Remove Internet Explorer without breaking the MMC Extended View

[AeonX]

In that case I'll stick to the versions I've been using even if by removing some of its apps and components I may have problems.

Then tweak and apply group policies if you want a minimum of stability otherwise have fun with the trial and error game that is removing Windows components and trying to install updates that were created considering that the Windows image is untouched.

Removals and updates are not a very quiet couple

 

[Clanger]

Removals and updates are not a very quiet couple

Depends. If you are building an image for an air gapped workstation that will last you 6 months to a year you will be ok. If you update every month then the fun and games will start.

 

[Windows 10 User]

Then tweak and apply group policies if you want a minimum of stability otherwise have fun with the trial and error game that is removing Windows components and trying to install updates that were created considering that the Windows image is untouched.

Removals and updates are not a very quiet couple

Just to be sure, which Internet Explorer should I uncheck after adding the .reg file, Internet Explorer - 32 bits, Internet Explorer from the Components tab or even both since I don't want Explorer to run every folder in a new window but want the maximum amount of files/folders related to Internet Explorer removed? And should I uncheck Browser.InternetExplorer from Features On Demand (Capabilities) and Internet Explorer 11 too from the Features tab or even only the first, the second or both among these 4? If I uncheck the first, the second or even both the third (the one from Features On Demand (Capabilities) is still checked unlike the fourth (Internet Explorer 11). Is it normal? The same thing happens for Windows Media Player which I unchecked from the Components tab but still shows up as checked on the Features tab.

If I remove Tablet PC, InputApp or both on 1903 will I be able to run Office OneNote?

EDIT: May I have problems if I disable the Reserved Storage setting even if I have a lot (this might be subjective) of HDD space? And what if I disable the Geolocation service and the Beep extra service? NTLite seems to have a bug for some time every time I click on a service on the Services and Extra Services tab which has a square left of Manual, Automatic and Disabled instead of the coloured circle (which may be red, green or blue) which makes the mentioned coloured circle to show up. It looks like the process doesn't remove Internet Explorer - 32 bits (it seems it's skipped). WU installed an update for my Touchpad and now it doesn't work! What's the difference between Chromium and Google Chrome?

EDIT 2: What is this UI.Xaml.2.0 app that mustn't be removed if I want to keep the Calculator app? Since I already have a setupcomplete.cmd how can I combine it with the one which removes Internet Explorer? What happens if I only uncheck Browser.InternetExplorer from Features On Demand (Capabilities), don't remove Internet Explorer - 32 bits and Internet Explorer from the Components tab and don't uncheck Internet Explorer 11 from the Features tab?

EDIT 3: Weird, I just did a 1903 x64 clean install on a VM and when typing something's name on the Start Menu nothing shows up (although if I click on "Enter" it runs whatever I typed if it exists, obviously) and when I run Windows Sandbox it states "No hypervisor was found. Please enable hypervisor support” (this last problem might happen because it's being executed on a VM).

 

[AeonX]

Depends. If you are building an image for an air gapped workstation that will last you 6 months to a year you will be ok. If you update every month then the fun and games will start.

The problem is that most Windows components are often being updated and looking at the NTLite changelog it is noticed that you constantly have issues with Cumulative Updates and NTLite needs to fix. I believe that only those components that are not updated frequently are safe to remove if you intend to use Windows Update but until fonts are updated from time to time then the number of things you can safely remove is really limited.

I think if you want to remove as many things as you can safely remove Windows Update and Component Store (WinSxS).

If you want to use Windows Store and Metro Apps have to keep Windows Update so if you want to stay totally safe better disable it. If you want to use Windows Update better use Dism to clean the update backups instead of the NTLite cleanup and remove as few things as possible. Remote Desktop and Hyper-V for example are often updated. BitLocker and TPM are other problematic components. But that's not right I just gave some examples, each one has to test for the best result.

 

[Clanger]

Id use my lite preset and rip out winsxs. disable tasks and services. Not a lot of work and acceptable results.

