*sigh* making the switch, 10 to 11

[Cramig88]

hey all,

as the title says, finally gonna commit to installing windows 11.  just looking for an easy way of making a custom/lite iso with my drivers and settings.  since i do fresh clean installs frequently to keep her running happy, its probably time i make a iso thats good to go out of the box.  

 

im planning on making a stripped windows 11 iso, include various applications along with drivers and *not* need internet access.  from there tweak my windows to my liking (show hidden folders, etc) then directly copy (clone?) *this* and shove it on a usb stick should i do another clean install later on.  i think windows has apps included which allow you to do this, but i have never had the greatest experiences doing so (XP ruined it for me).  regardless i dont have a problem booting up "diskgenius" (or something else) and having it DD the windows partition over to whatever HDD i select so long as its all on one usb stick.  when i changed around my raid setup thats exactly what i did. I cloned the windows C: partition, raided the nvme's, booted into diskgenus from usb, used usb external HDD with cloned partition and copied it over.  well a little more involved but whatever. one second no raid, about an hour later raid 0, totally seamless.

 

heres what id ideally like to do, basically reiterating the above

(see notes below)

• create a custom iso without extra windows bloatware on it (copilot and so on, any recommendations would be great), pc will primarily be used for gaming and sharing media
• the iso must be stand alone for *my* machine, as mentioned above the bootable usb will be used for this computer only.  virus?  shove the usb in.  wanna clean sweep windows?  shove usb in.
• iso should batch install software, stuff like winrar and other apps that i use frequently.  these i do have .exe's and stuff, nothing major.  k-lite codec, firefox, plex/jellyfin, balena etcher, whatever.  NFOviewer, cinebench r23(32?), hwinfo, cpuz, yada yada
• if batch scripting with notepad is neccessary, that isnt a problem - just point me in the direction and ill learn how!
• iso *must* have the system's drivers on it.  chipset, ryzen master, nvidia drivers, bluetooth, wifi, everything.  ESPECIALLY the raid drivers as im using dual nvme on raid 0, 8x sata split into 2x raid 1's (will change later).  either or, the nvme raid drivers need to be there cause windows install throws a fit if they aint.  monitor drivers would be nice too!
• install any recommended software by *you* guys.  especially anything that brings back the windows 10 UI.  functionality improvements, junk like that.  remember winboost from windows 95/98/xp?  yep, something like that.  deff an autologin registry script, dont worry i know what im doing - its for WoL anyways.
• save *my* user settings.  if possible not super important.  for example right now file explorer opens a new window with each folder i open, hidden files are shown, that sort of stuff.   kind of like doing a clean upgrade but only retaining my UX settings (user experience).  id like to keep my taskbar shortcuts!  computer management, control panel, hwinfo, ryzenM, calc, powershell, zenmap, etc
• then of course a recommended way to transition over, optional lol.  like my %appdata% folder is huge, i doubt i need all the stuff in it.  plus if i reinstall a game is it gonna delete the savedata, presuming it saves there? 
• TLDR: JUST WANNA MAKE A BOOTABLE WINDOWS RECOVERY USB THAT INSTALLS SOFTWARE AND DRIVERS, UX SETTINGS TOO if possible

 

quick pc specs (its a custom build)

• x5950, 16c/32t 4.3ghz all core @ 1.2335v (watercooled)
• 4x 32gb corsair vengeance pro's (i know they suck), 18cl@3600/1.32v (1900mhz fclk)
• asus/rog x570 crosshair viii hero "wifi", watercooled (not dark hero) /  latest bios 5002
• asus/rog strix 4090 "gaming" 24g, custom block watercooled, 2520mhz and 10501mhz according to the OSD
  • gpu-z says:
    • gpu AD102
    • revision A1
    • release 10/12/22
    • bios: 95.02.3c.00.5e (looked for an update awhile ago, this is latest as of maybe 2-3 months ago)
    • 2235gpu clock, mem 1313/2520-boost (not overclocked at the moment)
    • once i do overclock this card id like the settings to load with windows and be included with my final "insert and install" clean windows disk
• monitors i can figure out but if your curious, samsung g9, asus vg32 something, msi 32 something
• corsair k70 keyboard (preferably have color profiles loaded as i do have them saved)
• i do have a quadro 4000 and a radeon 6700 so including those drivers would be nice but not necessary
• 2x kingston furies - 1tb each, nvme obv
• 7x samsung 980 qvo ssd's, 1x evo / all 1tb (or backwards, 7 evos and 1 qvo, i forget, who cares)
• nothing else really relevent... watercooled in a massive case, custom blocks and all... idk whatever

 

NOTES

i have found a few ways of achieving this.

