The Cleanest Windows 10 Installation you Could ever Do
It's commonly done to install and set up a Windows 10 installation by getting the official ISO and burning it into a USB / DVD with programs such as Rufus or Ventoy.
However, as we all know, Windows 10 is fully bloated with useless things, telemetry, and other stuff** that does not benefit the user but only uses resources of the computer, sometimes crucial on limited hardware.
Some users have been creating plenty of tools for partially deleting some of the inbuilt crap installed in a clean Windows installation (i.e. Bloatbox). Nevertheless, some experienced users in the Windows area bring the user powerful tools for creating a clean Windows 10 installation, for real, a CLEAN and IMPROVED installation.
Windows 10 22H2 modified by Slimdown10 Tool
The tool in question is called Slimdown10. The tool is created by "wkeller", known in the forum for creating other tools like Integrate7 (which makes an updated Windows 7 ISO image and allows UEFI3 system boot this OS).
This tool allows the user to bring the official ISO and make changes to it. It allows choosing which features or things they want to keep or remove. In other words, a powerful tool for creating the perfect Windows 10 ISO.
Building the Windows 10 ISO
The first thing needed is the official Windows 10 ISO for your preferred language. We recommend the latest release which is the 22H2.
If you want to download ISO directly (instead of using Media Creation Tool), just use some User Agent Switcher browser extension and change your Web Browser to pretend to be Linux.
Alternatively, use Microsoft Software Download Listing.
The second thing is to download the Slimdown10 zip file, found in the forum post (common sense). Then extract it in any user profile folder (i.e. Desktop, Downloads...).
Now with the Slimdown10 extracted, place the Windows 10 ISO into the Slimdown10 folder alongside the script file.
Before running the script, please take a look at it (Slimdown10.cmd). In the first lines, there are some options you can edit (by using 0 you disable the option, and by using 1 you enable it). Additionally, take a look at the rest of the lines as there are some things you may want to remove (remove search indexing, taskbar icons, UWP apps, edge unistaller, windows defender, windows sounds...). In this way not only you customize the things you want in your Windows 10 ISO file but also understand how the script works and that there are no tricks on these tools.
Once the script is quickly checked, now you can start it. Make sure you run this script with admin privileges.
The script will start extracting the original ISO file and making the changes selected inside the script. The script will require user intervention in the first steps of the script which will require you to select which Windows edition you want to modify (Home, Pro, LTSC IoT Enterprise). We recommend using the Windows 10 Pro version.
Then, the script will make the necessary changes. It usually takes 30-60 minutes depending on your machine (SSD/HDD capacities).
Once finished, the script would have created a new ISO file. That's the new ISO file you will be using to install the new cleaned Windows 10 version.
Installing the new Windows 10
Now it's time to play. Get a USB and burn the ISO file with Rufus, or alternatively use Ventoy.
Once done, reboot (or turn on) the computer and select the USB. Follow the boring installation process (you may have experience doing that crap) and finish Windows 10 initial setup...
Windows 10 22H2 Explorer
Preinstalled programs in this version (ignore WinRAR and Office apps)
The script is still in early development. However, it works great without any issues encountered so far. We recommend watching the forum frequently to download the latest updates or solve some further issues (if found).
For the laziest (or smartest) users in this world, I uploaded my modified Windows 10 (Pro English x64 version) with integrated updates up to March 2023, which works perfectly in tested laptops and desktops. You can download Windows10_22H2_English_x64_slimdown20230409.iso
Note that I don't recommend this option as I personalized the script for my personal preferences, and yours might be different from mines. However, the uploaded version will work correctly
This doesn't disable the whole feature stack that the script modifies. These are the changes between the untouched sript;
Edited features
Some edited features:
- Windows Defender is completely disabled
- All UWP Apps are removed (including Microsoft Store)
- Microsoft Account Service is removed
- Sounds, indexing, and other stuff are kept
Download all the changes: Slimdown10_v1.31_modified.cmd.
As always, if you find any problem you can ask on the forum or you can contact me at sergio@bbjprojek.org and I will be glad to help you. See you soon!
If you want to make an even more clean Windows 10 version, you can download the Windows 21H2 LTSC version, which is an official already "semi-cleaned" Windows 10 version (no UWP apps, no annoying updates, etc).
In order to download the Windows 10 21H2 version:
- Head to Genuine Installation Media - massgrave.dev and download the Windows 10 21H2 LTSC ISO. (en-us_windows_10_iot_enterprise_ltsc_2021_x64_dvd_257ad90f.iso).
- Use Slimdown10 to remove some things (Note that you have to edit the script in order to make a working ISO, i.e. remove integrate updates and other stuff)
And as said earlier in this post, for the laziest (or smartest) users, I uploaded my modified Windows 10 (21H2 LTSC English x64 version). You can download Win10_21H2_LTSC_English_x64_slimdown10_20230427.iso
Note that I don't recommend this option, as I personalized the script for my personal preferences, and yours might be different from mines. However, the uploaded version will work correctly
In that build, Windows Defender, UWP Apps and Microsoft Account are also removed.
Windows 10 21H2 LTSC slimmed down