Skip Keyboard layout after installation (Win 11) & reg issue?

N

neon_1337

New Member
Hi, I have one question and an issue I'm getting with one of my reg files.

To start off,

Is there an option within ntlite that would essentially remove this screen post-install?

1679099572613.png

Now, the reg issue..

I essentially added this reg file (see attached) that was supposed to set the visual effects to "Adjust for best performance" within Performance Options, to which it does exactly that, however it seems it's simply changing which setting is checked but it's not applying the actual setting. Even though the reg file states that the values were changed, I could not see any sort of visual changes which is safe to assume that the settings are not being applied.

I have attempted to restart the computer after completing the installation but still no luck. The reg file was placed in "machine" within post-setup in ntlite fyi.
 

Attachments

  • VisualFXSetting_Performance.reg
    160 bytes
Under Unattended, there are two separate sections for Language/Locale. The top set is for specifying your region in installed Windows, the bottom set is for WinPE's Setup screen.

Plain "English - en" isn't as specific as en-US or en-GB.

Capture.PNG

Your reg setting is HKCU, so it must be added in Post-Setup (User) -- which is the bottom half of the Post-Setup window. Post-Setup (Machine) commands run as the SYSTEM account, so you're updating the wrong Current User.
 
garlin said:
Under Unattended, there are two separate sections for Language/Locale. The top set is for specifying your region in installed Windows, the bottom set is for WinPE's Setup screen.

Plain "English - en" isn't as specific as en-US or en-GB.

View attachment 9506

Your reg setting is HKCU, so it must be added in Post-Setup (User) -- which is the bottom half of the Post-Setup window. Post-Setup (Machine) commands run as the SYSTEM account, so you're updating the wrong Current User.
Click to expand...

I've added the reg file to post-setup (user) and I did a fresh install, the settings still won't apply

1679112038476.png

As you can see, window shadows are still visible, the edges of texts are smooth still and so on...
 
When you use the UI, it changes more reg keys than just that ONE.
How to Change Visual Effects Settings in Windows 10

I suggest you use a tool like RegistryChangesView to capture a before/after comparison of the reg keys, when you use Performance Options.

It can dump a reg file containing only the changed keys. You will have to trim some of the background activity, unrelated to visual effects, but that's not too difficult to figure out.
 
I already spent many hours on this in the past for my own image, so I'll give you the reg file:

1) Integrate reg files into the image, don't do it post-install.

2) That key you have literally only changes the option that's selected, it actually has many companion keys that *must* go with it. The traditional way is not very clean or easy, and instead I'll show you the better way.

Download the .reg file I attached, then right-click and select "Edit" and look at the comments on the keys inside. Modify things as you see fit, it's pretty self explanatory. If for some reason this is not a solution you want, I can show you the reg file for the less optimal method, but those keys are much harder to understand and modify due to the mask involved and the interaction between some keys.

My reg file here is all setup so that what it does is it keeps the "Let Windows choose" option selected, and then simply changes the default option values so that what Windows "thinks is best for your computer" is the same thing as clicking "Best performance" while also having the "smooth fonts" option checked. This will all be reflected properly in the Windows interface too. The smooth fonts is needed on most computers to avoid fuzzy, unreadable text. If you don't want that though, just change the value to all zeros for that key in the reg file.
 

Attachments

  • VisualFX.reg
    9.8 KB
Hellbovine said:
I already spent many hours on this in the past for my own image, so I'll give you the reg file:

1) Integrate reg files into the image, don't do it post-install.

2) That key you have literally only changes the option that's selected, it actually has many companion keys that *must* go with it. The traditional way is not very clean or easy, and instead I'll show you the better way.

Download the .reg file I attached, then right-click and select "Edit" and look at the comments on the keys inside. Modify things as you see fit, it's pretty self explanatory. If for some reason this is not a solution you want, I can show you the reg file for the less optimal method, but those keys are much harder to understand and modify due to the mask involved and the interaction between some keys.

My reg file here is all setup so that what it does is it keeps the "Let Windows choose" option selected, and then simply changes the default option values so that what Windows "thinks is best for your computer" is the same thing as clicking "Best performance" while also having the "smooth fonts" option checked. This will all be reflected properly in the Windows interface too. The smooth fonts is needed on most computers to avoid fuzzy, unreadable text. If you don't want that though, just change the value to all zeros for that key in the reg file.
Click to expand...
Thanks. I did manage to get some of the settings to change but this also works.
 
