What options to disable?

B

bandrade

New Member
Hi all,

I'll try and keep this short and sweet.

I work in a school and want to use NTLite to create a super light Windows 11 image that will not only run better than a standard image, but also not contain anything unnecessary.

Basically, I only need a program installed, an admin account, a user account, and the ability to copy files in Explorer. Would be good to be able to remove Bluetooth and WiFi drivers, too, so I don't have to disable them in the BIOS.

I've been playing around with the various check boxes, disabling stuff, but I fear I might disable something crucial to the normal functioning of Windows.

What advanced options can I remove so that only the functioning requirements are left? The more options, the better, so that the final image is as light as possible.

Thanks in advance :)
 
I've seen this question countless times over the years, so I thought it might be worth trying to help bridge the gap between newbies and veterans on this topic, by attempting to explain where the mindsets are and why the answers veterans give may not be what people expected to hear.

DIFFICULTY LEVEL
We need to address the most overlooked aspect of computers, which is their complexity. In today's age, mastering computers is no less difficult than becoming a top professional athlete. It would be unrealistic to walk up to an athlete and say, "Make me like you, but in a week." Yet, that's exactly what many computer newbies do.

I understand part of the mentality, because it doesn't require a ton of computer knowledge and skill to be handed an already customized operating system. What often goes unacknowledged though, is that computers are not frozen in time, the same way that an athlete's opponents don't just stand around like a statue and do nothing.

Microsoft creates operating systems and then continually modifies them with patches and even new features, so the target is always moving while we are throwing darts at it. This makes tweaking turn into a professional-level endeavor, because not only do you have to understand what's going on under the hood, but the users must constantly monitor the movements too.

TWEAKING APPROACH
In the real world, the difficulties manifest as bugs, quirks, annoyances, and instability. Every operating system is unique, and even the versions and builds between the same operating system can be substantially different too. This means a tweak that works on one target may not work on another, or a problem that didn't exist for one target may exist elsewhere, etcetera.

If a computer user doesn't have the skills and knowledge to troubleshoot and work through these problems, they will be unsuccessful in their grandiose desires of having a super trimmed Windows, because the target keeps moving even when the tweaking stops. You can mitigate some of this by freezing your build in time, meaning you disable Windows Update, but you cannot tell third-party developers to stop coding, meaning software like games and browsers will eventually become broken for your build, and over time the number of issues you encounter will slowly grow.

The only real solution is to keep up with the times or continually make newer frozen builds, but these require learning the skills and knowledge necessary to be successful. Alternatively, a user can rely on someone else's work to get them as close to their goals as possible.

Every new user here can get most of their initial questions answered by reading the preset guide (link) and having more realistic expectations as they proceed. If a user has romanticized thoughts about an ultra-fast operating system, it would be prudent to expect an investment of at least 500 hours or more. That time can be reduced by utilizing another person's tweaks, but the point is that *someone* is putting in hundreds of hours. In conclusion, computers should be viewed as a hobby, sport, or employment, not an overnight project.
 
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This question is a bit unclear. Is your objective really to make it "lite" for better performance, or removing features because the PC has to be locked down for student use? For a student PC with a limited set of approved apps, you can afford to "break" more features and not worry about the consequences.
 
garlin said:
This question is a bit unclear. Is your objective really to make it "lite" for better performance, or removing features because the PC has to be locked down for student use? For a student PC with a limited set of approved apps, you can afford to "break" more features and not worry about the consequences.
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Thank you for this. It's a bit of both. I want the image to be both as light as possible for better performance (in theory), but also locked down.

I'm prioritising locking down more so than performance, but the two seem to go hand-in-hand with NTLite.
 
I would start by using NTLite's built-in Templates, under the Components toolbar. Try the Lite template, and if that breaks too many features for you, then fallback to the Gaming template.

Some components are protected by Compatibility mode. If you think a function isn't required, then uncheck that Compatibility box to allow those components to be freely removed. How far you can go depends on what your apps need in order to run (services).
 
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