A love letter to the people here.

vrvonic

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This is my first post here! To celebrate losing my forum-virginity, I'm going to make it extra-long. If you're a person that hates to read or you use terms like TLDR this is especially dedicated to you. :) I decided to write this novel to share my story and profess my love and gratitude for NT Lite. I'm 41 and have been building computers all my life starting from DOS. NT Lite is the best money I have ever spent for software in my 4 decades on this planet. I never imagined that I would pay money for a product to remove things from a different product that I also spent money on. I already have a bond to everyone here, since we are sharing the same goal. You are all now my brothers. The changes in windows happened so slowly over the years that some went unnoticed, and others I just accepted. Little by little, inch by inch, windows kept doing shitty things but now I think it has finally transformed into the malware they keep saying they are protecting us from. They have built a monopoly on PC gaming (which I still do as an old man :)) so there aren't great alternative operating systems available out there. Anything that starts getting traction they buy-out for millions (ie. Discord). Most of the best hardware is still designed with Windows in mind as well. This latest version of windows was the tipping point for me. Saying "security" is the basis for what they are implementing, is really insulting to my intelligence. They have zero concern about your security.

I'm not a tin-foil hat wearing crazy person worried about privacy and being paranoid. This all started innocently because I recently built a monster of a computer. I handpicked every component, tuned everything to perfection, but it wasn't performing the way I knew it should be. I paid for hardware, and I paid for the operating system to run the hardware. My only expectation from any computer I build is for it to compute what I tell it to compute. I don't feel like this requirement is unreasonable, am I losing my mind? In a programming class I took in college my teacher pointed out a mistake in my code and said, "A computer will do what you say, not what you want." Such a good line, and I still remember it all these years later. Computers follow instructions, and I was always able to fix a problem reviewing it logically. That consistency/logic is nonexistent in Windows. The design is intentionally layered, convoluted, and intertwined to discourage changes. The worst part is it's super bloated and all the advancements in hardware have been hamstrung by this crap. Blue screen errors in the past meant you had failing hardware or improper tuning, it usually only meant actual instability in the hardware. A BSOD today can happen for reasons not related to stability. If you use the software in a way they don't want, they will intentionally crash the whole thing down. Even something trivial/small. "Unstable" used to mean just that, today "unstable" can be swapped with "unapproved". Now they are adding TPM hardware to brute force compliance, and it truly boils my blood. It's un-American and makes me even more resolved in my mission. I'm worried it's only going to get worse with time.

My eureka moment was when I discovered that Microsoft was hiding things from the admin system monitoring tools. I can understand hiding things from users, but an admin? Then the audacity to call their hardware "Trusted Platform Module". This is the antithesis to trust. I'm embarrassed I didn't realize this sooner. I started using third party software, and finally saw what was being hidden from me behind the curtain. I saw everything, and the computer made logical sense again. For my next NT Lite ISO test build, I have removed almost everything. It's a skeleton. I think it was over 1600 items, something insane. I'm going to test it, and then slowly add back only the minimum items needed to keep it from intentionally crashing. Any additional tools/apps will be strictly non-Microsoft moving forward. I'm not even going to use their UI. I finally have control over my computer back, and I feel like a kid again tinkering with these installations. It's been really fun. NT Lite is doing God's work. I'm so happy I found this program, it's glorious and so well made.
 
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A quick note: When removing over 1600 items, your Windows image is most likely to fail. Anything over 300-400 removals tends to result in visible errors during installation or normal use. The usual recommendation for new users is to pace yourself, get familiar with the possible range of options, then do edits in managable batches.

Otherwise it gets nearly impossible to troubleshoot problesm by yourself (sometimes by trial & error), or when you need to ask for help. By solving the problem in waves, it's easier to confirm if you've learned the right things. This is why NTLite sets up Compatibility mode to protect the more critical components from careless error.

While you can uncheck all the protections, consider why they exist in the first place. Feel free to experiment, but it definitely helps to stay organized and have a plan. Work like it's a marathon, and not a sprint.
 
A quick note: When removing over 1600 items, your Windows image is most likely to fail. Anything over 300-400 removals tends to result in visible errors during installation or normal use. The usual recommendation for new users is to pace yourself, get familiar with the possible range of options, then do edits in managable batches.

Otherwise it gets nearly impossible to troubleshoot problesm by yourself (sometimes by trial & error), or when you need to ask for help. By solving the problem in waves, it's easier to confirm if you've learned the right things. This is why NTLite sets up Compatibility mode to protect the more critical components from careless error.

While you can uncheck all the protections, consider why they exist in the first place. Feel free to experiment, but it definitely helps to stay organized and have a plan. Work like it's a marathon, and not a sprint.
This is why I do most of my changes live when the os is already installed. Only remove minimum for install
 
A quick note: When removing over 1600 items, your Windows image is most likely to fail. Anything over 300-400 removals tends to result in visible errors during installation or normal use. The usual recommendation for new users is to pace yourself, get familiar with the possible range of options, then do edits in managable batches.

Otherwise it gets nearly impossible to troubleshoot problesm by yourself (sometimes by trial & error), or when you need to ask for help. By solving the problem in waves, it's easier to confirm if you've learned the right things. This is why NTLite sets up Compatibility mode to protect the more critical components from careless error.

While you can uncheck all the protections, consider why they exist in the first place. Feel free to experiment, but it definitely helps to stay organized and have a plan. Work like it's a marathon, and not a sprint.
Thank you friend! I appreciate that insight. I am trying to avoid the install process altogether. From what I saw in NT Lite it appears there is a method to do this, and also use things like host refresh. I also don't mind a few errors as long as the system doesn't come crashing down. I'm pretty comfortable with manually doing things and editing the boot process/kernel. All I need is to land on the desktop and have the system do nothing. If I can achieve this, I will manually add in what I need. As weird as it sounds, this challenge has gotten fun. I enjoy the small victories and methods I've learned that work. NT Lite was a massive quality of life improvement because I was doing a lot of stuff manually before I bought this program.
 
