Create Custom or Lite Version of Windows 11

The full version of Windows 11 build in the form of ISO image actually can be copied to another new image with some customizations.
Say we are going to install Windows 11 on an old PC without TPM and SecureBoot, even worse doesn't have SSD and GPT/UEFI,
or for some people that don't really need the "full perfect" package that MS delivered, we can add and/or remove many components
from the full version build to just like what we exactly need.

First of all, get the newest full version ISO if you don't already have one:

0. UUPDump

One of the most popular software to edit the operating system ISO is NTLite. This tool have the easy-to-use GUI interface even for the
beginner. But be careful when removing the components, and make sure that you only remove what is not needed. I tried with deleting
all the Modern Apps, Hyper-V, WSL, and Microsoft Edge. Then add Mozilla Firefox, Classic Paint and Classic Calculator.

We can also add some new themes to replace the original Windows 11 themes, but make sure to install the new theme engine. When
it's Windows 10, UltraUXTheme is the most popular theme engine, but I had check that it's not working for Windows 11, so we can
use SecureUXTheme. The old themes from Windows 10 still can be used in Windows 11. Just make sure it's for the latest build of Windows 10.
Niivu from Deviant Art created so many excellent themes.

Check and re-check after finish adding and removing components, before compile the ISO to the new lighter image.
Why there's no detailed step-by-step instructions? Because I know most people here are more clever than me.

Here are the links for the softwares:

1. NTLite
2. Mozilla Firefox
3. Classic Paint
4. Classic Calculator
5. SecureUXTheme
6. Windows Themes

After carefully add and remove components, I have the new ISO that's only 1,9GB, added some registry tweaks including the tweaks for bypassing SecureBoot
and TPM requirements, also replace the Windows 11 explorer.exe with the one from Windows 11. Use Rufus to make a bootable USB drive for a clean install,
or you can directly install Windows 11 to a USB drive using WinToUSB.

7. Rufus
8. WinToUSB

That's all.
DON"T ever try to download some already made lite version of Windows (any build), because there's no trusted and official release for these custom versions.
I've checked some already made ISO, they mostly removed Windows Defender and included some suspicious new files inside.
So, it will be much better if you make it by yourself, make it and use it safely for your own need.

Go! Dig!

What is the point of doing a lite version?

They do not improve performance and on most modern drives, the amount of space saving is insignificant.

Forums are littered with tales of woe where somebody removed e.g. Cortana or Defender and then found they could not reinstate them when needed, or they could not get updates etc.

People often hack windows following dodgy guides on web WHICH never mention the most crucial advice "MAKE AN IMAGE BACKUP FIRST".

I dispute claims that Lite versions perform better. It just means user has not properly optimised installation e.g. turn off various privacy options, stop background apps running etc.

My laptop (new and old) both idle at around 1% CPU, with barely any disk/network access in normal operation.I tried a lite version and it made no detectable difference as I expected.

Of course, some people have an obsession with getting rid of stuff they do not use, so I guess there will always be a market for lite versions, but do not kid yourself it has an operational benefit, except perhaps on low end machines with limited disk space.

cereberus said:

What is the point of doing a lite version?

They do not improve performance and on most modern drives, the amount of space saving is insignificant.

Forums are littered with tales of woe where somebody removed e.g. Cortana or Defender and then found they could not reinstate them when needed, or they could not get updates etc.

People often hack windows following dodgy guides on web WHICH never mention the most crucial advice "MAKE AN IMAGE BACKUP FIRST".

I dispute claims that Lite versions perform better. It just means user has not properly optimised installation e.g. turn off various privacy options, stop background apps running etc.

My laptop (new and old) both idle at around 1% CPU, with barely any disk/network access in normal operation.I tried a lite version and it made no detectable difference as I expected.

Of course, some people have an obsession with getting rid of stuff they do not use, so I guess there will always be a market for lite versions, but do not kid yourself it has an operational benefit, except perhaps on low end machines with limited disk space.

Click to expand...

100% agree with comments expressed.
Things like nLite etc were perhaps fine during XP days when drives were quite small and horribly slow IDE spinners.

These days a standard W11 / W10 install even with Office installed and a few apps like photoshop rarely takes more than 40 GB - if that -- absolutely no point in messing around with this stuff to save a few GB = and as there's no moving parts on an SSD / NVMe I'm at a loss to see how you could gain any performance improvement whatsoever. Data access on these devices take the same time wherever data is located on the drive -- not like having to move a physical head and set cylinder / cluster commands.

Cheers
jimbo

I tried to go this way, but you would not believe dependencies there are, like removing Edge might prevent you from playing some games, even simply disabling something might break apps, let alone removing it and the only way to get it back is reinstall. I used to install Windows like twice a day. It is a great hobby, if you have plenty of time, I prefer install and forget, so post-installation setup.

This is mine lite OS. 70 processes, 1000 threads, 25000 handles and zero CPU/Disk/Network activity.

TairikuOkami said:

I tried to go this way, but you would not believe dependencies there are, like removing Edge might prevent you from playing some games, even simply disabling something might break apps, let alone removing it and the only way to get it back is reinstall. I used to install Windows like twice a day. It is a great hobby, if you have plenty of time, I prefer install and forget, so post-installation setup.

This is mine lite OS. 70 processes, 1000 threads, 25000 handles and zero CPU/Disk/Network activity.

View attachment 7788

Click to expand...

Lol, I have 3.5x the amount of processes, 3.3x the amount Threads and 105000 more Handles going on on my laptop currently.

Great job there!

another tool like ntlite ?

Can with nlite we do a custom windows iso file with more than one win10 and win11 versions?
For example to one and only iso file i have in it win10 pro, win10 home, win11 pro, win11 home.

Can you please tell me what parameters i must choose so i make the latest win11 iso i download from ms site doesn't have.

01. The tpm protection and i can install it even at very old pc's without this.
02. I can install it even at old pc without uefi bios
03. When i make a clean install install ALL the win11 into one and only partition and not to two or three partitions.
04. If i can disable the automatic updates.

Now i am at an old pc with win7sp1 and i want to custom the win11 iso file from this system.
Can i do that with the ntlite program?