 

[AeonX]

Id use my lite preset and rip out winsxs. disable tasks and services. Not a lot of work and acceptable results.

Removing winsxs makes things much easier but many people will not tolerate this and want the features of Windows 10 so they will have a lot more work to figure out what to keep so they do not have problems.

 

[Clanger]

Ive used untouched iso, installed then updated, no tweaks and the size is 15gb, pagefile and hibbernation account for a large chunk of that. Just cleaning and tweaking, along with some simple trickery brings that down to 6.9gb and thats before liting. Features will be set in stone soi dont care about winsxs.

 

[Windows 10 User]

The problem is that most Windows components are often being updated and looking at the NTLite changelog it is noticed that you constantly have issues with Cumulative Updates and NTLite needs to fix. I believe that only those components that are not updated frequently are safe to remove if you intend to use Windows Update but until fonts are updated from time to time then the number of things you can safely remove is really limited.

I think if you want to remove as many things as you can safely remove Windows Update and Component Store (WinSxS).

If you want to use Windows Store and Metro Apps have to keep Windows Update so if you want to stay totally safe better disable it. If you want to use Windows Update better use Dism to clean the update backups instead of the NTLite cleanup and remove as few things as possible. Remote Desktop and Hyper-V for example are often updated. BitLocker and TPM are other problematic components. But that's not right I just gave some examples, each one has to test for the best result.

Where can I find the NTLite cleanup? Maybe I'm using it without knowing.

 

[AeonX]

Just to be sure, which Internet Explorer should I uncheck after adding the .reg file, Internet Explorer - 32 bits, Internet Explorer from the Components tab or even both since I don't want Explorer to open every folder in a new window but want the maximum amount of files/folders related to Internet Explorer removed? And should I uncheck Browser.InternetExplorer from Features On Demand (Capabilities) and Internet Explorer 11 too from the Features tab or even only the first, the second or both among these 4? If I uncheck the first, the second or even both the third (the one from Features On Demand (Capabilities) is still checked unlike the fourth (Internet Explorer 11). Is it normal? The same thing happens for Windows Media Player which I unchecked from the Components tab but still shows up as checked on the Features tab.

Uncheck the 2 (Internet Explorer and Internet Explorer - 32 bit) to remove IE entirely. This problem of opening each folder in a new window has apparently been resolved in the latest versions of NTLite. I do not have this problem. About Features On Demand I'm not familiar yet and I can not help.

If I remove Tablet PC, InputApp or both on 1903 will I be able to run Office OneNote? Also, I have Office 365 ProPlus and it doesn't automatically update to the latest version and it has a Office Professional Plus 2016 license. Is it normal?

On this I do not know why I do not use either Office OneNote or Office 365 ProPlus (I use Office 2016) but I recommend keeping InputApp if you plan to use Metro Apps as it might be necessary for some Apps. Tablet PC is important for some devices and certain notebook models with touchscreen features so I keep this component for compatibility reasons.

May I have problems if I disable the Reserved Storage setting even if I have a lot (this might be subjective) of HDD space? And what if I disable the Geolocation service and the Beep extra service?

I believe there are no issues with disabling Reserved Storage. Best not to disable the beep service and the Geolocation service if this is a manual service leave as is that it will only start when needed.

What's the difference between Chromium and Google Chrome?

See here and here.

What is this UI.Xaml.2.0 app that mustn't be removed if I want to keep the Calculator app?

I do not know but if I am not mistaken this is necessary for Windows Mail as well.

EDIT 3: Weird, I just did a 1903 x64 clean install on a VM and when typing something's name on the Start Menu nothing shows up (although if I click on "Enter" it opens whatever I typed if it exists, obviously) and when I open Sandbox it states "No hypervisor was found. Please enable hypervisor support” (this last problem might happen because it's a VM).

I can not help because I have not tested 1903 yet. I think it's still very buggy. I did not have this problem with Search in 1809.
On Sandbox the problem may be because you are already in a virtualized environment (inside a VM).

