windows 11 How to make custom Windows ISO from Rufus (or just custom Windows in general)?

YamiYukiSenpai · June 10, 2023

I don't wanna waste my USB key as I have ISOs in there that I launch via Ventoy. Also, I don't feel like dealing with the privacy BS + forcing online account.

cautiouslyoptimistic · June 10, 2023

you don't make custom ISOs from Rufus, you generally use ntlite to remove or make changes to the install.wim content, which will be installed by the windows installer.

if you don't want to "waste" usb/ change the configuration you have on the usb, you can test run iso in virtual machines. To skip online account, search for relevent win10/11 build, + "skip oobe" or just "no ms account"/ "local account". You can also use enterprise version (im not sure if pro version has account requirement, but home version do by default at oobe) of windows iso. comprehensive iso database here. And, to get better download speed, you can copy the MD5 hash of the iso file you choose, instead of using their (adguard) torrent file, search it on archive.org, i have custom chrome search entry with https://archive.org/search?query=theMD5

regarding privacy BS + forcing online account, I hate to break it to you, the latter is do-able (to skip), but asking for privacy in windows is literally impossible, unless congress holds a 24 hour televised meeting with the entire board of directors of microsoft corporation tomorrow.

even with something like win10 ameliorated, which i have mixed feeling about and therefore do not use, essentially try to hide from the OS the fact that it has network connection. Its that bad.

edit: if you don't want to use ntlite, you can mount and change content of the .wim file with DISM, so you don't have to download a third party application. its less elegant but gets the job done.