So tested this ISO -
Win 10 AIO Version (22H2, 21H2, 21H1, 20H2, 20H1) (Stable Release) 64-Bit
GhostSpectre release

- Ease of configuration = Good
- you can choose to install WITH win defender or not
- Was able to get thru elimination of task-scheduler events easily
- Was able to take control of win update and update orchestrator service .DLL's and rename them so they are effectively GONE as far as the system is concerned


- Windows Apps - including store and all the rest of that annoying ware is gone
- Printing is there and available
- networking and domain services working
- system functions == stable - a solid foundation for any media production application
- MS EDGE == gone
- was able to implement Classic Shell without problem
- KMS activation == OK
- accepted driver installs - OK

Much of the bloat and garbage-ware is taken care of with the ISO - however there is a modicum of work left to further disable stuff that doesn't need to be there. Like the garbage task scheduler events, windows update, firewall settings, extraneous services etc... HOWEVER, this is MUCH easier to deal with since most of the OEM permission stuff has been taken care of along with a lot of the service disabling. All in all your full task completion time for a secure and optimized win 10 system is cut by approximately 2/3's with this ISO.

I give it .

 

Last edited: May 7, 2023

I guess it all depends on each individuals use case scenario. I want the most stripped down version of Windows available for my offline DAW machine. With my online computer, I'd probably take the same path as you, and Atlas will be providing a similar experience in their next update. What I like about Atlas, is that you start the process with a legitimate copy of Windows, and then you apply the modifications.

 

Last edited: May 7, 2023

Whatever you do, after you think everything is working OK be sure to use the Windows event viewer (run "eventvwr") to look at the various Windows Logs. I had an oddball thing where about once per minute something was briefly hogging the CPU and disk bandwidth. The application log showed that a process was periodically trying to start a service that I had removed then adding several error entries to the log each time. It's almost virus-like behaviour but a result of bad design rather than anything malicious.

I think the components of Windows are not very separate and there are too many dependencies between some of them. Cortana, in particular, has her evil tendrils in many other things like the Start Menu and File Explorer.

 

Could you please tell about resources, ram, processes, etc?

 

1709 is supposed to be a good version to minimise, due to it having less dependencies. I have an untouched version (en_windows_10_multi-edition_version_1709_updated_dec_2017_x64_dvd_100406711) but I haven't installed it yet

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

I know this isn't completely killing the wifi ability cause you can totally just disable the wifi adapter but I'm also using tiny wall since from what I understand blocks everything unless you specifically give it permission to.

 

You can try Simplewall too.

 

system at idle
resource counters == cpu 0-1% | Memory 10% | disk 0% | Network - 0%
background processes = 18
win processes = 35

test system ram = 12 GB


None of my media machines are ever connected to my internet vlan. All of the internet facing machines I use are secured win7 boxen..All are connected to a backend gigabit admin lan and members of my local domain. As such all the regular chatter that one sees by winblows machines in a network domain environment are present here. That is where linux would come in handy, but ?NIX for media production = meh.

Those specs above can be greatly improved upon with further optimization.I always have W10privacy, Windows Aero Tweaker on the system to clean up stuff that was missed by me or in this case the ISO. WAT has a setting that reduces the amount of useless SVChost processes by almost 1/2 called SVChost split threshold.

There was also an app placed on the desktop from the ISO called "ghost toolbox" which I have found to be of ZERO use and deleted.. Other than that all seems well. I'm well sure that resource and utilization could be better but in a networked/shared domain environment with a windows domain model it's not going to get much better.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

Exactly.

The GS AIO ISO has NO cortana, NO edge browser, NO windows store, NO advert channels, NO Win Defender (unless I activate it), NO win update (unless I activate it)...I replaced the metro like garbage with Classic Shell which gives win10 a win7-like "aero" start menu and fixes stuff missing in the win10 file explorer. You are exactly correct about the dependency thing. It's like a house of cards...

 

If you want to completely remove Cortana and its co-fucker brand new search service you must install an alternative start menu. Like StartIsBack or ClassicShell. And works like a charm.

I don't know about dependencies with the file explorer. I use the mentioned Win10 AIO 22H2 in GhostSpectre SE (kind of superlite) mode which installs directly StartIsBack. But I've done it manually before.
Other things have more fucked up dependencies.

 

One of the larger pet peeves I have with the win7-10+ file managers is the fact that ICON-WISE out-of-the-box they DO NOT show a network shared folder as a share. It makes everything look the same. So unless you physically keep in mind everything you share you really can't discern at a glance what is shared, short-cutted, or executable, etc... WinXP had this all enabled by default. What's even more retarded is that this practice has been carried on from win7 all the way thru to win-latest... The fact that one has to use a modified version of start menu to be able to navigate the OS quickly and easily (as opposed to metro which leaves one looking at a crossword puzzle not a navigational tool) and a modified version of file manager to be able to discern a file from a share has got to be one of the biggest jokes in windowed OS history.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

Well, again pushed by curiosity I did the same process as before but with the same GS you tried, with the same old machine.

Unfortunately I can't say which AIO version I installed because the wintogo app couldn't let choose ( and I didn't want to go into the whole process with wim tools like Gimagex etc.) but I presume it was the heaviest in the list (default?).
After having installed all drivers + av + fw it reached 127 processes and 1.4G ram, of course it was heavier than Atlas (76) but more friendly.
The hardware was the same (old) laptop and I couldn't try the GS toolbox because it wouldn't launch at all.
Then I messed something with the drivers and GS bsod crashed, in loop (duh?).

However seeing how many problems Atlas gave to the network stuff, I would choose GS for everyday use, but NOT for old machines like the one I tested.

