How to get the most out of Free version

[Hipparch]

Hello!

I am a college student who loves messing around with my computer and applying tweaks to it. I have used other component removal tools in the past but my main to-go version has not been updated in some time and may never be again. Due to being in college I lack funds to purchase the paid version of NTLite but I miss my customized version of Windows. I was wondering if any of you had any tips on how best to get the most out of the free version and whether or not there is any way all to do component removal.

Thank you!

 

[Necrosaro]

Hello!

I am a college student who loves messing around with my computer and applying tweaks to it. I have used other component removal tools in the past but my main to-go version has not been updated in some time and may never be again. Due to being in college I lack funds to purchase the paid version of NTLite but I miss my customized version of Windows. I was wondering if any of you had any tips on how best to get the most out of the free version and whether or not there is any way all to do component removal.

Thank you!

What are you looking to get out of the free version. Honestly there are a ton of tweaks to the registry that can be done,some basic removals of unnecessary programs,services tweaked all without needing the Ntlite program.

Being a college student can be strapped for cash at times but a little work depending on where you are from(going door to door doing outdoor work or anything in general) can make easy cash quick. Shouldn't take long before you got enough to buy the program even if you only got a hour here or there.

Just my honest opinion

 

[Np Prabhu]

Free version of NTLite? Try this method.

 

[AeonX]

You can remove the apps you want (UWP Apps), .NET 3.5 cache files, WinSxS\Backup folder, make tweaks to Settings and/or use your own registry tweaks, disable services, create a post setup script to disable scheduled tasks and have a result as good as with the paid version or even better.

Removing components only brings headaches, I have my PC not working a lot of things that I only discovered when I needed them almost 2 and a half years after creating my image, I removed too many things and I no longer have the health and time to spend trying to find out what broke the programs and features I need.

This is even more relevant if you want to use Microsoft features like Store, UWP Apps, Defender, Windows Update, etc. They are all interconnected and by removing one the chance of breaking the rest is very high.

If you want to improve performance have at least an SSD, a good processor and enough RAM. If it's an old PC use older builds, Windows 10 LTSB 2016 (Version 1607) is great for old PC's even with hard disks.

 

[Clanger]

NET 3.5 cache files

You are only saving space on an image if you remove .net cache files, windows will rebuild them after install.

Removing components only brings headaches

Depends what you remove. Trim the fat but leave the meat and bones of the os.

I no longer have the health and time to spend trying to find out what broke the programs and features I need.

Welcome to my world. And when you factor in age use the Sgt Murtaugh defense.

If it's an old PC use older builds, Windows 10 LTSB 2016 (Version 1607) is great for old PC's even with hard disks.

The big difference between LTSC 1607 and 1809/2021 is 1809/2021 use more instances of svchost.exe, use the tweak from winaero tweaker to reduce them and 1809/2021 will be similar to 1607.

If you want to improve performance have at least an SSD, a good processor and enough RAM.

Many devices use soldered cpu's ram and ssd's(i think) so upgrading is impossible, thats when you have to get tweaking.

If you want to improve performance have at least an SSD, a good processor and enough RAM.

A good minimum spec for a new parts build intel machine is core i3 with 4c/8t and igpu(which used to be i7 cpus), 16gb ram(even a single stick will do), basic Hx10 chipset motherboard and a 500GB nvme ssd(under £40 here in GB).

Removing components only brings headaches

Depends what you remove and remember that nuhi isnt only about component removals, there are a hell of a lot of options still availible in ntlite.

Trimming the Fat.

Component Removals
Uneeded languages and language related components,
Uneeded keyboards
Uneeded fonts
3rd party published drivers - ie - amd sata driver, not ms published driver for amd sata.
Note - these options have never been availible in other tools, only nuhi has given us these options since nLite.

Other, 1
Autologgers
Winevt channels
Scheduled tasks
Services
Note - you can get big gains with Services and Scheduled Tasks. I can get windows(any version) to flatline withing seconds of logon.

Other, 2
Once you have all the above nicely sorted to your requirements and signed off(preset saved and backed up) then you can start looking at other Components if you want to.

The perfect/ideal iso.
There is no such thing as the perfect/ideal iso to suit everyone, never has been and never will be because everyones requirements will vary from mild to massive. For me the perfect/ideal iso is a good compromise using Component Removals and Other, 1. I can leave that iso as it is or take it further as is required.

 

[AeonX]

You are only saving space on an image if you remove .net cache files, windows will rebuild them after install.

