Windows 10 Slim Iso

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Some have asked for an updated guide for Windows 10, thus I would like to share my latest experiment with slimming down Windows 10 and the steps I took to get it working.

64-bit

Windows 10 Ultra Slim Build. Hello Everyone, need some help to remove packages of windows 10 like superfetch and more I used msmg toolkit but I was able to reduce the install.esd to file up to 2.9GB but I recently visited a website they have created the Windows 10 ISO with a size of 1.2 GB so needs some tutorial. A new stripped-down Windows 10 build called 'Lean' was discovered in the latest Insider preview of Windows 10. It lacks many Windows 10 features and has a 2GB smaller installation size.

Windows 10 Slim Iso

Purpose:

Create a small functional image to be used for a fast virtual machine which can run most Windows Desktop applications, using minimal memory and minimal HD space.

This is not a general guide, but just the steps I documented for my own needs, which may prove helpful to others who want to accomplish something similar. (My steps & descriptions are quite concise and without pictures, so this may not work as a beginners guide, but you can find a nice one here.

OS, VM and NTLite System Requirements

  • Recent version of Parallels (version 12) on a recent version of macOS (Sierra) and 8 GB RAM (this will probably work similarly in VMware)
  • Windows ISO file: MSDN version of Windows 10 LTSB
    • I am using the LTSB version in this example, because it is already built to function without Metro and it only requires minimal updates (but other versions of Windows 10 should work similarly)
  • NTLite with at least the Home license, after trying out the free version (it cannot remove as much as the licensed one)
  • Preferably, create a Virtual Machine as a Host for NTlite with the full version of the target OS
    • for example Windows 10 LTSB 32 bit
    • assign at least 3GB memory for the OS hosting NTlite
  • Install NTlite on the Host
    • use HWlist, if targeting the OS for other hardware
  • Download official Windows 10 ISOs from Microsoft (this includes a lot of recent updates already) or use the RTM/MSDN ISO
      • RTM downloads for Windows 10 LTSB iso images can be be found on MSDN: https://msdn.microsoft.com/subscriptions/downloads
    • The 64bit version takes up a lot more space “Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB (x64) – DVD (English)” en_windows_10_enterprise_2016_ltsb_x64_dvd_9059483.iso
    • The 32bit version will create the smallest image: “Windows 10 Enterprise 2016 LTSB (x86) – DVD (English)” en_windows_10_enterprise_2016_ltsb_x86_dvd_9060010.iso
    • the LTSB versions are a bit hard to get without a MSDN subscription; for more info google: ‘mydigitallife MSDN Windows 10 LTSB’
    • check hash of downloaded image with Hashtab
  • Mount the ISO image
  • Copy contents of the ISO to a folder on the Desktop, for example
    ‘Windows10ltsb’

