an excellent package and 99.99% compatible !) -People -Skype -Photos (restored old Windows 7 photo viewer) -Calculator (restored old Windows 7 calculator) -Maps -Mobile phone support (you can still connect your phone via USB, use ADB and access it as usual) -Windows Mixed Reality -Bitlocker -Speech recognition -Steps recorder -User Account Control (admin is always elevated and no annoying prompt is ever issued) -Magnifier (replaced by VMG3.6) -Sticky Notes (replaced with Win7 Sticky Notes) LIST OF DEFAULT SETTINGS AND OPTIMIZATIONS APPLIED TO THE REFERENCED ISO ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Hybernation is turned off by default -Indexing is disabled -Control Panel icon on desktop -Hidden files and extensions are displayed by default -All folders set to Generic type -Passwords set to never expire -All animations and fading effects disabled (solid window dragging and window shadows left enabled) -Thumbnails enabled but thumbnail caching disabled -Performance options set to max performance (all auto power off options disabled) -All stupid user folders (Music, Videos, Downloads, etc.) are no longer listed in 'This PC' -Quick Access no longer displayed in file dialogs -Removed navigation panel in Explorer -7Zip installed -desktop.ini stub files on desktop removed (they serve no purpose) -System time is taken from local router by default (192.168.1.254) -Notepad: setting font to Courier New, enabled word wrap -Disabled annoying auto-windows-maximizing when moving windows beyond the top screen border -Some system DLLs are patched to allow third party themes (please do NOT run sfck !) -A Windows7-like theme installed by default -Scrollbars are made larger (better looking and easier to pick) -A nicer font is used for windows bars -Enabled taskbar acrylic transparency -Numpad no longer turned off on reboot (NOTE: numpad must also be enabled in BIOS!) -Shorter keyboard repetition delay and higher speed set -Wheel scrolling set to one line vs. three (you can always set it back to 3 if you prefer of course) -Increased double-click tolerance for better ergonomics (you are no longer forced to keep the mouse pointer still between first and second click, which was frustrating) NOTE: if you don't like the skin I used and prefer the standard ugly Win10 look, you may simply go to C:\Windows\Resources\Themes and double-click on the standard aero.theme, and adjust your colors using the standard Personalization panels as usual. Things I was still unable to fix: -"Snapback" effect of standard scrollbars (links to the topic here, for those who may be interested: www.reddit.com/r/windowsdev/comments/1hdpvt4/any_dev_ready_to_write_a_fix_for_the_scrollbar/) -Inactive title for Explorer windows is always grey, no matter which titlebar color or skin you are using. This is likely a Windows 10 bug. Also, it seems there is no way to modify the active/inactive windows title text colors -Mouse wheel scrolls the content horizontally when only a horizontal scrollbar is visible. This also seems baked-in and can't be changed, despite very annoying -A notification panel still pops up from the right side of the screen the first time you plug the Internet (but it seems the only one and does not depends on Action Center, which was removed) -With some installers, a Windows Security warning can still pop up, despite Security Center is eradicated, asking whether to deem reputable the source (this evidently is a core part of Windows which does not depend on Security Center and can't be removed) -Truly rounded window corners can't be achieved with Win10, unless resorting to 'hacks' like DWMBlurGlass or special custom themes (like some 'Big Sur' themes found on DeviantArt) drawing windows edges using the shadows area -Stupid user folders can still show up in some file dialogs. I still could not figure out how to remove them Hints for more aesthetical customizations: -You may want to install DWMBlurGlass (free) for really gorgeous windows -You may want to install OldNewExplorer (free), to have Explorer pretty identical to Win7 -You can find more good stuff at winaero.com -For editing custom themes, you can use MSStylesEditor (free) but be ready for big headaches, considering how IRRATIONALLY Windows handles colors and skins !!! In particular, it seems there is no way to change the text colors of window titles, which are always computed automatically.