Hellbovine
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Update (November 11th, 2024): This guide was last updated for W10 21H2, but I have confirmed that it works properly on the latest 22H2 ISO available from Microsoft too. Updates to this guide have been in the works, but were delayed due to issues on Microsoft's side, and by time those were fixed I then ran into a lack of free time, so this guide started to fall behind. As soon as I have a chance, I will be pushing out updates to all my guides, with more tweaks to further improve the stability, performance, and annoyances of Windows.
This guide walks users through the creation of an optimized Windows 10 image designed for maximum performance, with general annoyances and telemetry addressed too. These tweaks have been thoroughly researched and tested to provide a safe and official approach, suitable for gamers, power users, and everyday users as well. The guide was tested on Home edition, meaning the tweaks will also work on all other editions.
The long-term goal here is to make a highly refined image, so that by the time Windows 10 reaches end of life we can take this guide which will be in its final form by then, and install a fully patched and optimized operating system that can be used for many more years, until too many developers drop support and users are eventually forced to migrate. This is a very popular strategy that countless users have settled on, jumping from Windows 98 > XP > 7 > 10, since the in-between releases tend to flop with the masses.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
TWEAK METHODOLOGY
KNOWN ISSUES
RELEASE NOTES
STEP 1: GETTING STARTED
STEP 2: START MENU, TILES, AND TASKBAR
STEP 3: UPDATING POWER PLAN
STEP 4: UNINSTALL COMPONENTS
STEP 5: APPLY AND PROCESS (PART ONE)
STEP 6: IMPORT REMAINING REGISTRY FILES
STEP 7: APPLY AND PROCESS (PART TWO)
Visit the Gaming Lounge to find more guides like these.
This guide walks users through the creation of an optimized Windows 10 image designed for maximum performance, with general annoyances and telemetry addressed too. These tweaks have been thoroughly researched and tested to provide a safe and official approach, suitable for gamers, power users, and everyday users as well. The guide was tested on Home edition, meaning the tweaks will also work on all other editions.
The long-term goal here is to make a highly refined image, so that by the time Windows 10 reaches end of life we can take this guide which will be in its final form by then, and install a fully patched and optimized operating system that can be used for many more years, until too many developers drop support and users are eventually forced to migrate. This is a very popular strategy that countless users have settled on, jumping from Windows 98 > XP > 7 > 10, since the in-between releases tend to flop with the masses.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- This guide is for Windows 10 version 21H2, build 19044.1288, but many of these tweaks will work elsewhere if you want to assume responsibility for adapting it to your needs. What I mean is, I will not help troubleshoot something majorly off course, such as using Windows 11 with this guide, because it is a different operating system and still evolving, meaning it needs tweaks that are not relevant to other builds.
- Users have limited options in choosing an operating system these days, because numerous companies are now onboard with Microsoft's end of life road maps. Major platforms (Steam, Blizzard, Chrome, etcetera) have dropped support for older Windows, and there has been such a hard push in 2023 to make everything except Windows 10 and 11 completely obsolete, that in 2024 many developers will only support these two options.
- My research and testing indicated Windows 10 version 21H2 was the best of the modern options at the time this guide was created, which is why it was chosen. It is also the version that Enterprise 2021 uses, which helps support the notion that it is stable. While comparing Windows 10 to 11, it was easy to see that Windows 11 scored the same or slightly worse in every benchmark, and had substantially higher DPC latency. I plan on testing Windows 10 vs 11 again after every major version release and will update all my guides accordingly, but Windows 10 is the current winner.
- This guide is intended to be updated annually for the latest Windows ISO version that gets released around November of each year, but due to the low quality state that Microsoft released 22H2, I chose to stay with 21H2 for now. The bugs and performance issues were too numerous to bother with, and it was taking too long for Microsoft to address them all, so it made more sense to stick with a stable build until the new 23H2 can be tested.
- Almost all performance images on the internet pause or disable Windows Update. This guide pauses it forever, and it can be manually started and paused again by the user, but I do not recommend using the Windows Update feature due to the huge number of problems it can cause, and users should instead create a new image using this guide at the start of every year and cleanly install that. This reply (link2) explains the issue in more detail.
- Users have limited options in choosing an operating system these days, because numerous companies are now onboard with Microsoft's end of life road maps. Major platforms (Steam, Blizzard, Chrome, etcetera) have dropped support for older Windows, and there has been such a hard push in 2023 to make everything except Windows 10 and 11 completely obsolete, that in 2024 many developers will only support these two options.