 

[Clanger]

I have not tested 1903 yet. I think it's still very buggy.

I will only be touching ltsb/c variants while ms is on its current path.

 

[AeonX]

Features will be set in stone soi dont care about winsxs.

But removing winsxs forces you to remove several features (Windows Update and Store for example). I meant it.

 

[AeonX]

Where can I find the NTLite cleanup? Maybe I'm using it without knowing.

In the part of integrating updates. In the option cleanup update backup anything you choose other than Dism option will be a cleanup done by NTLite engine and will be a premium feature.

 

[AeonX]

I will only be touching ltsb/c variants while ms is on its current path.

Me too LTSC is like 7/8.1 I prefer this approach.
See Ubuntu where LTS versions are the only ones trusted.
Windows 10 is copying Ubuntu approach.

 

[Clanger]

I will expand the preset at some point, ive gone for the quickest easiest way so i can get on and get stuff done.
Happy with Debian and can quickly setup an ltsc install for windows specific stuff on the test bench, there will be nothing of any real value when it phones home, thats the beauty of an air gapped ltsc, telemetry isnt an issue.

 

[Windows 10 User]

Uncheck the 2 (Internet Explorer and Internet Explorer - 32 bit) to remove IE entirely. This problem of opening each folder in a new window has apparently been resolved in the latest versions of NTLite. I do not have this problem. About Features On Demand I'm not familiar yet and I can not help.



On this I do not know why I do not use either Office OneNote or Office 365 ProPlus (I use Office 2016) but I recommend keeping InputApp if you plan to use Metro Apps as it might be necessary for some Apps. Tablet PC is important for some devices and certain notebook models with touchscreen features so I keep this component for compatibility reasons.



I believe there are no issues with disabling Reserved Storage. Best not to disable the beep service and the Geolocation service if this is a manual service leave as is that it will only start when needed.



See here and here.



I do not know but if I am not mistaken this is necessary for Windows Mail as well.



I can not help because I have not tested 1903 yet. I think it's still very buggy. I did not have this problem with Search in 1809.
On Sandbox the problem may be because you are already in a virtualized environment (inside a VM).

Well, even on 1809 WU broke my Touchpad.

If I disable the Geolocation service and the Beep extra service may I have problems?

NTLite seems to have a bug for some time. Every time I click on a service on the Services and Extra Services tab which has a square left of Manual, Automatic and Disabled instead of the coloured circle (which may be red, green or blue) which makes the mentioned coloured circle to show up.

Since I already have a setupcomplete.cmd (Windows 10 pre-activation) how can I combine it with the one created after integrating the .reg file I created based on this post which fixes the MMC Extended View after removing Internet Explorer?

How can I disable the Search Box on NTLite?

So, WU might reinstall removed components when installing CUs?

I know this doesn't have to do with NTLite but I'm using YUMI for multiboot USB and it only works for my PC. Does it have to be with MBR/GPT, BIOS/UEFI or FAT32/NTFS (I think I can only choose between the latter)? I've noticed Rufus creates two partitions if I choose one of them but I don't know if that makes it more compatible. Also, I can't multiboot the Windows 10 installer and Win10PE SE on YUMI without having problems.

 

[AeonX]

Well, even on 1809 WU broke my Touchpad.

But the problem with WU was with a driver for a specific device. It has no relation to component removal or system stability. If you disable the drivers update you are free of this problem (this is what I do, I'd rather install the driver from the manufacturer).

If I disable the Geolocation service and the Beep extra service may I have problems?

I do not know if you can disable the Geolocation service may be that some component of the system use this. The correct way would be to remove the components that use this service before deactivating or to use a group policy to deactivate Geolocation or some tweak for it (I do not know if it is possible). Can not you remove this with NTLite? about Beep service because you want to disable it? Some old programs or some scripts may use system beep and this is also used when an audio driver is not installed. This should not consume too much system resources. But if you really want to turn this off I believe it will not cause any problems.

