Guide: Optimized Image
Kasual
Well-Known Member
Do you want the lock screen do automatic change?
To use a custom image, make sure the registry tweak is set to 0 instead of 1:
I have tried to add a Windows 8 background image on logon screen but that hasn't been posible to me.
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
I was using XP on my main machine until W10, so I missed out. This key is also not in any Tenforums tutorials (though it appears in comments from someone trying to get Brink to update a tutorial), nor can you capture it using regcompare anymore on W10, you have to manually dive into the registry or pull it from another program like NTLite. AeonX pointed that out too (link). Anywho, you won't find the combination of FlightSettingsMaxPauseDays plus SearchOrderConfig anywhere on Google. It was a painstaking effort to come up with this image on Home edition that made Windows Update work more like it used to in the old days, where users had some control.
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I've learned so much over the last 12 months on W10. I would definitely tackle things differently if I did it all over again, but hindsight is 20/20 
That Nvidia thread is making me realize this too. With how locked down W10/W11 are, it probably would have been faster for me to have loaded up a W7 image, fully configured it the way I wanted to using regcompare tools and such, and then transitioned over to W10 and tested each key to see which ones still work. Man I could have saved so much time that way lol.
That Nvidia thread is making me realize this too. With how locked down W10/W11 are, it probably would have been faster for me to have loaded up a W7 image, fully configured it the way I wanted to using regcompare tools and such, and then transitioned over to W10 and tested each key to see which ones still work. Man I could have saved so much time that way lol.
This is correct behavior, so Microsoft fixed it. The only reg value that should stop Windows from installing non-existing drivers using Windows Update is SearchOrderConfig, the other values are for other purposes. But that doesn't stop Windows from automatically installing drivers that natively exist in Windows (Example: network drivers).
On older builds of Windows 10 there are reports that all the reg values I posted are required but I haven't personally tested this.
If you don't want Windows Update to update already installed drivers when you click "Check for updates" on Windows Update page at you should use ExcludeWUDriversInQualityUpdate.
I don't know what PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork exactly does but I believe it prevents downloading additional software that is not essential for the driver to work.
Yes, Microsoft is removing a lot of things from the UI but for some things the equivalent reg value still works. Windows error reporting for example can no longer be disabled via the UI but the reg value for this captured in Win 7 works, the only other way is to use GPO.
PreventDeviceMetadataFromNetwork
I believe the original intent of this setting was to prevent HW configs (metadata) from being sent to MS (privacy). The side effect is of course, it prevents WU from finding new drivers which match the same specs.
| Edition | Windows 10 | Windows 11 |
|---|---|---|
| Home | No | No |
| Pro | Yes | Yes |
| Windows SE | No | Yes |
| Business | Yes | Yes |
| Enterprise | Yes | Yes |
| Education | Yes | Yes |
I believe the original intent of this setting was to prevent HW configs (metadata) from being sent to MS (privacy). The side effect is of course, it prevents WU from finding new drivers which match the same specs.
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
If you mean which components in NTLite can be safely removed, then unfortunately I can't help. Right now I'm working on tweaking everything else, and will get around to messing with component removals in the future. The only component I remove at this time is OneDrive. The rest of my guide is accomplished by integrating registry files, plus the two xml files used by Windows (defaultslayouts, layoutmodification).
That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to remove components, me personally I'm just very methodical and meticulous in my testing and so it's a slow process of what does and doesn't make it into each new image that I create. Since component removals can break things, I've chosen to put those as the very last thing on my todo list.
If you have a machine that's purely dedicated to just gaming or something simple, feel free to combine the GamerOS preset with my guide here. My guide was meant to be modular, which means you can pick it apart and use pieces from it that you want, or in theory combine it into an NTLite built-in preset or someone else's custom preset (I haven't tested it yet myself).
For anyone that wants to try combining them, you would first take an NTLite built-in preset or the GamerOS preset, process that, then when the image is complete, take that image and follow my guide to add my stuff on top of it. It's possible there might be a conflict, but it should be minor and easy to fix if one appears. Any errors you come across will more than likely be from component removals though, so be sure to post those questions in the appropriate locations, and not in this thread unless you're fairly certain a registry key here caused a problem.