- My research and testing indicated Windows 10 version 21H2 was the best of the modern options at the time this guide was created, which is why it was chosen. It is also the version that Enterprise 2021 uses, which helps support the notion that it is stable. While comparing Windows 10 to 11, it was easy to see that Windows 11 scored the same or slightly worse in every benchmark, and had substantially higher DPC latency. I plan on testing Windows 10 vs 11 again after every major version release and will update all my guides accordingly, but Windows 10 is the current winner.
- This guide is intended to be updated annually for the latest Windows ISO version that gets released around November of each year, but due to the low quality state that Microsoft released 22H2, I chose to stay with 21H2 for now. The bugs and performance issues were too numerous to bother with, and it was taking too long for Microsoft to address them all, so it made more sense to stick with a stable build until the new 23H2 can be tested.
- Almost all performance images on the internet pause or disable Windows Update. This guide pauses it forever, and it can be manually started and paused again by the user, but I do not recommend using the Windows Update feature due to the huge number of problems it can cause, and users should instead create a new image using this guide at the start of every year and cleanly install that. This reply (link2) explains the issue in more detail.
TWEAK METHODOLOGY
We need to define what "optimized" means, and why this custom Windows is unlike most others on the internet.
- This guide does not focus on component removals, instead it uses registry keys. This method ensures that nothing "breaks" in Windows, since all the keys are the same official method that Microsoft would use, and these tweaks can be reversed on a live install too. No apps have been uninstalled, no dependencies lost, it is just much faster and better on resource usage, with common annoyances resolved. In other words, Microsoft could release this as a "Gaming" or "Lite" edition of Windows 10.
- Every individual tweak has been meticulously tested to ensure they work for this operating system and version. They all integrate into a clean install, and apply to all users created. This is important because many tweaks on the internet are not tested properly, since most people go by "feel" which is usually placebo effect. Basically, I do not include tweaks if I cannot manually confirm they are doing something beneficial.
- This image was constructed in a modular way, meaning you can take pieces from it, or you could use the whole guide and layer it on top of other custom NTLite images, to enhance one of the built-in NTLite templates or a user's custom preset.
- This guide was posted on August 23rd, 2022 and no issues have been discovered so far. The various problems in the thread replies have been determined to be inaccurate or unrelated, which is a common occurence on forums, since people will add their own tweaks and tools while using a guide, then randomly place the blame when things break. At this point, it is safe to say this image has no issues when the instructions are followed.
- This guide does not focus on component removals, instead it uses registry keys. This method ensures that nothing "breaks" in Windows, since all the keys are the same official method that Microsoft would use, and these tweaks can be reversed on a live install too. No apps have been uninstalled, no dependencies lost, it is just much faster and better on resource usage, with common annoyances resolved. In other words, Microsoft could release this as a "Gaming" or "Lite" edition of Windows 10.
- Every individual tweak has been meticulously tested to ensure they work for this operating system and version. They all integrate into a clean install, and apply to all users created. This is important because many tweaks on the internet are not tested properly, since most people go by "feel" which is usually placebo effect. Basically, I do not include tweaks if I cannot manually confirm they are doing something beneficial.
- This image was constructed in a modular way, meaning you can take pieces from it, or you could use the whole guide and layer it on top of other custom NTLite images, to enhance one of the built-in NTLite templates or a user's custom preset.
- This guide was posted on August 23rd, 2022 and no issues have been discovered so far. The various problems in the thread replies have been determined to be inaccurate or unrelated, which is a common occurence on forums, since people will add their own tweaks and tools while using a guide, then randomly place the blame when things break. At this point, it is safe to say this image has no issues when the instructions are followed.
KNOWN ISSUES
There are no known issues with this custom image, but some notes are discussed below.
- The Xbox Game Bar will not run when you click on it from the start menu, which is by Microsoft's design and is not intuitive. If you need to use the Game Bar just go to Start > Settings > Gaming > and toggle it on, then the Game Bar will run when clicked from the start menu.
- On laptops, Microsoft alters the power buttons so that instead of turning off when "Shut down" is clicked, it silently goes to sleep instead (same for restart). I know that I can address this in a proper way, but it is consuming too much time, so I will solve it in the future. This is Microsoft's issue though, because Windows detects the power capabilities of a computer and then adjusts settings during install, which override ours.