Hellbovine said:
I already spent many hours on this in the past for my own image, so I'll give you the reg file:

1) Integrate reg files into the image, don't do it post-install.

2) That key you have literally only changes the option that's selected, it actually has many companion keys that *must* go with it. The traditional way is not very clean or easy, and instead I'll show you the better way.

Download the .reg file I attached, then right-click and select "Edit" and look at the comments on the keys inside. Modify things as you see fit, it's pretty self explanatory. If for some reason this is not a solution you want, I can show you the reg file for the less optimal method, but those keys are much harder to understand and modify due to the mask involved and the interaction between some keys.

My reg file here is all setup so that what it does is it keeps the "Let Windows choose" option selected, and then simply changes the default option values so that what Windows "thinks is best for your computer" is the same thing as clicking "Best performance" while also having the "smooth fonts" option checked. This will all be reflected properly in the Windows interface too. The smooth fonts is needed on most computers to avoid fuzzy, unreadable text. If you don't want that though, just change the value to all zeros for that key in the reg file.
Click to expand...
Hey, it's me again

just fyi from what I've tested everything seems to be working except for disabling font smoothing, the dword is being applied but there are no apparent effects. If i manually change between "Let Windows choose what's best for my computer" and any other option & back to the first one, font smoothing will be disabled, so it looks like windows isn't "Updating" the font smoothing based on the reg.
 
Hellbovine said:
I already spent many hours on this in the past for my own image, so I'll give you the reg file:

1) Integrate reg files into the image, don't do it post-install.

2) That key you have literally only changes the option that's selected, it actually has many companion keys that *must* go with it. The traditional way is not very clean or easy, and instead I'll show you the better way.

Download the .reg file I attached, then right-click and select "Edit" and look at the comments on the keys inside. Modify things as you see fit, it's pretty self explanatory. If for some reason this is not a solution you want, I can show you the reg file for the less optimal method, but those keys are much harder to understand and modify due to the mask involved and the interaction between some keys.

My reg file here is all setup so that what it does is it keeps the "Let Windows choose" option selected, and then simply changes the default option values so that what Windows "thinks is best for your computer" is the same thing as clicking "Best performance" while also having the "smooth fonts" option checked. This will all be reflected properly in the Windows interface too. The smooth fonts is needed on most computers to avoid fuzzy, unreadable text. If you don't want that though, just change the value to all zeros for that key in the reg file.
Click to expand...
nice man thanks
 
neon_1337 said:
...it looks like windows isn't "Updating" the font smoothing based on the reg.
Click to expand...
Is this a clean install with these new reg keys? If not, it could just be that all the previous tweaking is causing interference. I would create a new image, integrate these keys (not post-install), and make sure to delete all other related keys that you may be including, like you don't want to add your original VisualFXSetting registry key anymore, or any of the other FX stuff you were figuring out with a reg compare tool.

Another thing to consider, when you say it isn't updating, are you changing the reg keys at the desktop either by using Regedit or by installing a .reg file, then doing a reboot and when you get back to that settings page nothing changed? If that's the case, try turning off "Fast Startup" which is in the power options of the control panel, then try changing reg keys and rebooting to see if it updates now.
 
Hellbovine said:
Is this a clean install with these new reg keys? If not, it could just be that all the previous tweaking is causing interference. I would create a new image, integrate these keys (not post-install), and make sure to delete all other related keys that you may be including, like you don't want to add your original VisualFXSetting registry key anymore, or any of the other FX stuff you were figuring out with a reg compare tool.

Another thing to consider, when you say it isn't updating, are you changing the reg keys at the desktop either by using Regedit or by installing a .reg file, then doing a reboot and when you get back to that settings page nothing changed? If that's the case, try turning off "Fast Startup" which is in the power options of the control panel, then try changing reg keys and rebooting to see if it updates now.
Click to expand...

I've integrated the file & tested with a clean install + a restart to make sure your reg would take effect. I didn't include my regs while I was testing yours. I worked around this disabling font smoothing in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop with an extra reg file as disabling font smoothing wasn't working.

If I were to quickly change between another option in the Visual Effects tab and "Let windows choose what's best for my computer" font smoothing would be disabled as the default setting was changed by your reg. It's just not working out of the box so to speak, even with a restart.
 
