Windows 10 LTSC 1809 - Optimize Gaming/Poweruser/Runtime Profile, retaining maximum compatibility. For x64/UEFI systems.
[Updated 2020-02-26, will not receive any more updates as I personally went on with Post-install scripts to configure my windows]
Version 1.0.5b
- Event Channels now fixed (NTLite 1.9.0.7330), so properly saved/applied to profile.
- Some reg changes and small tweaks.
- dnscache service disabled throws errors in steam logs, enabling.
NTLite Profile:
Ongoing tweaking of LTSC 2019:
- Minimal runtime overhead.
- De-jittering/low-latency.
- Power-user experience.
- Remove useless/privacy/risky/logging components.
- Maximum gaming performance.
- Disabling intrusive notifications / updates / background stuff.
- Attempt to implement most tweaks in profile itself.
- Retain full Windows integrity check / able to apply cumulative updates.
- Keep optional windows dependency compatibility, don't permanently break stuff. (Incl. Store/Xbox)
Some clarification seems necessary; With max compatibility I mean windows and dependencies compatibility, not hardware. This build is not suited for old hw out of the box. Tends to break legacy stuff.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ISO: SW_DVD5_WIN_ENT_LTSC_2019_64-bit_English_MLF_X21-96425.ISO (I suppose all original LTSC iso's would work)
NTLite: Version shown in .xml, always assume latest (beta)
Prepping original .iso:
1. Add -> Template -> .NET Framework 3.5 (Optional, but if you use apps that still require it..)
2. Integrate latest cumulative update for this Windows build. i.e. KB4530715, Integrate latest .NET3/4 cumulative update, latest servicing stack. Skip Adobe Flash Player, Skip Intel microcode updates? (Not sure on performance impact).
3. Create .iso and use created image to apply further tweaking i.e. apply NTLite.xml profile. Saves some time when problems occur, otherwise you'd have to do the updates reintegration process over and over again.
Apply customized profile:
1. Load clean extracted .iso and apply NTLite.xml profile.
2. Adjust to your own liking, but i won't give support if you REMOVE anything in 'components removal' that the profile doesn't remove. Same goes for unflagging compatibility.
3. Get hardware profile from your target computers and import them into the profile.
Then go to Compatibility -> Machine Support -> Select your hardware profiles. (If you don't do this one of your computers might miss essential drivers and profile might not work)
4. Unattended, Auto-fill and use built-in Administrator account and set password. Anything else is filled in pretty much as desired out of the box.
5. Registry files:
Look them up in attachment, the path will differ from when I used the the profile so you'll have to re-add them yourself.
PostRegistry folder is to apply AFTER installation (if desired).
6. (Automated) Post-setup
Lots of other things to disable Task scheduler tasks, unhide power plan settings, some network tweaks, bcdedit, auto apply registry keys that do not like to be integrated. MTU tweak might not be desired for you.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some stuff to do after installation.
OldNewExplorer tool to fix explorer windows black outline not existing in 1809, see example.
The middle and top one are broken by default, there is no 1 pixel wide black line between the white titlebar and drop shadows.
StartIsBack to disable preloading of searchUI (and dependencies), remove search icon from taskbar, saves resources.
MSIUtil from Guru3D to enable Message Signalled Interrupts (MSI) on devices. Some older equipment can either BSOD or ignore it so be careful.
Post-setup reg files included in attachment (if desired)
Device manager
Sort by Connection (Show hidden) and disable any device (including hid/input etc) you don't require / configure them accordingly. (Write flush cache, networking, etc)
SetTimerResolutionService (Put timer on 1ms or lower) might actually be a necessity with useplatformtick yes (Or you could get rare stuttering in some cases).
Interrupt affinity Policy Tool to assign interrupts to specific cpu cores. Use LatencyMon to figure out which cores are most used, and then assign your GPU and USB controller to to lets say core1 and 2. Might have to test yourself.
MouseTester for polling stability.