- The Microphone is initially off, but can be turned on by going to Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone > toggle "Allow access to the microphone on this device" followed by "Allow apps to access your microphone" and then "Allow desktop apps to access your microphone" last. Some programs require all three settings to be enabled in order for voice chat to work.
- I tried to avoid group policy registry keys unless it was absolutely required, but I had to use about a half dozen in total. This is not a bad thing, but the downside to policies is that they lock settings so the user cannot toggle them on/off in the Windows interface, until the policy is deleted from the registry. I will work to eliminate all policies in the future.
- Defender and Firewall have been turned off for gamers (easily enabled again), but it is not as scary as some people say. Use a good browser (Chrome), practice common sense (download only from reputable sources, do not visit shady sites), and things will be fine. Install a good ad-blocker (uBlock Origin) though, since that will dramatically improve browsing security/performance, while also blocking ads everywhere (including YouTube). Also, use NAT in your router and do not directly connect your computer to the DSL/Cable modem.
- The Xbox Game Bar will not run when you click on it from the start menu, which is by Microsoft's design and is not intuitive. If you need to use the Game Bar just go to Start > Settings > Gaming > and toggle it on, then the Game Bar will run when clicked from the start menu.
- On laptops, Microsoft alters the power buttons so that instead of turning off when "Shut down" is clicked, it silently goes to sleep instead (same for restart). I know that I can address this in a proper way, but it is consuming too much time, so I will solve it in the future. This is Microsoft's issue though, because Windows detects the power capabilities of a computer and then adjusts settings during install, which override ours.
- The Microphone is initially off, but can be turned on by going to Start > Settings > Privacy > Microphone > toggle "Allow access to the microphone on this device" followed by "Allow apps to access your microphone" and then "Allow desktop apps to access your microphone" last. Some programs require all three settings to be enabled in order for voice chat to work.
- I tried to avoid group policy registry keys unless it was absolutely required, but I had to use about a half dozen in total. This is not a bad thing, but the downside to policies is that they lock settings so the user cannot toggle them on/off in the Windows interface, until the policy is deleted from the registry. I will work to eliminate all policies in the future.
- Defender and Firewall have been turned off for gamers (easily enabled again), but it is not as scary as some people say. Use a good browser (Chrome), practice common sense (download only from reputable sources, do not visit shady sites), and things will be fine. Install a good ad-blocker (uBlock Origin) though, since that will dramatically improve browsing security/performance, while also blocking ads everywhere (including YouTube). Also, use NAT in your router and do not directly connect your computer to the DSL/Cable modem.
RELEASE NOTES
August 23, 2022: Released version 1.0 with 584 total registry keys. It took about 640 hours over 8 months to create it, and versions 2.0 and 3.0 are planned out. Since good testing is so time consuming, each new version takes several months or more to complete. If anyone finds any issues, those will be fixed and the guide updated with a minor version change.
December 28, 2022: Updated to version 1.1 after adding a registry key that prevents Windows from forcibly downloading and installing a display driver, even if Windows Update was paused. Also, cleaned up the guide's formatting and added information about the release of 22H2.
December 28, 2022: Updated to version 1.1 after adding a registry key that prevents Windows from forcibly downloading and installing a display driver, even if Windows Update was paused. Also, cleaned up the guide's formatting and added information about the release of 22H2.
STEP 1: GETTING STARTED
Before you begin, check that you have everything you need in advance.
1A) Download the attachments. The "Screenshots" folder contains images showing the Task Manager and LatencyMon results. Compared to a stock Windows 10 21H2 install, this optimized image has 17% fewer processes, 34% fewer threads, 23% fewer handles, memory usage down to 1.0 gigabytes, and many tweaks that improve the user-experience which do not have a way to be measured by a tool. The "Tweaks" folder contains the layout and registry files needed to create the image. After downloading the folders, right-click on them and "Extract All", choose a destination, click "Extract" and then delete the original zipped folders.
1B) Exit out of all open programs and reboot.
1C) Temporarily disable any antivirus, such as Defender, since they slow down NTLite and may cause image corruption.
1D) Right-click on NTLite and select "Run as administrator".
1E) In NTLite, click on the "Main menu" button on the top left (signified by 3 horizontal lines), then "Check for updates" and then click the first "Update" button, under the "Tool" header. If it is grayed out then you are on the latest version already.