• "driverscloud", some website, possibly malware.  idk it works fine for now on windows 10, collects hardware info and compiles a list of drivers to DL.  software is same as from "manufacturers" page. perhaps rip the inf/driver files and shove them (where?) on the win11 boot/install usb.  though as mentioned could be malware or otherwise - i never trust these things.
• https://ninite.com/ this thing or service allows you do batch install/download a load of stuff, C++ runtimes and more - deff essential
• https://winutil.christitus.com/userguide/microwin this app called microwin seems to be able to create an iso and do everything im looking for, aside from retaining miniscule UX settings.
• in the link above, there are also instructions as to saving currently installed drivers and dumping them onto a windows 11 iso!

 

so despite me answering a few of my own questions, would anybody recommend using these applications?  are theyre easier or better ones? 

being primarily a gaming and LAN media streaming pc, what microsoft bloatware should i cross off the list?

finally probably the most important and definitive, should i install windows 11 pro, or home?  i like the idea of pro because i can do more advanced stuff.  i did have an experience awhile ago where i installed win10pro (maybe it was datacenter), got everything situated, then a bleeping game wouldnt run because it was "pro" or datacenter.  knowing me its just a bad memory and i installed datacenter cause im an idiot.  could always repartition stuff later, idk

 

OPTIONAL Q:  little off topic, my pc only watercools the cpu/mobo and 4090.  as of now i have 2x 360mm, 1x 420mm, 1x120mm and 1x140mm radiators, given my temps are fine even under heavyload can i just remove my fans and have a passively cooled pc?  sure i can leave 3 or 6 in there (push\pull) in case of emergency but currently i have like 12 fans maybe more.  on "silent" they dont ramp up at all, seldom does my cpu get to 80c under heavy load.  i dont mind that i have all the rads in there, the fans are just extra cables and space wasted.  as one could guess, wire management inside the chassis is quite difficult.

 

THANKS EVERYONE!

[GuiltySpark_]

I wish you the best of luck but that sounds so unbelievably tedious, especially to keep updated. I install 11 Pro and just go. Maybe a quick peruse through a few options in Chris Titus's debloat script but on modern hardware it doesn't take much if anything to get full performance.

[Electronics Wizardy]

Do you need a ISO installer? 

 

I'd probably just make a backup once you install the system with drivers and programs the way you want. I like veeam for this and it makes rolling back systems pretty painless.

 

The other issue is that software and drivers get updated. I don't think its worth doing this for a single system it really only makes sense when you have a fleet of system as your typically doing different versions of software and drivers anyways. 

 

I'd argue if your reinstalling often enough for this to be a major time saving, you probably have other problems as I have many desktops I manage with almost 10 year old windows installs that work fine.

 

 

[Cramig88]

42 minutes ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Do you need a ISO installer? 

 

I'd probably just make a backup once you install the system with drivers and programs the way you want. I like veeam for this and it makes rolling back systems pretty painless.

 

The other issue is that software and drivers get updated. I don't think its worth doing this for a single system it really only makes sense when you have a fleet of system as your typically doing different versions of software and drivers anyways. 

 

I'd argue if your reinstalling often enough for this to be a major time saving, you probably have other problems as I have many desktops I manage with almost 10 year old windows installs that work fine.

 

 

reason i clean house so often is due to the pc being a science experiment.  after a while things start to get cluttered and performance takes a hit.  if i can nail down a optimal running config i can just boot directly off that.  everything else in my house is controlled by a few servers, adds and a dc.  

this thing can handle a day or two of downtime if i get new thermal paste to try out.  

[Electronics Wizardy]

4 hours ago, Cramig88 said:

reason i clean house so often is due to the pc being a science experiment.  after a while things start to get cluttered and performance takes a hit.  if i can nail down a optimal running config i can just boot directly off that.  everything else in my house is controlled by a few servers, adds and a dc.  

this thing can handle a day or two of downtime if i get new thermal paste to try out.  

The backup and restore method seems to make a lot of sense here then. Seems a lot simpler. Set it up how you want it, then make a backup of it.

[brukar]

I just have to ask, If you're willing to faff about that much with your OS, why not Linux?

[xAcid9]

On 6/14/2025 at 6:59 AM, Cramig88 said:

since i do fresh clean installs frequently to keep her running happy, its probably time i make a iso thats good to go out of the box.  

Make a backup image of your OS fresh install instead?