Guide: Optimized Image

Yeah I'm confused too. Like I said, none of this has anything to do with my guide, APiUser, please make a new thread if you want to continue discussing whatever it is you're talking about, because none of your posts in the last few pages are related to my work here. Your issues were caused by MSMG and other tweaks.
 
APiUser said:
My last picture and my last words..
I'm not offended but, I feel I'm short here..

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APiUser - a few of us have used THE MOST RECENT version of rufus and have had NO ISSUES especially when obtaining a Hungarian iso. IF you read back a few posts, a few of us PROVED that it is something you have done, and nothing else

IF YOU HAVE AN ISSUE WITH RUFUS, TAKE IT UP WITH THEM. WE ARE NOT RUFUS


AND before anyone starts asking...... I WILL NOT MAKE A VIDEO to show
 
jctez said:
Following this guide to the letter, now I just want to disable updates? Never mind I found it
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Not sure if by "found it" you mean you found the solution in this guide or if you came across my other guide on pausing updates, so I wanted to clarify in case it helps you or other readers:

You can right-click on the .reg files and select "edit" to see their contents, and they all have comments on them. The "settings" file has the Windows Updates stuff included already, so you won't have to use the other guides I wrote, since they are already incorporated here.

The reason I wrote those others as separate guides, is because they were commonly Googled tutorials and all of the ones I tried didn't work, so I had to make my own solutions and decided to share them with the public.
 
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Hellbovine said:
Not sure if by "found it" you mean you found the solution in this guide or if you came across my other guide on pausing updates, so I wanted to clarify in case it helps you or other readers:

You can right-click on the .reg files and select "edit" to see their contents, and they all have comments on them. The "settings" file has the Windows updates stuff included already, so you won't have to use the other guides I wrote (start menu, cortana, windows update), since they are already incorporated here.

The reason I wrote those others as separate guides, is because they were commonly Googled tutorials and all of the ones I tried didn't work, so I had to make my own solutions, and decided to share them for people looking for an updated tutorial, but weren't wanting a fully edited image like this thread is about.
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So you're saying it's already disabled from one of the registry file 0-6? When i said I found it I meant in Nlite ui to disable updates.
I also came across your Cortana guide, is that registry tweak in files 0-6 also? Sorry for the noob questions, just new to the forum.
 
jctez said:
So you're saying it's already disabled from one of the registry file 0-6? When i said I found it I meant in Nlite ui to disable updates.
I also came across your Cortana guide, is that registry file in 0-6 files also? Sorry for the noob questions, just new to the forum.
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Yes, Windows Update is paused by default in this guide (but not uninstalled/disabled), as well as preventing forced driver downloads (display driver). The Cortana guide is also included, as well as the clear start menu guide (that's what the 2 xml files are for). It was intended that if for example someone was a computer newbie they would do the guides in this order:

1) NTLite for Beginners (link1): To learn how to make a base image with the NTLite program.
2) Installing Windows (link2): To learn how to do a clean install of Windows, plus drivers.
3) Optimized Image (link3): To learn how to make safe customizations to Windows for performance.

All of this is in the Gaming Lounge (link4), along with other guides and related information. I'll go and edit some links and start mentioning "This is already included in the Optimized Image guide" so it helps clarify this for readers. I've been updating some guides recently, and I'll try to go through all of them and do another pass on formatting/clarity for this kind of stuff too.
 
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Hellbovine​

Im testing the iso in vm, I noticed control panel was disabled thru registry, which registry file has that? Or was that part of the Privacy template? I started with Privacy template and your guide. And what do I have to uncheck in Compatability to remove Microsoft Edge? And is it safe to remove?
 
Control panel isn't disabled by my guide here, for sure, so it has to be some other tweak. I recently tested all of the built-in templates too (combined with this guide on W10) and I'm pretty sure I had opened control panel on all of them, so I don't think it's the templates either, unless you also checked additional components outside of what the templates include?

I can't hold a candle to some of the other guys here when it comes to component removal knowledge, so one of the veterans would have to help with your Edge question. Component removal stuff is last on my personal to-do list since it's going to require a ton of time/effort, so it'll be a while before I start to put together my own XML preset, and even then I may try to just work with Nuhi to provide feedback on the templates instead, since I like that idea a lot.
 
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To clarify, when you say "disabled" do you mean it refuses to open when you click on it? Or the shortcut is gone so you can't find it? In W11 use the search button and see if it pops up when you look for it.
 
i don't think there is a way to disable control panel at all. There is no icon as such in settings on 11 to get to control panel, so you have to do it through the search button on the taskbar.
 
jctez said:
There was no icon when I searched for it, so since I added registry tweaks I figured I would check the registry and it was disabled, had to follow this guide to re-enable thru registry.
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That group policy which disables the control panel isn't from my tweaks though. Are you using other tools or reg files you gathered from elsewhere that could have added it? This seems to be a very common trend, where people keep using outside tools/scripts/reg files and not understanding the consequences of that, and then misplacing the blame on this guide.

I'd recommend doing this in layers, instead of piling it all together, that way you can see what belongs to where. For example, do this whole guide and *nothing* else. Use that image for at least a few days and get acquainted with it. Then, move on to making a 2nd, separate image, with *only* component removals, install that and check it out for a few days. If you're satisfied with both, *then* merge them together into a 3rd image and test that. It ends up being a more efficient use of time because it's easier to narrow things down in troubleshooting, and to learn the pros and cons of each layer.
 
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jctez said:
...going real slow now
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A tip that I do, is to make several folders and have different stages of tweaks in each, this way I don't have to re-do things, I can just take whatever image I need from a certain stage and add onto it. For example, right now on my spare SSD I have 4 images that I can use:

W10_21H2 _V1: contains a default Windows image that was processed in NTLite to convert it to WIM and trims other editions, and that's it. Basically a "stock" image that can be copied onto a USB to install Windows how Microsoft expects you to.

W10_21H2_V2: contains V1, plus has start menu xml files, Reg_0 integrated across editions, and has OneDrive removed (steps 2-5 of my guide).

W10_21H2_V3: contains V2, plus has all of the other 6 registry files included (steps 6-7 of my guide).

W10_21H2_V4: contains V3, plus a "Test" registry file that has all the new tweaks I want to thoroughly vet for a while before I'm satisfied with adding them into the other reg files as part of V3. I then repeat this V4 step over and over, slowly transferring the in-progress tweaks that I'm actively testing over to V3 when I'm satisfied they are good choices. Basically, I continually research and add new tweaks over time into V4, and as I add new ones, I bump off the oldest ones that have been tested for months and put them onto V3.

I copy the the files onto a USB drive, from whichever version I need to use for a while, boot into the USB and cleanly install Windows (reformat, not VM) and then go to work on whatever it is I need.
 
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So all the builds are coming out with all the preinstalled garbage apps. When I was following the step to replace the 2 files in
\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\ named DefaultLayout.xml & LayoutModification.xml apparently I deleted the original and dragged the 2 files over, I did not click replace.

What are the correct file permissions for these 2 files? Or how do I reset to start all over in replacing these files. At this point I'm considering uninstalling Nlite and reinstalling to get these files working correct.
 
jctez said:
So all the builds are coming out with all the preinstalled garbage apps. When I was following the step to replace the 2 files in
\Users\Default\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Shell\ named DefaultLayout.xml & LayoutModification.xml apparently I deleted the original and dragged the 2 files over, I did not click replace.
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The cleanest way to block 3rd-party suggested apps, is remove Content Delivery Manager. This stops the Spotlight wallpaper and news feeds, but most users don't care.
 
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