1A) Download the attachments. The "Screenshots" folder contains images showing the Task Manager and LatencyMon results. Compared to a stock Windows 10 21H2 install, this optimized image has 17% fewer processes, 34% fewer threads, 23% fewer handles, memory usage down to 1.0 gigabytes, and many tweaks that improve the user-experience which do not have a way to be measured by a tool. The "Tweaks" folder contains the layout and registry files needed to create the image. After downloading the folders, right-click on them and "Extract All", choose a destination, click "Extract" and then delete the original zipped folders.
1B) Exit out of all open programs and reboot.
1C) Temporarily disable any antivirus, such as Defender, since they slow down NTLite and may cause image corruption.
1D) Right-click on NTLite and select "Run as administrator".
1E) In NTLite, click on the "Main menu" button on the top left (signified by 3 horizontal lines), then "Check for updates" and then click the first "Update" button, under the "Tool" header. If it is grayed out then you are on the latest version already.
STEP 2: START MENU, TILES, AND TASKBAR
This step prevents all the "bloat" from getting installed, such as games and apps you did not ask for, and other ads and sponsored software. You can still use live tiles and customize that panel, this tweak just cleans up the stuff that many users do not like.
2A) Load an unmodified, official, Windows 10 21H2 image into NTLite by going to "Add" then choosing "Image directory" and select the Windows image folder you want to use and NTLite will refresh. Now double-click on "Windows 10 Home" or whichever edition you have a license for, and it will begin loading. If you do not have an image to use, check other guides (link3) for instructions, and for an official 21H2 (link4) download.
2B) After the image has finished loading it automatically moves into the "Mounted" section, which means we can begin editing. Right-click on the "Windows 10 Home" that has a green circle and select "Explore mount directory".
2C) Left-click twice in the blank space of the address bar, to the right of "NLTmpMnt" and add the following text exactly as shown below.
\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\
Make sure it is one long address now, combined with the previous address, and no white spaces between anything, then press enter and it should take you to a folder that has 1 file inside.
2D) Next, copy and paste the custom DefaultLayouts.xml and LayoutModification.xml files that you downloaded earlier into this mounted Shell directory, choose the option to "Replace the file in the destination" when prompted, and then hit "Continue" on both screens to approve the action.
2E) Exit the mounted shell window now, but leave NTLite open.
2A) Load an unmodified, official, Windows 10 21H2 image into NTLite by going to "Add" then choosing "Image directory" and select the Windows image folder you want to use and NTLite will refresh. Now double-click on "Windows 10 Home" or whichever edition you have a license for, and it will begin loading. If you do not have an image to use, check other guides (link3) for instructions, and for an official 21H2 (link4) download.
2B) After the image has finished loading it automatically moves into the "Mounted" section, which means we can begin editing. Right-click on the "Windows 10 Home" that has a green circle and select "Explore mount directory".
2C) Left-click twice in the blank space of the address bar, to the right of "NLTmpMnt" and add the following text exactly as shown below.
\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\
Make sure it is one long address now, combined with the previous address, and no white spaces between anything, then press enter and it should take you to a folder that has 1 file inside.
2D) Next, copy and paste the custom DefaultLayouts.xml and LayoutModification.xml files that you downloaded earlier into this mounted Shell directory, choose the option to "Replace the file in the destination" when prompted, and then hit "Continue" on both screens to approve the action.
2E) Exit the mounted shell window now, but leave NTLite open.
STEP 3: UPDATING POWER PLAN
This registry file is going to be integrated into all four parts of the Windows image (Install, PE, Setup, Recovery) which changes the default power plan from Balanced to High performance in each of those. This greatly increases the speed at which Windows will install, reducing the total install time by about 50%. This also fixes a bug in Windows, which causes certain older SSD to hang or be extremely slow during Windows Setup.
3A) Click "Registry" from the left menu, then "Add", choose "Registry files" and select the Reg_0_NTLite file you downloaded earlier and NTLite will refresh to show that those keys were added.
3A) Click "Registry" from the left menu, then "Add", choose "Registry files" and select the Reg_0_NTLite file you downloaded earlier and NTLite will refresh to show that those keys were added.
STEP 4: UNINSTALL COMPONENTS
This step is optional, but I strongly urge everyone to do it anyway. Here we are removing the only component in this guide, OneDrive. There are several reasons to do this, the biggest one being that it is a resource hog, and it is not integrated into Windows, instead it is a standalone installer that does not actually install until the first user is created, meaning it is not integrated into the image.
Even if you want OneDrive, it is better for users to directly access the OneDrive cloud via their web browser, than to use the app, because the app adds unnecessary resource usage to the background of Windows, eats up internet bandwidth, and you will inevitably experience syncing issues and/or file corruption. It makes more sense to adjust how you use OneDrive, than it does to try and optimize this unnecessary app.