 

I came up to this point so far. Network is on.
Background processes 7 - Windows processes 23.
In my earlier post I explained how. Just keep pushing on.

 

The ISO installer rolls out 20H1 by default. After the install is done you get presented with a "upgrade" menu that covers 20H2 - 22h2. Selectable by just pressing the corresponding number in the list.

Found out that the "toolbox" wants to "connect to internet" in order to function - the desktop icon points to a "updater" app with no script to be found anywhere. I grabbed the actual script off github with one of my internet machines and placed it on there and it now runs fine.

My test machine is "windows 7 class" hardware... Certainly not the latest/fastest, but it's fine as a test bed as I have tested everything from XP all the way up to win11 on that thing. I found 20H1 to be right at home on that one. Upping to 21 or 22xx it got progressively slower as the versions increased.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

The usual useless advice to supposedly make the PC faster. Ok, so let's use Process Hacker. Then you'll find out with the tool that your PC hangs around in idle state at about 99% available CPU time (assuming no other apps open, no useless junk installed). So what do you expect? Should even one of these tools improve anything decisively, e.g. if you disable services that almost never run anyway? It's a waste of time, nothing is guaranteed to get faster and your DAW won't be any better than it was before. But chance is great you disable something that was necessary to run with a certain software and later you will spend hours to find out why a certain software doesn't work as before.
By the way - my PC is by no means what some people here would call DAW optimized. It is connected to the Internet, MS Office, Steam, games, various photo software, some in the tray, MS Defender as antivirus.... and yet it only needs 1% CPU time at most when idle. Most of the software is cracked stuff and MS Office Prof 2021 has a cheap key from grey market for a few Euros.
Just keep an eye on software with autostart option and disable then autostart if you don't use it oftenly.

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

Latest is not greatest these days. Up until a couple of months ago I was using Windows 7, even though (or actually because) I'm a tech bloke that has been fixing WIn 10 and now 11 every day for years. Many customers have been perfectly happy with fresh installs of 7 and Office 2007 up until recently when Chrome started warning they would no longer update on anything less than 10.

I stayed with 7 myself until Cubase/Nuendo 12 demanded Win 10. I tried Win 10 LTSB but Cubase wanted 21H2 minimum. So here's what I've done and why:

1) I downloaded "Windows 10 X64 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021 en-US APRIL 2023 {Gen2}" (via eg. 1337x (dot) to). Burned to USB with Rufus 3.21p (MBR if BIOS allows or else GPT/UEFI or see readme to enable both). "IoT" version because it is still supported by Microsoft for 9-10 more years (updates if needed). LTSC because the bloat is already half gone, officially. The system can remain indefinitely in "deferred activation mode" if you never want it online. But for the first trial, I ran updates and it was activated (DLA, permanent) online, before applying fixes.

2) Note: I found various graphics cards were hogging the interrupts so I'm using the internal graphics for a much better Latencymon test result.

3) This current install, I had "Snappy driver Installer" to hand on a larger memory stick, so I have never used Windows Update. I also had essential programs ready like "Blackbird" (it is updated now, v 1.0.85.3)) and "Defender Control", CCleaner portable (v. 5.something)

4) After the install and running Snappy driver installer, rebooting etc, I ran Blackbird and rebooted. For this particular version of 10, it needs to be run and rebooted again first using the "I" option to stop device settings window disappearing, and then again using the "L" option for full printer/network function - see the Blackbird readme. (Reapply all if you do updates).

5) There are just a few manual tweaks to taste then needed. "Defender Control" is free online and works to disable the antivirus and scanning, but I leave the firewall. I disabled Update/Orchestrator and a few minor things. Uninstalled Edge with CCleaner.

Everything is fine with network printing and online. Direct downloads are fast, the only problem is torrents sometimes get choked to a near halt after a minute. Sometimes not so bad, but never as good as the same torrent/internet on my 7 machine or another LTSC machine without blackbird. Some disabled setting/service to do with many simultaneous connections I suppose?

Memory footprint is about 1.4Gb/10% at idle, 71 processes, CPU under 1% on an older i5 gen7, 16Gb ram. Not bad for a system that can be set back to normal just by running the Blackbird backup file.

 

Good advises. Blackbird especially is a great tool.
In general I agree if wanna go with a non-modded Win10, the IoT is like the LTSB-LTSC but more often updated. Don't know why, someone told me in this same forum I think.

 

This is a good thread, thank you for all your contributions, I have learnt a lot

 

Last edited: May 8, 2023

As far as I know the LTSC update schedule is the same in the IoT variant - ie. less often with less junk than commercial/pro - there's no Microsoft Store or apps etc to update and no Cortana by official default. (I think) the IoT variant just means the updates go on past the 2025 or so when most versions of 10 are no longer supported. 10 years from the date of release. It's supposed to be a cut back version for business and offline devices, but its actually the same as normal Enterprise LTSC, the only difference is the support/licensing.

Of course it doesn't matter really, I used 7 long after "expiry". But maybe some program I want will demand an update level in the future and maybe Microsoft will release that update to this version of 10 because its supported...

I like Blackbird because it saves a load of manual registry, gpedit.msc, service tweaks, firewall entries and a load of stuff I don't want to spend time learning... Some people were saying it wasn't updated but it has been for a while now. It's also reversible, though I'd more likely do a fresh install. You should still be able to use the other tools with on/off switches for various features if there's any need.

 

Last edited by a moderator: May 8, 2023

Yep I didn't know of this tool, I tried and found it very useful.

One point, though, while it allows verbose mode, it doesn't create a report that would ease debugging, once I launched it in full mode, it blocked also dlna and restoring back the lan discovery was not enough, so some service more was needed, a list would have been precious.

However in a old laptop it visibly improved reaction, great.