LatencyMon to check your DPC on max core clock and tweaked system, I'm sitting around 2.5us average. with all relevant drivers installed.
NVSlimmer, TCPOptimizer are also useful tools.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Screenshots (Some results have been further enhanced after installation by various tweaks, interrupts assignment, etc.):
Low memory consumption and minimum idle activity.
MouseTester / CapFrameX.
Default vs tweaked.
Low DPC latency with further tweaked system, all drivers functional.
Control panel cleaned up.
Minimal services for general W7 era compatibility.
Additional power settings exposed.
Clean Event Viewer.
Device Management (After additional purging)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MS Store/Xbox integration possible, everything should work. Tested with a few games; Roblox, Candy Crush, Sea of Thieves, etc.
Use bulk-enable UWP/Store support registry, reboot, download the file and put in C:\ then extract and run script inside. Update store/xbox etc and revert UWP/Store support with bulk-disable registry if desired.
Other services may be required depending on the specific app/game.
Required to manually install cumulative updates:
- Windows Update
- Update Orchestrator?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Troubleshooting:
1. Ask away, anything in build could compromise certain computer configuration, since it is verified to work in VMWare it is most likely something hardware specific. Or maybe wrong iso image/ntlite version and/or premium limitation!
2. Test in a VM first (i.e. VMware). Make sure to select 'I will install an operating system later', otherwise the installation seems to use its own autoattend version. This can disguise problems which could popup on installation on a physical computer.
3. bcdedit, drivers, services or specific registry files could potentially break your specific setup or might not be optimal for your hardware, so target those first in case of problems. Also running old BIOS / CSM, lower than USB3 etc might not work out of the box.
4. I do not recommend using this profile on any other image or Windows 10 version, no support can be given.
5. Outbound connections are blocked in firewall by default.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:
No guarantees for this profile or any of its updates. Fixes/changes can still be integrated later if found. Some elements might be catered to my specific hardware or personal preference and might not be ideal for you.
Credits:
Thanks to NTLite and forum member CLANGER for additional sources of useful registry tweaks!
[Updated 2020-02-26, will not receive any more updates as I personally went on with Post-install scripts to configure my windows]
Version 1.0.5b
- Event Channels now fixed (NTLite 1.9.0.7330), so properly saved/applied to profile.
- Some reg changes and small tweaks.
- dnscache service disabled throws errors in steam logs, enabling.
NTLite Profile:
Ongoing tweaking of LTSC 2019:
- Minimal runtime overhead.
- De-jittering/low-latency.
- Power-user experience.
- Remove useless/privacy/risky/logging components.
- Maximum gaming performance.
- Disabling intrusive notifications / updates / background stuff.
- Attempt to implement most tweaks in profile itself.
- Retain full Windows integrity check / able to apply cumulative updates.
- Keep optional windows dependency compatibility, don't permanently break stuff. (Incl. Store/Xbox)
Some clarification seems necessary; With max compatibility I mean windows and dependencies compatibility, not hardware. This build is not suited for old hw out of the box. Tends to break legacy stuff.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
ISO: SW_DVD5_WIN_ENT_LTSC_2019_64-bit_English_MLF_X21-96425.ISO (I suppose all original LTSC iso's would work)
NTLite: Version shown in .xml, always assume latest (beta)
Prepping original .iso:
1. Add -> Template -> .NET Framework 3.5 (Optional, but if you use apps that still require it..)
2. Integrate latest cumulative update for this Windows build. i.e. KB4530715, Integrate latest .NET3/4 cumulative update, latest servicing stack. Skip Adobe Flash Player, Skip Intel microcode updates? (Not sure on performance impact).
3. Create .iso and use created image to apply further tweaking i.e. apply NTLite.xml profile. Saves some time when problems occur, otherwise you'd have to do the updates reintegration process over and over again.
Apply customized profile:
1. Load clean extracted .iso and apply NTLite.xml profile.
2. Adjust to your own liking, but i won't give support if you REMOVE anything in 'components removal' that the profile doesn't remove. Same goes for unflagging compatibility.