NTlite Settings

  • File – Manage License (check that the license is valid & all recent features are activated)
  • Toolbar – Add – Image Folder – select ‘Windows10ltsb’: to select the OS source
  • Right Click ‘Windows 10 Enterprise LTSB’ (install.wim) and select ‘Load’ to mount this image in NTLite (wait a minute or two…)
  • In Components
    • Toolbar – Compatibility: select things you want to keep working…
      • Component Functionality (each category selects a bunch of stuff to keep)
        • Default fonts
        • Microsoft Office
        • Network Discovery
        • Printing
        • Recommended
        • USB
        • Video Playback
        • Windows Activation
        • Windows Update
      • Machine Support
        • Host Machine (or HWlist)
        • Parallels VM (or other VM you might use)
    • Toolbar – Expand All – Uncheck All: now only the absolute minimum is selected to be installed
    • Add to that the following things to keep, by checking what you need:
      • Drivers (nothing added)
        • Sound – high definition audio device – hdaudio.inf (if not already selected)
      • Hardware Support
        • click on ‘Individual Devices’ so that almost none are removed (double-check!, otherwise Win 10 may not boot)
        • Print to PDF
      • Localization
        • keep some common Fonts like Verdana, etc.
        • German Keyboard Layout & Language Support
      • Multimedia
        • Mouse Pointers
          (optional)
        • Wallpaper Default
      • Network
        • Internet Explorer client (optional – install Firefox instead)
      • Remoting and Privacy
        • Network Discovery (Homegroup not needed)
      • System
        • .Net Framework is included
        • Application Compatibility! (needed for a lot of older applications)
        • Help File Support (CHM)
        • Group Policy Client & Local Security Policy (useful for changing some otherwise inaccessible settings)
        • Event Viewer
        • Disk Defragmenter
        • Zip and Cab folder
      • Windows Apps
        • OneDrive
  • In Features (mostly use defaults)
    • deselect XPS Viewer
    • deselect Microsoft XPS Document Writer
    • select Microsoft Print to pdf
  • In Services
    • Update: Disabled (because cumulative updates break the system)
    • optional: modify ‘Services’ according to Black Viper Safe list
  • In Local Machine
    • Auto Reboot on BSOD: Disabled
    • Pagefile: 256 MB
    • Privacy: mostly Disabled
      • Allow Telemetry: Security
    • Automatic Activation: Disabled
    • Sponsored Apps: Disabled
    • Malicious Software Removal Tool Updates: Disabled
    • Updates: Check only
  • In Users
    • Welcome Experience: Disabled
    • Privacy: almost all Disabled
  • In Updates – Integrate Update Packages:
    • Automatically using the NTLite (v1.7+) with the Download Updates function, more info here
    • Or manually:
      • To find out relevant Update packages, you should first make an NTlited install without integrated updates
        • then run Windows Update and make a list of all important Security Updates by KB number
      • Download the relevant updates based on the list created in the first step
        • manually from Microsoft Download Center https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/default.aspx ;(search by KB number) or some other tool
    • Integrate relevant updates
  • In Drivers
    • check that it all looks as expected with most drivers found
    • missing Parallels Drivers will be installedd by the Parallels Tools Package
  • In Unattended:
    • Toolbar – Enable, then Auto-fill
      • modify Administrator user Name as needed including Password
      • optional: check Auto-logon
    • optional: Toolbar – Add local account: Group – Users, …
    • Toolbar – Configure disk partition
      • Check… ‘Install to this partition’, ‘Maximum’
      • Label ‘Main’
    • * Setup Key (check for correct key )
      • * use generic free KMS Client Setup Key: https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/jj612867.aspx
      • * or Generic Windows 10 Installation Key: http://windowsiso.net/windows-10-iso/windows-10-product-key/
      • * Windows 10 LTSB: DCPHK-NFMTC-H88MJ-PFHPY-QJ4BJ
      • * Windows 10 Enterprise: NPPR9-FWDCX-D2C8J-H872K-2YT43
  • In Post Setup:
    • To disable the Hibernate: Toolbar – Add – Command: powercfg/h (with Parameters) off
    • Compress the OS to reduce size by 1.2 GB Toolbar – Add – Command: Compact (with Parameters) /CompactOS:always
    • Add WinDirStat http://windirstat.info/index.html: Toolbar – Add – Filewindirstat1_1_2_setup.exe (with Parameters) /S
    • Add Firefox https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firefox/releases/: Toolbar – Add – File Firefox Setup.exe (with Parameters) -ms
  • In Apply:
    • check: Save the image: Save to outside of the VM and name it something meaningful
      • for example: Windows_10_LTSB_32bit_en_US_NTLite1.iso
    • Remove non-essential editions:
      • remove Windows PE
    • Image Format: Standard WIM
      • optional: use ESD compression (gets the image down by about one fourth, but can take about 15 mins longer)
    • Toolbar – Preset – Save: for example Win10ltsbNTlite1
  • Toolbar – Preset – Save as… the preset under a new name
  • Toolbar – Process (and wait for a few minutes)

Installation in Parallels VM:

Iso
  • Select image file
    • Select Operating System – ‘Windows 10’ (if not recognised)
    • Option: for Software Testing
  • Install should then all be fully automatic for Windows 10 within a few minutes (OS compression can take a while and the VM will appear to be unresposive for possibly a few minutes)
    • restarts automatically

After Installation in Parallels VM:

  • optional: install Sysinternals Process Explorer & add shortcut (for better Memory usage measurement)
    • Memory usage about 300 MB, after a few minutes idle using Process Explorer
  • Install Parallels Tools
    • if auto-start is disabled, manually start setup from CD drive with autorun.exe
    • Unattended installation of Parallels Tools http://kb.parallels.com/en/11616: PTAgent.exe /install_silent
  • optional: add GPedit.msc & WinDirStat shortcuts
  • make Firefox default (if installed)
  • Check Device Manager

Limitations:

Windows 10 Slim Iso Free

  • Cannot be updated properly with Windows Update, due to cumulative updates breaking the system (see Host Refresh Wizard for alternatives https://www.ntlite.com/v1-2-stable-released/ )
  • Network discovery has to be manually enabled
  • Event Viewer Errors: various such as
    • Print Service
    • Task Scheduler
    • Driver install failed
  • Strange layout in Settings – Privacy – Location
Windows

I tested it with various applications, and so far everything works fine including larger ones such as Corel Draw.

Final on-disk install Sizes with Presets:

  • Windows 10 LTSB 1607 (32bit) NTliteTiny2 – 1.2 GB (no swap)
    • The created iso image is less than 700 MB (with esd). This is my smallest image which works without problems, by leaving out Updates, Printing, OneDrive and a few other things. With more testing, this could be reduced further.
  • Windows 10 LTSB 1607 (32bit) NTlite9 with integrated updates – 2.3 GB (plus 500MB swap)
  • Windows 10 Enterprise 1703 (32bit) original FULL install – 9 GB (no compression), 7.5 GB (with compression)
  • Windows 10 Enterprise 1703 (32bit) NTlite1.0 with integrated updates – 2 GB (plus 500MB swap)
    • This is my favorite general purpose VM, using the settings described in the tutorial

If you want to use one of these example presets, please adapt them to your needs: at a minimum check the Components – [toolbar] Compatibility options.

Windows 10 Slim Iso Key

For more presets look at Emma’s excellent work here.