4A) Click "Components" from the left menu, then expand the "Remoting and Privacy" tree and also expand "Cloud Files API" so that you can now uncheck "OneDrive".
Note: This is the only tweak in all my guides that require a paid NTLite license, while everything else works 100% on the free edition. However, a license is worth it, because it gives you much more power to do additional component removals and such, if desired. You will also be supporting the tremendous amount of work that has gone into the NTLite program, while indirectly supporting the volunteers, since the community and the tool grow in relation to each other.
Even if you want OneDrive, it is better for users to directly access the OneDrive cloud via their web browser, than to use the app, because the app adds unnecessary resource usage to the background of Windows, eats up internet bandwidth, and you will inevitably experience syncing issues and/or file corruption. It makes more sense to adjust how you use OneDrive, than it does to try and optimize this unnecessary app.
4A) Click "Components" from the left menu, then expand the "Remoting and Privacy" tree and also expand "Cloud Files API" so that you can now uncheck "OneDrive".
Note: This is the only tweak in all my guides that require a paid NTLite license, while everything else works 100% on the free edition. However, a license is worth it, because it gives you much more power to do additional component removals and such, if desired. You will also be supporting the tremendous amount of work that has gone into the NTLite program, while indirectly supporting the volunteers, since the community and the tool grow in relation to each other.
STEP 5: APPLY AND PROCESS (PART ONE)
At this point we are done with the first set of tweaks and ready to process this image into something we can install Windows with. You could stop after this step and have a great base image to do your own tweaking with, or continue with the guide to add these tweaks.
5A) Click "Apply" from the left menu, then select "Save the image and trim editions" which will eliminate all of the unused editions, such as Pro, Education, and Workstation, without affecting the edition that you have currently loaded in NTLite.
5B) Now expand "Reapply tasks across editions" and check the box for "Integrate - Registry".
5C) On the top left menu bar select "Process" to begin creating the customized image.
Note: It will take several minutes to process the image and a message will appear when it is complete. Do not try to combine this step with the ones below. It is best practice to integrate registry keys after processing the removal of components, otherwise you may end up deleting some tweaks when components are uninstalled.
5A) Click "Apply" from the left menu, then select "Save the image and trim editions" which will eliminate all of the unused editions, such as Pro, Education, and Workstation, without affecting the edition that you have currently loaded in NTLite.
5B) Now expand "Reapply tasks across editions" and check the box for "Integrate - Registry".
5C) On the top left menu bar select "Process" to begin creating the customized image.
Note: It will take several minutes to process the image and a message will appear when it is complete. Do not try to combine this step with the ones below. It is best practice to integrate registry keys after processing the removal of components, otherwise you may end up deleting some tweaks when components are uninstalled.
STEP 6: IMPORT REMAINING REGISTRY FILES
To finish this custom image, we need to take the previously processed image and add a few more layers into it.
6A) Click "Image" from the left menu, then double-click on the same "Windows 10 Home" option from earlier to load it again, and it will now include all the previous tweaks we added. If you previously stopped after step 5C and are returning to this guide to add more tweaks, the image may not still be visible in NTLite, so you may need to repeat step 2A again. After it loads, click "Registry" from the left menu and then continue below.
6B) Click "Add" and choose "Registry files" to select "Reg_1_Power" for integration. Repeat this step until Reg_2_Security, Reg_3_Settings, Reg_4_Control, Reg_5_Apps, and Reg_6_Other are all added.
Below are some highlights these files are responsible for. Right-click and edit a registry file from within Windows File Explorer to read the comments inside. If you do not want a certain feature to be tweaked then you can delete those tweaks from the files before integrating them, but I highly recommend trying everything as-is for a week, to give this curated product a fair try, since a huge amount of time and effort went into this.
Reg_1_Power: Disables hibernation (saves several gigabytes of space, while still keeping sleep available), disables fast startup, converts the High performance power plan into the equivalent of the Microsoft Ultimate and Bitsum's power plans combined, plus additional improvements. Temperatures do not increase though, because the reduced overhead of the image makes up for that.
Reg_2_Security: This file has to do with the Windows Security center app, it disables Defender, firewall, and many of the overly aggressive security features which substantially interfere with gaming, especially multiplayer. This is where most gaming issues come from, and is the reason why older operating systems perform better, because they lack these features.