NTLite seems to have a bug for some time every time I click on a service on the Services and Extra Services tab which has a square left of Manual, Automatic and Disabled instead of the coloured circle (which may be red, green or blue) which makes the mentioned coloured circle to show up.

I do not remember NTLite having this colorful circle. I just remember having circles in the presets.

Since I already have a setupcomplete.cmd (Windows 10 pre-activation) how can I combine it with the one created after integrating the .reg file I created based on this post which fixes the MMC Extended View after removing Internet Explorer?

The .reg is added to the registry instantly before saving the image with NTLite. You do not need setupcomplete.cmd for this.

How can I disable the Search Box on NTLite?

That's not possible.

So, WU might reinstall removed components when installing CUs?

Until that time yes, if you are in 1903. This does not happen in 1809 and earlier.

I know this doesn't have to do with NTLite but I'm using YUMI for multiboot USB and it only works for my PC. Does it have to be with MBR/GPT, BIOS/UEFI or FAT32/NTFS (I think I can only choose between the latter)? I've noticed Rufus creates two partitions if I choose one of them but I don't know if that makes it more compatible. Also, I can't multiboot the Windows 10 installer and Win10PE SE on YUMI without having problems.

It depends on whether the PCs you are testing are UEFI or BIOS and whether you have created USB bootable for UEFI or for BIOS. The version of YUMI for UEFI had some bugs I do not know how it is nowadays. To run anything based on Windows either FAT32 or NTFS. For things based on MS-DOS or Linux better use FAT32. I've never been able to put more than one version of Windows running with YUMI. As Win10PE SE in a certain way is also Windows can also be this.

 

[Windows 10 User]

But the problem with WU was with a driver for a specific device. It has no relation to component removal or system stability. If you disable the drivers update you are free of this problem (this is what I do, I'd rather install the driver from the manufacturer).

But the installed version is the same as the one I had before and I didn't have any problem (I don't remember why I uninstalled it in the first place). I can't find the driver on the manufacturer's site.

I do not know if you can disable the Geolocation service may be that some component of the system use this. The correct way would be to remove the components that use this service before deactivating or to use a group policy to deactivate Geolocation or some tweak for it (I do not know if it is possible). Can not you remove this with NTLite? about Beep service because you want to disable it? Some old programs or some scripts may use system beep and this is also used when an audio driver is not installed. This should not consume too much system resources. But if you really want to turn this off I believe it will not cause any problems.

No, I don't have a paid license (which I suppose allows an user to remove the components). What does this Beep extra sound do?

The .reg is added to the registry instantly before saving the image with NTLite. You do not need setupcomplete.cmd for this.

But post-setup creates this setupcomplete.cmd inside the $OEM$ folder which links to the .reg file (I already ran the .cmd) but can I delete it and it will work anyway (I doubt it)?

It depends on whether the PCs you are testing are UEFI or BIOS and whether you have created USB bootable for UEFI or for BIOS. The version of YUMI for UEFI had some bugs I do not know how it is nowadays. To run anything based on Windows either FAT32 or NTFS. For things based on MS-DOS or Linux better use FAT32. I've never been able to put more than one version of Windows running with YUMI. As Win10PE SE in a certain way is also Windows can also be this.

This is a little complicated for me but does this mean it's not possible?

Like I've told before after removing Content Delivery Manager on 1809 I'm directly taken on the OOBE to the Local Account part where I have to choose a name for it (instead of being taken to this part) when I might not always want to create a Local Account but use an already created Microsoft Account. I don't have an AutoUnnatend.xml file and this happens regardless if I'm connected to the Internet or not. Do you think this might happen on 19H1?

EDIT: The Dism /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase cmdlet doesn't work. It states "The cleanup-image option is unknown. For more information, refer to the help by running DISM.exe /?.". Do you mean the Dism.exe /online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup cmdlet instead? I just noticed the Advanced Startup feature doesn't show up below the Reset this PC one!

 

[AeonX]

No, I don't have a license (which I suppose allows an user to renove it). What does this Beep extra sound do?