Yes, this is true even without removing it, so why not save a few MB's and make the copy to the USB drive a little faster? It also helps to keep the install.wim below 4 GB to use a usb drive in fat32 for UEFI without having to convert to ESD or split files, or having to use third-party tools that cause problems with secure boot or at least make booting much more difficult. Just by removing apps, NET3.5 cache files and WinSxS\Backup folder I was able to create a install.wim with 3.83 GB and .NET 3.5 enabled even while keeping Edge which takes up a huge amount of space.

My intention was to create an image closer to an official Microsoft one without breaking anything in a way that works for anyone without causing headaches later, Edge is necessary for some UWP Apps for example, unfortunately I had to maintain this rubbish. Then I can use this image to install Windows for friends and clients.

Depends what you remove. Trim the fat but leave the meat and bones of the os.

I think the gain is very small in doing this for something that could be a possible problem in the future. When you least expect it a program appears using some obscure Windows feature that no one else uses or some font that apparently no one uses.

The big difference between LTSC 1607 and 1809/2021 is 1809/2021 use more instances of svchost.exe, use the tweak from winaero tweaker to reduce them and 1809/2021 will be similar to 1607.

Even with this tweak it's not the same thing, with an Intel Atom and a similar Celeron and a SATA SSD, LTSC 1809 onwards didn't look good here while with LTSB 1607 it was much more fluid. If you have good hardware you won't notice much difference but with weak hardware you will notice it. Version 1507 is even better but has some limitations with .NET 4.8 from what I remember, but there is a workaround that I want to test.

Many devices use soldered cpu's ram and ssd's(i think) so upgrading is impossible, thats when you have to get tweaking.

Yes, but at some point you will reach the hardware limit, so if you can't upgrade the hardware the solution is to downgrade the software. Or make tweaks by disabling things instead of removing them. This is for those who want to use all the features of Windows without any headaches.

A good minimum spec for a new parts build intel machine is core i3 with 4c/8t and igpu(which used to be i7 cpus), 16gb ram(even a single stick will do), basic Hx10 chipset motherboard and a 500GB nvme ssd(under £40 here in GB).

I agree, this is a good balance between performance and price. For basic use you don't need more than that and it will run Windows very well even without modifications.

Depends what you remove and remember that nuhi isnt only about component removals, there are a hell of a lot of options still availible in ntlite.

Yes, I use many of the tweaks in NTLite, it's a great tool for automating things without even removing anything.

 

[AeonX]

In my opinion, removing components is for enthusiasts who want to get the most performance out of their machines and are willing to pay the price for it by seeing certain things not work.

You never know when you'll need something, you might think you don't need Wi-Fi because your PC uses cable until the day you run out of internet and need to route your cell phone connection.

Does anyone use Windows built-in OCR for anything? I've never used. But I needed a program to take a screenshot and transform the image into text and I thought the program had its own libraries for this but it doesn't, it uses the OCR built into Windows. This is just an example and an obvious way to know what caused the problem. But for many components this is not so obvious. One of these programs crashes and doesn't even open without giving any sign of what the problem might be.

The biggest problem is when you can't replace broken features with third-party tools.

In addition to OCR, I can give drivers as an example. Windows installs missing drivers via Windows Update, Microsoft did a good job on this, several drivers that I installed with Snappy Driver Installer Origin do not work or are full of bugs, especially on laptops. But Windows Update installed all the correct drivers and everything worked perfectly. To achieve this I need to maintain Windows Update. Do you understand where I'm going? One day you will need something that you removed.

 

[Clanger]

removing components is for enthusiasts who want to get the most performance out of their machines and are willing to pay the price for it by seeing certain things not work

ie broken windows. The trick William Potter is not minding that things are broken in that they do not affect what you do on your machine.
I can break windows to hell and back which for 99.9999% of people would be unacceptable but for a tiny subset of a tiny subset of people will be acceptable. Thats why i say "trim the fat", i can customise the the image as per requirements during deployment/post install.

 

[francis11]

Don't see any Q asking for it's the college lap or private lap OP asking about?
In my humble opinion it makes a difference.

 

[AeonX]

is not minding that things are broken in that they do not affect what you do on your machine.

Yes, what we don't see doesn't exist for us, in the same way what I don't use doesn't exist for me and I don't care if it doesn't work. For me the only problem is when a program doesn't work, an OS should only be to allow programs to run, the programs that do the magic, shouldn't be clogged with utilities that we can acquire in other ways.