So, I got obsessed with achieving the perfect clean install and it took me a week and many many attempts. Feel free to comment what can be improved.

TairikuOkami said:

Latest Windows (24H2) does not install drivers for me, like outdated AMD, they are listed as Optional.


I can relate, I used nlite, vlite in the past and I used to install Windows twice a week. It took many hours to setup everything the way I wanted, so I use scripts to do everything for me. MS sure helped with winget, installing apps just got easier.


I basically do this: Disable Defender, Setup 1/2, Tweaks, Cleanup. It takes like 1 hour overall.

GitHub - TairikuOokami/Windows: Windows

Windows. Contribute to TairikuOokami/Windows development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com

Click to expand...

Ok, dude, my brain is melting.
I can't do that right now. I cant even start fathoming how much work it took to get to those bats, I can't understand 1/10 of what's there inside and I won't use something that I don't understand.
But I will, eventually, when my ADHS sleeps, give it a try, and again, until I learn something new.
But I can already see that it's a huge Pandora Box there waiting for me.
Cheers :)

Ghot said:

Most of us disconnect the internet during a Windows install, for exactly the reason you just mentioned.

...

When a time comes that I "must" install Windows... I do it like this....

Click to expand...

Me too, but as soon as I connect to use LG Update for the drivers that I don't have offline, this potato WU gets me every time, or it did until I developed this method.
But you gave me another input with the export driver thing.
I had tried the export driver function in SDIO but it didn't work for me. I must say though that I only tried with the drivers offered by SDIO and when I say "it didn't work" i mean that it took more time extracting than downloading the whole drivers package which contained that driver. So I downloaded and installed offline from there.
But it didn't occur to me that I could extract the drivers of the things that I usually gets with LG Update! If this works it would definitely be a keeper for my next clean install, ALL DRIVERS OFFLINE, no LG Update.

For GHOST or other backup methods, step by step, I received so much input today, for now it's easier for me to do a clean install than to learn how to do backups properly. After all I just have to let the install start, and in the while I do other things and I come back when it's time to tweak things.
What I absolutely want to check is this RUFUS and eventually the answer files, because the MAJOR pain in the ass for me in a clean install or reset is having to go through all those gpedit options again, and all the other tweaks.
Even when I embrace all the masochistic potential in me, it's still not something I want to do again anytime soon.

DesignHeaad9206 said:

I've always been curious about backups.
I had tbh only bad experience with Windows System Restore. So I simply resigned myself to not do backups and resort to clean a reset or in the worst case scenario a clean install if there are issues, which btw happens very rarely to me.
After all I have all my important stuff saved in an external drive in case the internal dies, and the internal is partitioned in OS and DATA, and all folders like Documents and Downloads, Music, Pictures etc, they are in DATA. And I have Firefox constantly syncing my bookmarks just in case. It saved me in a few occasions.
So when I reset or clean install I only lose the OS, and time.

Click to expand...

A Windows backup drive is just a NTFS drive with files and folders like any other drive. It can be an internal SATA drive or an external USB drive.
The difference is how data is collected and saved to the drive and it depends on the program you are using.

There are programs that just synchronize source (on the computer) and target (backup drive). I use this method to backup my data every week. I can see my data on the backup with explorer. No encryption or special programs. I use Vice-Versa Pro to do it.

There are programs that creates a compressed drive images. The backup has a huge single file (encrypted or not) that can only be open and / or retrieved with the same program that has created it. I use Macrium Reflect to do it.

Megahertz said:

A Windows backup drive is just a NTFS drive with files and folders like any other drive. It can be an internal SATA drive or an external USB drive.

Click to expand...

That's what I always thought.
But the way TechnoMage talked of Ghost (btw I got confused and I quoted Ghot instead of TechnoMage, I'll have to edit) seemed like it does a complete clone/image of the hard drive, including OS, system files, drivers, everything, so that he can anytime restore it, a bit like Windows System Restore but better.
And he called it backup. So I g(h)o(s)t confused.

Most of us here are not computer experts but are "computer enthusiasts" and we are as varied in our methods and opinions of how we want our own systems to be as we are in number. What's more, we could all write our own dissertation of our process to achieve our wanted results.

But the majority of users who come here are newbies so I try to take that into consideration in any comment I make. Comments made in an open forum can have far-reaching effect, so I feel a personal obligation for any opinion I give...including this one.

