The best way to make your individual light-weight Home windows ISO

Like most different items of software program, Home windows has steadily grown over time, including extra options that ultimately result in a bigger dimension. Home windows 10 was initially supported on units with as little as 20 GB of storage, however now you want at the very least 64 GB for Home windows 11. This additionally applies to set up recordsdata. A number of years in the past a 4GB flash drive was sufficient to carry a Home windows ISO (and it was once even much less), however nowadays 8GB is the minimal required by Microsoft.

However what if we instructed you that you could make your individual Home windows ISO that’s a lot smaller and removes all of the stuff you do not want? Due to the work of XDA Senior Member jenneh, it is comparatively simple to create a light-weight Home windows ISO that is extra appropriate for you. The developer has put a whole lot of work into making the expertise much less intimidating for brand spanking new customers, and hopefully it should make it simpler for anybody to create their very own Home windows ISO.

What is going to you want?

There are just a few issues you actually need to create your individual Home windows 11 ISO:

• Commonplace Home windows 11 ISO: You want an present Home windows 11 ISO file that would be the foundation for the modifications you’ll make. You possibly can obtain it from the Microsoft web site.
• MODWIN: A program developed by XDA Senior Member jenneh to make it simple to change Home windows ISOs. Whereas not technically mandatory, it should take a lot of the ache out of this course of, so we extremely advocate it.

The best way to make your individual Home windows ISO

We have now divided this course of into a number of sections. For our instance, we’re utilizing a typical multi-edition Home windows 11 model 22H2 ISO, however this could work on Home windows 10 as effectively.

Extract and mount a WIM file

First you’ll need to mount a WIM file to change. The WIM file accommodates all the required Home windows set up recordsdata and is contained within the ISO. It could even be an ESD file relying on the ISO you may have, however MODWIN will work with both.

1. Obtain Modwin from GitHub and run the installer. You may even see a Home windows SmartScreen immediate, so click on Extra information after which Run anyway.
2. The recordsdata shall be extracted to C:MODWIN.

3. Seize your present ISO and double-click it to mount it as a digital drive, which ought to open routinely.
4. Copy the contents of this digital drive to C:MODWINISO folder.

5. Go to predominant C:MODWIN folder and run modwin.bat.
6. This can open a command immediate with a number of choices to select from. There are two predominant ones:
   • Possibility 1 is an all-in-one elimination script, which means it should take away all functions, packages, and options that aren’t mandatory for Home windows to operate at a fundamental degree. This selection will not be beneficial for most individuals.
   • Possibility 2 lets you modify the ISO to take away the apps and options of your selection. The remaining choices are literally steps in the identical course of. That is the choice we advocate you select.

7. This system will ask you to decide on whether or not your ISO file has a WIM file or ESD file.

8. Use File Explorer to navigate to the C:MODWINISOsources and search for a file referred to as set up.wim or set up.esd. Be aware: Fashionable variations of Home windows ought to have set up.wim file in case you are utilizing an official ISO from Microsoft as a base.

9. Return to the Command Immediate window and enter the suitable quantity for the file format you see.
10. You will note an inventory of all Home windows editions contained within the file you chose.

11. are available Index quantity akin to the version of Home windows you need (you may want a license for it) and press Enter twice.
12. This system will begin extracting the WIM file.
13. When the method is full, you will notice a affirmation message.

14. Press Enter to return to the principle menu display.
15. Now we are going to choose an possibility 3. Mount the WIM. Enter 3 and press Enter.