I did not remember if this was a premium feature (not even if it was possible to remove it). So I believe you have no problem turning it off but maybe you get errors in Event Viewer when something needs this service. I do not know for sure but I think the beep service uses the PC speaker to make sounds.

But post-setup creates this setupcomplete.cmd inside the $OEM$ folder which links to the .reg file (I've already opened the .cmd) but can I delete it and it will work anyway (I doubt it)?

Strange to me it never happened. do you copy the $OEM$ folder to sources before loading the image with NTLite? Copy only later.

This is a little complicated for me but does this mean it's not possible?

Try another program. I got it with WinSetupFromUSB even WinXP can install with it

 

[Windows 10 User]

Until that time yes, if you are in 1903. This does not happen in 1809 and earlier.

But do you know if that problem only happens if a CU wasn't integrated (like using the 18362.1 Build with no integrated updates), if a previous CU was integrated (like using the 18362.1 Build with the KB4505057 CU integrated [to update to the 18362.116 Build]) or on both situations so it doesn't matter?

Uncheck the 2 (Internet Explorer and Internet Explorer - 32 bit) to remove IE entirely. This problem of opening each folder in a new window has apparently been resolved in the latest versions of NTLite. I do not have this problem. About Features On Demand I'm not familiar yet and I can not help.

Ok, but how can I combine the setupcomplete.cmd NTLite creates by adding a created .reg based on your post on the post-setup tab with my setupcomplete.cmd? I can't post my setupcomplete.cmd's content since it's too big and this forum doesn't allow it.

I did not remember if this was a premium feature (not even if it was possible to remove it). So I believe you have no problem turning it off but maybe you get errors in Event Viewer when something needs this service. I do not know for sure but I think the beep service uses the PC speaker to make sounds.



Strange to me it never happened. do you copy the $OEM$ folder to sources before loading the image with NTLite? Copy only later.



Try another program. I got it with WinSetupFromUSB even WinXP can install with it

Maybe I turned them off already but I think there's a Geolocation component which can only be removed but those who have a paid license. What if I have errors on Event Viewer? May I have problems?

No, afterwards, and when I copy the $OEM$ folder (the pre-activation one) back to the new ISO's source folder it asks me to replace its content.

Does it support Win10PE SE?

EDIT: So, I tried the Dism /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase cmdlet instead of the Dism /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase one and it worked.

EDIT 2: I always disable Hyper-V checkpoints (it looks like there are two kinds) because after deleting a VM I have to wait until I'm able to delete the .vhdx file (and the .avhdx file). However, if I disable the "Use automatic checkpoint" setting I suppose I won't have this problem.

EDIT 3: I still have the OOBE problem after removing Content Delivery Manager.

 

[SM03]

Hi, till now, I didn't remove the IE from Win10 ISO via NTL, as I do not use it (actually never used it) so now on, lately, was thinking to rip that off from the base W10 20H1 base image (19041.1) but since I haven't done that before so just was searching throughout this (NTL) forum & found many OP(s) regarding some issue after removing the IE from W10 ISO.

Also, found a thread where nuhi confirmed that it's already been taken care of here in this post since v7596

So, before I proceed with the latest NTL v2.1.0.7760 a'with W10 20H1 base image (19041.1) to remove IE, just wanna confirm by asking here, what should I actually remove?

Should I just remove (uncheck) this 'Internet Explorer 11' option located under the 'Configure/Features/FOD' in NTLite?



That will do the job? Or I've to remove these 'Internet Explorer JScript' & 'Internet Explorer JScript-32 bit' components as well from 'Components/Network'?



Considering there are many dependencies listed here in NTL for these two components i.e. MSOffice, MSStore, VisualStudio, NVidiaDriverSetup etc, I just wanna take precautions before proceeding.

Tagging nuhi & some active members I know here Clanger Windows 10 User AeonX Kasual

Hope, someone experienced, who've already tried removing these & IE, would help me out, thanks.