It is an extreme injustice to inexperienced users when one advocates AND PUSHES any major butchering of to the OS as results can vary by user. That includes disabling AV, turning off windows update, use of old outdated applications, mass disabling of services, using non-standard versions of Windows, etc, etc, etc.

Most regulars here have enough experience to dig ourselves out of a hole of our own making while others do not. So I think about those readers and any ill effect something I say here might cause them. I know I have been incorrect many times in the advice I have given here.
But there's being wrong, and then there's intentional bad advice that newbies might take as gospel.

It's your computer, your choice. Go ahead and do your thing if you are OCD or paranoid about big, bad MS. But what is right for one is not right for the next guy.

I hope anyone reading this will consider that along with your own experience in dealing with problems before you follow what this OP does (and a few others) like the pied piper. Remember that pied piper made his flute sound so pleasing it led those rats right to their own doom.

DesignHeaad9206 said:

But the way TechnoMage talked of Ghost (btw I got confused and I quoted Ghot instead of TechnoMage, I'll have to edit) seemed like it does a complete clone/image of the hard drive, including OS, system files, drivers, everything, so that he can anytime restore it, a bit like Windows System Restore but better.

Click to expand...

There are lots of options for making a system image of your Windows that could be restored later (should your hard drive fail, for example). Ghost is a particular favourite of TechnoMage, but not many others would use it.

There are many other more 'mainstream' alternatives, Macrium Reflect is the one I use. Until recently there was a Reflect Free version, but that has now been retired (if you have it then it still works, and you can still find downloads for it). A free one that seems to be gaining popularity is Hasleo. Whatever you choose, making a regular system image backup is an 'insurance policy' that is highly recommended, it can get you out of all sorts of trouble.

So what did you achieve with all that unecessaey faffing around - a miniscule performance increase ?

Some possible additional obsessive / compulsive steps:


a) Check to see if the BIOS is up to date


b) Backup drivers:



c) Create a restore point:



d) Create regback option:



e) Run first scannow and restorehealth

There is a post install script/post update cleanup script attached to the bottom of this first post.

DesignHeaad9206 said:

I look forward to your wisdom about what I could improve :)

Click to expand...

Here's what you forgot:

zbook said:

Some possible additional obsessive / compulsive steps:
a) Check to see if the BIOS is up to date
...
e) Run first scannow and restorehealth

Click to expand...

I tried to do the Firmware update from the BIOS but it doesn't work.
Is this the same as "keeping the BIOS up to date?
Afaik, according to LG Update software and to what's in the LG support page for my model, there's no newer firmware / BIOS version.
It's from Phoenix Technologies.
Any tips to see if there indeed is a newer version?

What's scannow and restorehealth?

cereberus said:

So what did you achieve with all that unecessaey faffing around - a miniscule performance increase ?

Click to expand...

The scope is not to make the system more performative, although I do notice that things are more snappy.
The scope is to debloat stuff that I don't need, stuff that are concerning in regard to privacy, and stuff that makes the UX more inconvenient for me.
And the main scope was to organize all in a methodical way which makes it more functional according to the limited knowledge that I possess atm (= without knowing how to write answer files or do other fancy nice things to automatize everything, and without knowing how to use Rufus and things like that).
For what my aim was, I consider the results very satisfactory.

DesignHeaad9206 said:

What's scannow and restorehealth?

Click to expand...

This script was designed to run in the background:

As for a "Clean Install" of Windows. It's not a 12 step program! Or worse!
I've said this many times before, but I guess one more time won't hurt.

Doing a Clean install of any Windows version is just a very simple Three Step Program.

1. Find and download a Windows ISO, from a Trusted Source.
2. Burn the ISO to a clean Flash Drive, using the latest "Rufus".
3, Use the new Flash Drive, to boot up the PC and perform the Windows Install.

When the install is complete, tweak and tune Windows to your hearts content. Then install your favorite programs.*

* I keep all my tweaks, as well as my favorite programs on one large Flash Drive, to simplify install.

I can usually pull that off in less than an hour. I've done it so many times now, it's "Easy Peasy".

My data files are NEVER on my C: drive, so they really don't get involved in a Clean Install.