16. Look forward to the method to finish and you’ll be returned to the principle menu. Maintain the app open.

Take away apps and options from ISO

Now that the WIM is mounted, it is able to be modified. It is best to see all of the recordsdata contained in the C:MODWINPATH folder. Don’t contact the recordsdata! The subsequent step is to decide on what functions you wish to take away out of your Home windows set up. To do that, comply with these steps:

1. From the MODWIN predominant menu choose an possibility 4. Choices for apps, packages and options.
2. You’ve got a number of choices for issues you possibly can take away or modify:
   1. Utility Packs: Applies to components of Home windows which are Microsoft Retailer apps, such because the Climate app, Xbox, Cellphone Hyperlink, and so on.
   2. packages: Consists of some important drivers for fundamental performance (equivalent to networking) and sure Home windows options equivalent to WordPad.
   3. Function: Consists of further Home windows options equivalent to Hyper-V.
3. If you wish to see what apps you wish to disable, faucet 1 and hits Enter.
4. You will note an inventory of software packages included within the Home windows set up. A few of the names will not be fully correct to the user-friendly identify, equivalent to microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps a package deal that applies to the Mail, Calendar, and Folks apps. Nonetheless, most functions ought to be simple to establish.

5. If you wish to take away any of the apps, faucet 1 and hits Enter.
6. Copy the identify of the applying or package deal you wish to take away, paste it within the command discipline and press Enter. You possibly can double-click the identify to pick out it extra shortly.

   Not each app is essentially protected to take away. Be sure to know which apps you are eradicating earlier than you do that.

7. Press Enterand you will be again in step 5. Repeat for another apps you wish to take away.
8. If you happen to’ve eliminated all of the apps you need, faucet 2 and hits Enter to return to the principle menu.
9. To take away packages as effectively, choose an possibility 4 once more after which possibility 2 (see step 2 above).
10. This works the identical approach as eradicating app bundles. Press 1 if you wish to take away a package deal that you simply see within the listing. Once more, a few of these will not be protected to take away. Solely take away issues you already know for positive you do not want.

11. Copy the identify of a package deal you wish to take away, paste it within the enter discipline and press Enter.
12. Repeat the method if you wish to take away extra packages, or 2 to return to the principle menu.
13. Lastly, you possibly can repeat the method for options. Select 4 from the principle menu after which press 3 to see the listing of further options.
14. This time you will notice an inventory that features some options which are enabled and a few which are disabled.
15. You possibly can press once more 1 to take away a operate or 2 to come back again. It’s also possible to allow options which are disabled by urgent 3. This may be helpful in order for you options like Hyper-V enabled straight away.

16. After making the specified adjustments, press Enter to return to the principle menu.

You at the moment are able to export your ISO. There are a number of extra choices right here that are not mandatory. Possibility 5 mounts the WIM registry (just for customers who really want it), and possibility 6 lets you ship recordsdata from the USER folder to C:MODWIN within the ISO, so your Home windows set up will embrace all of the recordsdata you would possibly want. We’ll skip that and go straight to exporting the brand new ISO.

Export ISO

Now that you have made your modifications, merely comply with these steps to export your new ISO:

1. From the principle menu, choose an possibility 7. Unmount the WIM and Construct ISO choices.
2. The best approach to do that is to pick out an possibility 1which can save your adjustments, clear all short-term recordsdata and create a brand new ISO.

   It’s also possible to use possibility 2 to discard the adjustments you made in case you made errors within the course of. Then you can begin over with the mods.

3. MODWIN will begin by saving your adjustments and unmounting the WIM file.
4. Choose whether or not you wish to compress the WIM file in ESD format. This can end in a smaller ISO file, however takes longer. Press 1 to compress the file or 2 to go away it as a typical WIM file.

5. Look forward to the method to finish and your new ISO shall be displayed within the C:MODWINMOD folder. If you happen to examine it to the official ISO, you will notice that it’s considerably smaller. We selected to compress the WIM file in ESD format right here and disabled just one software package deal; the ultimate dimension will differ relying on the adjustments you make.

You at the moment are prepared to put in Home windows 11 utilizing your new ISO. Be aware that your pc can’t be linked to the Web while you run the Home windows installer, in any other case it should obtain updates from Microsoft and roll again your adjustments.

You should utilize a program like Rufus to mount the ISO to a flash drive and carry out a clear set up of Home windows. You possibly can examine our information on the right way to set up Home windows 11 for extra directions on this.

Due to XDA Senior Member jenneh for doing a superb job growing this device and offering the unique steerage. Try jenneh’s information right here.