Reg_3_Settings: There are tons of tweaks in this file, and all of them are things that a user can toggle from within the Windows "Settings" pages. There are tweaks that fix DWM and theme management in Windows, disables syncing, disables telemetry, pauses Windows Update forever (can be manually resumed and paused again as desired), and so much more.
Reg_4_Control: Everything inside this file has to do with settings inside the Control Panel. A lot of annoyances are addressed here, such as disabling various user tracking, cleans some of the user interfaces, basic keyboard and mouse tweaks for gamers, disables the constant user account control nagging, and many other similar changes.
Reg_5_Apps: This file contains the settings that handle all the apps, and stops them from running in the background, but still allows them to work in case someone actually wants to use any of them.
Reg_6_Other: Miscellaneous tweaks are here, such as desktop and taskbar tweaks. Also disables prefetch, disables superfetch, disables indexer, disables file compression, and a number of other tweaks to make things less annoying, more stable, or to reduce overhead.
6A) Click "Image" from the left menu, then double-click on the same "Windows 10 Home" option from earlier to load it again, and it will now include all the previous tweaks we added. If you previously stopped after step 5C and are returning to this guide to add more tweaks, the image may not still be visible in NTLite, so you may need to repeat step 2A again. After it loads, click "Registry" from the left menu and then continue below.
6B) Click "Add" and choose "Registry files" to select "Reg_1_Power" for integration. Repeat this step until Reg_2_Security, Reg_3_Settings, Reg_4_Control, Reg_5_Apps, and Reg_6_Other are all added.
Below are some highlights these files are responsible for. Right-click and edit a registry file from within Windows File Explorer to read the comments inside. If you do not want a certain feature to be tweaked then you can delete those tweaks from the files before integrating them, but I highly recommend trying everything as-is for a week, to give this curated product a fair try, since a huge amount of time and effort went into this.
Reg_1_Power: Disables hibernation (saves several gigabytes of space, while still keeping sleep available), disables fast startup, converts the High performance power plan into the equivalent of the Microsoft Ultimate and Bitsum's power plans combined, plus additional improvements. Temperatures do not increase though, because the reduced overhead of the image makes up for that.
Reg_2_Security: This file has to do with the Windows Security center app, it disables Defender, firewall, and many of the overly aggressive security features which substantially interfere with gaming, especially multiplayer. This is where most gaming issues come from, and is the reason why older operating systems perform better, because they lack these features.
Reg_3_Settings: There are tons of tweaks in this file, and all of them are things that a user can toggle from within the Windows "Settings" pages. There are tweaks that fix DWM and theme management in Windows, disables syncing, disables telemetry, pauses Windows Update forever (can be manually resumed and paused again as desired), and so much more.
Reg_4_Control: Everything inside this file has to do with settings inside the Control Panel. A lot of annoyances are addressed here, such as disabling various user tracking, cleans some of the user interfaces, basic keyboard and mouse tweaks for gamers, disables the constant user account control nagging, and many other similar changes.
Reg_5_Apps: This file contains the settings that handle all the apps, and stops them from running in the background, but still allows them to work in case someone actually wants to use any of them.
Reg_6_Other: Miscellaneous tweaks are here, such as desktop and taskbar tweaks. Also disables prefetch, disables superfetch, disables indexer, disables file compression, and a number of other tweaks to make things less annoying, more stable, or to reduce overhead.
STEP 7: APPLY AND PROCESS (PART TWO)
For the last step all we have to do is process the addition of these remaining registry files.
7A) Click "Apply" from the left menu, then select "Process" to begin creating the customized image.
7B) Once processing has finished, exit NTLite and then copy the Windows files onto the root of a USB drive, then boot into that drive and install your custom Windows! If you are unfamiliar with this, see my other guide (link5) for instructions on how to do it.
Note: Unplug from the internet before installing Windows or it will force you to use a Microsoft account during setup, as well as potentially downloading updates which could undo some tweaks. This will be resolved in version 2.0 of the guide.
7A) Click "Apply" from the left menu, then select "Process" to begin creating the customized image.
7B) Once processing has finished, exit NTLite and then copy the Windows files onto the root of a USB drive, then boot into that drive and install your custom Windows! If you are unfamiliar with this, see my other guide (link5) for instructions on how to do it.
Note: Unplug from the internet before installing Windows or it will force you to use a Microsoft account during setup, as well as potentially downloading updates which could undo some tweaks. This will be resolved in version 2.0 of the guide.
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