Cheers Mates,
TM

Install the OS while offline. Keep it offline until AFTER using GPO to set windows updates to notify before downloading or installing. Use GPO to disable notifications for windows updates. Then go online and use WuMgr portable to check for, select or hide desired updates, and install desired. If you hide them from the list, they won’t show again unless you unhide them.

i long time ago, i used to tinker a lot more with my computers than I do these days. I attribute it to the fact that I'm an IT guy for a living and honestly when I get home, I just want my stuff to work and I don't want to constantly futz with it.

I can appreciate a clean install, however I really put 0 effort into try to really minimize any resource usage on the box. I clean install, I connect to the Internet, I let Windows update run until it's down, I install 3rd party drivers for anything else in device manager that might be broken, and then I take an image that I call my vanilla image. Unless I run into problems in the next few days, it's highly unlikely I would use that image, but I have it just in case. I then sit down and install the handful of apps that I use on a regular basis. Once i have them installed and basics configured, I take one more image called base with apps.

As long as it's running okay, not bluescreening, or sitting at 100% CPU usage, I consider it good enough. I don't care if there are 77 processes running, I don't really care if it's taking 32.1GB of storage, or 24.42GB. I'll check a few benchmarks to make sure that my hardware is approximately where it should be. For example, my Gen 4 PCIe WD SN850 should score around 7000 read and 5100 write. If it's 6600 and 4750...it's right in the ballpark. If on the other hand, it's 2100 and 1400....well then I am going to take a look at the drivers and try to get it corrected.

Other than that, I figure that all the time i spent trying to tweak the bejezus out of everything is going to far and away exceed the extra time my computer would take without making those changes and thus i'm wasting precious time rather than gaining. it.

I can sympathize with the previous poster. I was a professional PC tech/builder for 40+ years, and I enjoyed my downtime to ride my motorcycle, play some pool and just relax.
But that was then. And now I'm retired and on Social Security so I can't afford the outside activities that I used to enjoy.
Putting my years of experience with computers to use, is now my Hobby. I just love grabbing a new version of an older OS and seeing what I can do with it.
I'm currently running Win-11, 24H2, (Lite) that has been totally Decrapified, and it's the fastest OS I've ever run, since DOS 6.22.
It installs quickly, then goes on line to get a few hardware drivers, then Updates get Disabled. Then I tweak and tune to my own preference, and install my browser and a few necessary programs, like, my email program, Libre Office, and "Super Anti Spyware".
All told, in less than an hour, I've got a new OS installed, and up and running, and I'm ready to send and receive emails, and search the web, and just do my daily routine. I just try to keep it all as simple as possible.
I don't have a lot of time left, and I don't want to waste it!

Cheers Mates
TM

My primary box at home still runs Windows 10. I use it for running VM's and for playing games mostly. I installed Windows 10 around December of 2020. Haven't reinstalled it since.

I have a Beelink mini PC running Windows 11. I installed that in October of 2021 and haven't reinstalled it since.

Both are running absolutely fantastic. I guess I don't clutter up my boxes as almost everything that I play and test with happens in a VM.

dacrone said:

Install the OS while offline. Keep it offline until AFTER using GPO to set windows updates to notify before downloading or installing. Use GPO to disable notifications for windows updates. Then go online and use WuMgr portable to check for, select or hide desired updates, and install desired. If you hide them from the list, they won’t show again unless you unhide them.

Click to expand...

What are the advantages of disabling also the notification of available updates in this case?
At this point, couldn't I directly disable the WU service?

About the WuMgr, do you mean the old (discontinued but it still works somehow) wushowhide.diagcab from Microsoft? Or is it something third party? If so, is it open source?

Thanks :)

pparks1 said:

As long as it's running okay, not bluescreening, or sitting at 100% CPU usage, I consider it good enough.

Other than that, I figure that all the time i spent trying to tweak the bejezus out of everything is going to far and away exceed the extra time my computer would take without making those changes and thus i'm wasting precious time rather than gaining. it.

Click to expand...

I would probably do the same if I had the money to buy a new laptop (or maybe even better a PC and a laptop, so I don't need the laptop to be light and powerful - which usually means noisy because to make them light and thin they sacrifice cooling-).
But until I am stuck with this one, I need to skim all what I don't need that would contribute to trigger the fans.
And I'm telling you, just only using AdGuard instead of uBlock Origin as Firefox addon DOES make a difference. Every time that I use AdGuard because it can block something that uBlock can't, the fans are immediately triggered.

The only thing I would still do anyway even on a powerful and silent system is disabling all what concerns me for privacy, like telemetry, error reporting etc.