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on my way to the suggestion you gave sir , thanks alot i bought this tool and whats the use if i cannot / wont experiment ...thanks sir again
Taosd
Well-Known Member
I think it would be safer to use a newer ISO version
Windows 10, version 21H1 will reach the end of servicing on December 13, 2022. This applies to all editions of Windows 10, version 21H1, released in May of 2021:
- Windows 10 Enterprise, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Enterprise multi-session, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Education, version 21H1
- Windows 10 IoT Enterprise, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Home, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Pro, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Pro Education, version 21H1
- Windows 10 Pro for Workstations, version 21H1
Altho it is your own choice, a good place to start looking for one would be google
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You might as well use 21H2 (November), if you're applying updates.
Rufus can download the original MS ISO. Or use UUP dump.
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
I haven't heard anything about control flow guard (cfg) being required for WSL (windows subsystem for linux). I'm not saying you're wrong, but can you explain how you came to that conclusion so I can learn?
Nothing in this image is "removed" (uninstalled). It's only disabled via registry keys. If your image requires *any* feature at all that is disabled in my guide, you have a few easy options to customize it to your needs:
Option 1: On your live install go to whatever you need in the user interface and toggle it.
Note: there are a few keys that are group policies, and those have to be deleted via regedit since you cannot toggle them from the user interfaces.
Option 2: While making this image in NTLite, right-click on the .reg files and "edit" them before you integrate, and then just delete or toggle the keys to suit your needs. In your case you could probably delete a lot of the stuff inside the security file which will leave Windows at its defaults for things like CFG.
All the reg files have full comments on every individual key, it should be very easy to find and toggle what you are looking for, and in the few cases it's not obvious, some Googling of those keys should reveal the answers. Or post here for help if you still can't figure something out.
Nothing in this image is "removed" (uninstalled). It's only disabled via registry keys. If your image requires *any* feature at all that is disabled in my guide, you have a few easy options to customize it to your needs:
Option 1: On your live install go to whatever you need in the user interface and toggle it.
Note: there are a few keys that are group policies, and those have to be deleted via regedit since you cannot toggle them from the user interfaces.
Option 2: While making this image in NTLite, right-click on the .reg files and "edit" them before you integrate, and then just delete or toggle the keys to suit your needs. In your case you could probably delete a lot of the stuff inside the security file which will leave Windows at its defaults for things like CFG.
All the reg files have full comments on every individual key, it should be very easy to find and toggle what you are looking for, and in the few cases it's not obvious, some Googling of those keys should reveal the answers. Or post here for help if you still can't figure something out.
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BUG : (W11) Stuck on "This may take several minutes...", wsl commands blocked · Issue #7505 · microsoft/WSL
Windows Build Number Microsoft Windows [version 10.0.22468.1000] WSL Version WSL 2 WSL 1 Kernel Version 5.10.60.1 Distro Version Ubuntu 20.04 Other Software No response Repro Steps Install wsl with...
github.com
i was searching when this github solution came across
option 1 and 2 are kinda new to me i still have to learn how ntlite works..but will surely check
and in ur reg file sir it removes every single trace of
Windows Security > App & browser control > Exploit protection settings > Control flow guard (CFG)
leaves no place to go and edit
i also found cfg comment in security reg
; Start > Windows Security > App & browser control > Exploit protection settings > Control flow guard (CFG) > Off by default
but has no key edit attached to it
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
Did you also use the GamerOS and combine my guide onto that image?
yes i think i did sir
Hellbovine
Well-Known Member
In the security reg file, the control flow guard does have a key underneath it, there should be like 7 comments ontop of a key, that's because that key is the configuration for all of those comments stacked above it.
The issue you're having though is that I think GamerOS uninstalls defender as well as security center, and that's why you cannot toggle it. Like I said before if you use that preset it will uninstall components completely, and you lose functionality. You need to uncheck the windows defender component from the GamerOS preset xml.
Basically this isn't my guide's fault, it's that other preset's issue, so you'll have to troubleshoot over in that thread for anything that has to do with component removals.
The issue you're having though is that I think GamerOS uninstalls defender as well as security center, and that's why you cannot toggle it. Like I said before if you use that preset it will uninstall components completely, and you lose functionality. You need to uncheck the windows defender component from the GamerOS preset xml.
Basically this isn't my guide's fault, it's that other preset's issue, so you'll have to troubleshoot over in that thread for anything that has to do with component removals.