I got on my computer to try to replicate some of this, and on W10 21H2, if I change any of these reg keys and then reboot, they all automatically update appropriately in the "Let Windows choose" list. For example, I tried changing my font smoothing key to 0 and it was "unchecked" after a reboot, and then I changed the key back to 1 and after another reboot it was "checked" again. So I can't replicate what you've seen there.

I can try integrating the keys with smoothing set to 0 and see what happens with that method, but I can't test that until tomorrow or later, because I can't reinstall right now since I have some active projects going.

The thing I'm most curious about though, is that you can use the computer without font smoothing, the weird text doesn't bother you? Do you use a custom DPI or something else that mitigates it?
 
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Those tutorials are all for the current_user keys which are substantially different in functionality because some modify the shell state, while others modify a mask and have many keys grouped together in it, while other keys are individuals.

What I'm doing with my files is changing the hardcoded defaults of the operating system, which says "hey when you go to setup Windows, these are the values to use" and those are all on/off 1's and 0's.
 
Hellbovine said:
I got on my computer to try to replicate some of this, and on W10 21H2, if I change any of these reg keys and then reboot, they all automatically update appropriately in the "Let Windows choose" list. For example, I tried changing my font smoothing key to 0 and it was "unchecked" after a reboot, and then I changed the key back to 1 and after another reboot it was "checked" again. So I can't replicate what you've seen there.

I can try integrating the keys with smoothing set to 0 and see what happens with that method, but I can't test that until tomorrow or later, because I can't reinstall right now since I have some active projects going.

The thing I'm most curious about though, is that you can use the computer without font smoothing, the weird text doesn't bother you? Do you use a custom DPI or something else that mitigates it?
Click to expand...
You eventually get used with font smoothing disabled. I could record a video of the whole process but I'm essentially just Integrating your reg file with ntlite>Installing Windows 11>restarting the pc after logging into desktop
 
Okay, finished testing and figured it out. The problem was that out of all these visual FX settings, the font smoothing in particular was the only one that has an extra registry key that tells the OS to *not* apply the default value. I just had to add one more key into the file to address it (NoApplyDefault).

Attached is a finished reg file specifically customized to your needs, it turns off *all* visual effects, including font smoothing, for all users. This will keep the "Let Windows choose" button selected, while also unchecking all checkboxes from its list, and *actually* turns font smoothing off too, it isn't just cosmetic. I tested it by taking a clean ISO, integrating this file, installing in a non-VM, and it worked out of the box properly.
 

Attachments

  • VISUALFX_OFF.reg
    4.9 KB
Hellbovine said:
Okay, finished testing and figured it out. The problem was that out of all these visual FX settings, the font smoothing in particular was the only one that has an extra registry key that tells the OS to *not* apply the default value. I just had to add one more key into the file to address it (NoApplyDefault).

Attached is a finished reg file specifically customized to your needs, it turns off *all* visual effects, including font smoothing, for all users. This will keep the "Let Windows choose" button selected, while also unchecking all checkboxes from its list, and *actually* turns font smoothing off too, it isn't just cosmetic. I tested it by taking a clean ISO, integrating this file, installing in a non-VM, and it worked out of the box properly.
Click to expand...
awesome! i want to tweak you registry file, what do i have to modify to enable font smoothing?

edit: is this reg file compatible for WINDOWS 10 21H2 setup?
 
fernsx said:
awesome! i want to tweak you registry file, what do i have to modify to enable font smoothing?

edit: is this reg file compatible for WINDOWS 10 21H2 setup?
Click to expand...
Yes, works on W10 and W11. Sorry for the delay, had an internet outage that finally got resolved. Looks like you got it figured out though in your other thread now.
 
Hellbovine said:
Yes, works on W10 and W11. Sorry for the delay, had an internet outage that finally got resolved. Looks like you got it figured out though in your other thread now.
Click to expand...
no problem! your reg, file worked great, just edited the options i wanted enabled. set the font smoothing value to 1 and removed the noapplydefault entry. Now i finally got my custom image done. Thank you!
 
Re: noapplydefault

With smooth font enabled it may still work properly to keep the noapplydefault key in the file, however Microsoft likely implemented that key for a good reason (unless it's just a remnant they forgot to remove) so I'd err on the side of caution and take noapplydefault out of the file when font smoothing is enabled, and add the key back into the file back when font smoothing is disabled.

I'm just saying this for the lurkers reading this thread, since fernsx already did this.
 
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