Thank you friend! I appreciate that insight. I am trying to avoid the install process altogether. From what I saw in NT Lite it appears there is a method to do this, and also use things like host refresh. I also don't mind a few errors as long as the system doesn't come crashing down. I'm pretty comfortable with manually doing things and editing the boot process/kernel. All I need is to land on the desktop and have the system do nothing. If I can achieve this, I will manually add in what I need. As weird as it sounds, this challenge has gotten fun. I enjoy the small victories and methods I've learned that work. NT Lite was a massive quality of life improvement because I was doing a lot of stuff manually before I bought this program.
It sure is a wonderful program that continues to give back. I could never go back to vanilla after doing this.

Just remember to not go to far.....gains get close to nill and more things break.
 
It sure is a wonderful program that continues to give back. I could never go back to vanilla after doing this.

Just remember to not go to far.....gains get close to nill and more things break.
It started because of performance, but it's progressed into animosity when I started digging. I don't like what they're doing. I'm cutting out as much as I can.
 
It started because of performance, but it's progressed into animosity when I started digging. I don't like what they're doing. I'm cutting out as much as I can.
Just be careful, some hidden monsters that you never knew might break others things you need or even for the os to even startup properly.

Just Ntlite life lessons I have learned. Have fun and enjoy
 
Just be careful, some hidden monsters that you never knew might break others things you need or even for the os to even startup properly.

Just Ntlite life lessons I have learned. Have fun and enjoy
Thanks man! This isn't my first rodeo as mentioned a year LMAO! I'm almost at the perfect build, fine tuning.
 
I agree with everything that was said, I also hate everything that Windows has become, the last really good Windows in every way was Windows 7, Microsoft optimized the OS after a lot of complaints about Vista (was intended to be used with a lot of RAM for the time and to have better performance taking advantage of RAM, but having this hardware was not a reality for everyone), Windows 7 was well balanced for both new and old hardware at the time. Windows 8.1 was the last reasonable Windows, it had improvements to the OS core but introduced a terrible UI and rubbish UWP Apps and Store. Now ironically Windows 10/11 are the new Vista abusing the gigantic evolution we have had in hardware and processing power and caring little about optimization and performance. The only good thing about Windows 10 is stability, I've gone years without needing to do a clean install while with 7/8.1 this was more frequent.

Although I would like to remove most things unfortunately software depends on a lot of obscure stuff, every year that passes I discover something new that I have removed that is necessary for some software to work. I'm kind of tired of this cat and mouse game, at the moment I just want to install the OS and use the programs and games I need. I don't have more energy to fine-tune what I can maintain or not.

For me I would migrate to Linux but as mentioned many games and programs including emulators only work on Windows or have better performance on it.
 
I agree with everything that was said, I also hate everything that Windows has become, the last really good Windows in every way was Windows 7, Microsoft optimized the OS after a lot of complaints about Vista (was intended to be used with a lot of RAM for the time and to have better performance taking advantage of RAM, but having this hardware was not a reality for everyone), Windows 7 was well balanced for both new and old hardware at the time. Windows 8.1 was the last reasonable Windows, it had improvements to the OS core but introduced a terrible UI and rubbish UWP Apps and Store. Now ironically Windows 10/11 are the new Vista abusing the gigantic evolution we have had in hardware and processing power and caring little about optimization and performance. The only good thing about Windows 10 is stability, I've gone years without needing to do a clean install while with 7/8.1 this was more frequent.

Although I would like to remove most things unfortunately software depends on a lot of obscure stuff, every year that passes I discover something new that I have removed that is necessary for some software to work. I'm kind of tired of this cat and mouse game, at the moment I just want to install the OS and use the programs and games I need. I don't have more energy to fine-tune what I can maintain or not.

For me I would migrate to Linux but as mentioned many games and programs including emulators only work on Windows or have better performance on it.
I fucking did it boys!!!!!!!!!!!! My goal is achieved. I have a stable boot that loads nothing!! Literally nothing, I’m currently using 1gig of ram in task manager. This is the base I wanted, stable, and solid. unreal how much I had to undo to get here. With this base I’m going to tailor every single molecule of software/code in this install, and when I’m done, I will have a perfect image for me. my computer is no longer in Microsoft’s hands. I’m almost sad the fight finished, no I’m not! I used a few other tools but duuuuuuuuuude NTLite legendary software.

I am definitely bouncing to Linux I’m already dabbling in pop OS, I wanted to kill windows out of spite, the second I am good with a set up on Linux I’m swapping.
 
When you're finished, do you mind sharing your preset so other users can learn from your work? Not every preset will be usable for someone else, but it can be deeply instructive to which components are required for a minimum working Windows.
 
To be honest I went super bare, I wouldn’t really recommend this build unless you are really knowledgeable. It removes all conveniences and makes it so you have to do everything yourself. Unless you’re nuts like me, you probably won’t like it.
 
When you're finished, do you mind sharing your preset so other users can learn from your work? Not every preset will be usable for someone else, but it can be deeply instructive to which components are required for a minimum working Windows.
There Is a very healthy middle ground for normal people. You can achieve it super easy with NT lite.
 
To be honest I went super bare,
Windows 7 Pro 64bit installed at 1.26(1.16? i forget now)GB, was still usable for MY needs.
a LOT of work i am now not able to or even willing to try to replicate on windows 10.
 
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