3. Get hardware profile from your target computers and import them into the profile.
Then go to Compatibility -> Machine Support -> Select your hardware profiles. (If you don't do this one of your computers might miss essential drivers and profile might not work)
4. Unattended, Auto-fill and use built-in Administrator account and set password. Anything else is filled in pretty much as desired out of the box.
5. Registry files:
Look them up in attachment, the path will differ from when I used the the profile so you'll have to re-add them yourself.
PostRegistry folder is to apply AFTER installation (if desired).
6. (Automated) Post-setup
Lots of other things to disable Task scheduler tasks, unhide power plan settings, some network tweaks, bcdedit, auto apply registry keys that do not like to be integrated. MTU tweak might not be desired for you.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Some stuff to do after installation.
OldNewExplorer tool to fix explorer windows black outline not existing in 1809, see example.
The middle and top one are broken by default, there is no 1 pixel wide black line between the white titlebar and drop shadows.
StartIsBack to disable preloading of searchUI (and dependencies), remove search icon from taskbar, saves resources.
MSIUtil from Guru3D to enable Message Signalled Interrupts (MSI) on devices. Some older equipment can either BSOD or ignore it so be careful.
Post-setup reg files included in attachment (if desired)
Device manager
Sort by Connection (Show hidden) and disable any device (including hid/input etc) you don't require / configure them accordingly. (Write flush cache, networking, etc)
SetTimerResolutionService (Put timer on 1ms or lower) might actually be a necessity with useplatformtick yes (Or you could get rare stuttering in some cases).
Interrupt affinity Policy Tool to assign interrupts to specific cpu cores. Use LatencyMon to figure out which cores are most used, and then assign your GPU and USB controller to to lets say core1 and 2. Might have to test yourself.
MouseTester for polling stability.
LatencyMon to check your DPC on max core clock and tweaked system, I'm sitting around 2.5us average. with all relevant drivers installed.
NVSlimmer, TCPOptimizer are also useful tools.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Screenshots (Some results have been further enhanced after installation by various tweaks, interrupts assignment, etc.):
Low memory consumption and minimum idle activity.
MouseTester / CapFrameX.
Default vs tweaked.
Low DPC latency with further tweaked system, all drivers functional.
Control panel cleaned up.
Minimal services for general W7 era compatibility.
Additional power settings exposed.
Clean Event Viewer.
Device Management (After additional purging)
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
MS Store/Xbox integration possible, everything should work. Tested with a few games; Roblox, Candy Crush, Sea of Thieves, etc.
Use bulk-enable UWP/Store support registry, reboot, download the file and put in C:\ then extract and run script inside. Update store/xbox etc and revert UWP/Store support with bulk-disable registry if desired.
Add-MicrosoftStore-and-Xbox.zip
drive.google.com
Other services may be required depending on the specific app/game.
Required to manually install cumulative updates:
- Windows Update
- Update Orchestrator?
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Troubleshooting:
1. Ask away, anything in build could compromise certain computer configuration, since it is verified to work in VMWare it is most likely something hardware specific. Or maybe wrong iso image/ntlite version and/or premium limitation!
2. Test in a VM first (i.e. VMware). Make sure to select 'I will install an operating system later', otherwise the installation seems to use its own autoattend version. This can disguise problems which could popup on installation on a physical computer.
3. bcdedit, drivers, services or specific registry files could potentially break your specific setup or might not be optimal for your hardware, so target those first in case of problems. Also running old BIOS / CSM, lower than USB3 etc might not work out of the box.
4. I do not recommend using this profile on any other image or Windows 10 version, no support can be given.
5. Outbound connections are blocked in firewall by default.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Disclaimer:
No guarantees for this profile or any of its updates. Fixes/changes can still be integrated later if found. Some elements might be catered to my specific hardware or personal preference and might not be ideal for you.
Credits:
Thanks to NTLite and forum member CLANGER for additional sources of useful registry tweaks!
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