Windows 10 LTSC & Pro - Debloated with several enhancements

Hello guys. Due to the severe epidemic of bloatware and spyware sinking the performance of every Windows 10 installation, I have hereby created a basic essential bare bone version for both 2019 LTSC as well as Pro version. I am happy to share them both with you here. I have already shifted my own machines to these builds and so far so good! These builds further clean up Windows 10 LTSC and 100% debloat the Pro version along with these enhancements:

1. Telemetry for MS and all third parties including NVidia disabled.
2. "Allow Experimentation" has been disabled i.e., MS can no longer use your machine as a guinea pig!
   
3. All "cloud" services junk disabled and removed. Just OneDrive remains in Pro version in case some people want to use it but can be removed via add/remove programs with one click.
   
4. All driver updates via Windows updates have been permanently disabled.
5. All IE/Edge and related junk removed.
6. All Cortana and related junk disabled. Cortana removed.
7. All spying "services" removed.
8. All unnecessary background services have either been set to "Manual" or "Disabled" where necessary.
9. All targeted advertising disabled and sharing of Ad id with any apps disabled.
10. Added "Open command window here" and "Open powershell window here" options to the right click context menu that appear if you hold the SHIFT key down while right clicking on a folder.
11. Pro iso is version locked i.e., it will NOT get version jumps which means a lot less bugs and a clean gaming experience.
    
12. At the end of setup in both cases, you will still get the Microsoft spy menu asking you to enable all spyware but just toggle them all to off and continue and it will stay disabled.I am talking about this one below:

Important: Before you install any version, make sure that you keep a browser setup handy because there is no web browser included in either version due to no IE/Edge. So just prepare accordingly.

Known issues in LTSC version (very minor):
At first after boot, you will find that search in start menu does not work when you type. But this is a temporary side effect of removing Cortana and IE and it will resolve itself once you install network driver. After that, you can start using it normally and install any drivers that you want without getting interrupted by MS updates.

Some of the changes made apart from bloatware and pre-packaged junk removal are as shown below:




Windows 10 LTSC 2019 Basic Bare Bone:

Windows 10 LTSC Basic Bare Bone ISO:
Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z8XwC9j9neJkWbL_6Ynx3sTQpy_N6W1h/view?usp=sharing

Buy LTSC License key:
Link: https://www.gvgmall.com/windows-10-enterprise-ltsc-2019-cd-key-global.html?urd=TecnoTur


NEW: Windows 10 Pro Basic Bare Bone (Lets You Choose Your Own Release Version Via Windows Updates):

These include multiple ISOs for different base versions. The reason I am including different ISOs for different base versions now is that Windows does not honor registry and group policy restrictions against bloatware and as soon as you change the release version, the new build is installed along with all the default bloatware so you are back to square 1. The only way around is to have a debloated, version locked ISO for every individual build separately which I am going to provide here gradually. Below are all the ISOs available so far in this category:These have been debloated and have received all the privacy / update related mods and are version locked via the this provided registry script. What this script does is, it allows you to dictate exact target version for receiving windows updates so you can control exactly what build you want to upgrade to next, or if you want to upgrade at all. As long as you remain version locked to the current build, you will continue to receive updates for your build but will not receive newer builds via windows updates. You can download this script and edit via notepad if you want before merging, however it is advised that you don't download it and don't change the target build due to bloatware concerns with new releases via Windows Updates as described above.



Here are some screenshots from the fresh fully updated installation of one of these ISOs.










Windows 10 Pro build 1709 debloated (Customizable Build Release Version) ISO:
Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_hQRnuGYIzICvdYDqLWuKd4Uf03R2az6/view?usp=sharing

Key: You have to buy your own Windows 10 Pro key.

Windows 10 Pro build 2004 debloated (Customizable Build Release Version) ISO:
Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lC9xaZTt1Klkuz5qgiISBBeUedS-Q0-P/view?usp=sharing

Key: You have to buy your own Windows 10 Pro key.

Windows 10 Pro build 2004 Gutted (Customizable Build Release Version) ISO:
Download link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DQCWVvufK-wihifOMMthMarlNCWUWi58/view?usp=sharing

This build has been brutally cleansed and every single piece of potentially unwanted component has been removed. If anything is required after installation, it can be easily added back from add/remove windows components but from my testing, this is pretty much what an average daily user and gamers will want on their machines. This build contains all the updates needed so you can ignore the "updates" that pop up because underlying components that those "updates" target have all been removed. The only updates you might be interested in are Windows Defender virus definition updates and that's it. The following components were removed:

FilePicker
Application Virtualization (App-V)
BranchCache Client
FileExplorer
AppResolverUX
Device Lockdown (Embedded Experience)
Work Folders Client
AddSuggestedFoldersToLibraryDialog
File Server Resource Manager
Camera Frame Server
Gaming Peripherals (Xbox GIP)
Hyper-V Guest
Isolated user mode (IUM)
AsyncTextService
CredDialogHost
ECApp
LockApp
StorePurchaseApp
VCLibs.140.00.UWPDesktop
VP9VideoExtensions
WebMediaExtensions
WebpImageExtension
Win32WebViewHost
AssignedAccessLockApp
CallingShellApp
CapturePicker
Content Delivery Manager
NarratorQuickStart
OOBENetworkCaptivePortal
OOBENetworkConnectionFlow
PinningConfirmationDialog
SecureAssessmentBrowser
XGpuEjectDialog
MultiPoint Connector
NcsiUwpApp
Share Media Control Panel
User Experience Virtualization (UE-V)
Webcam Experience

Automatic Windows updates have been disabled on the gutted build by default and both "Update Orchestrator Service" and "Windows Update" services have also been disabled by default. There are additional third party tools included in the image so you can take full control of Windows Updates process. The tools provided include Wu10Man (Turns windows updates on and off such that Windows cannot override the settings), WAU Manager (allows you to install selected updates and hide the ones you don't want, and WindowsUpdateHideTool by Microsoft in case you want to avoid using third party softwares and want to stick to MS updates.

The trick in this case would be to disable Update Orchestrator service and enable Windows Update service while checking for updates to hide using MS WindowsUpdateHideTool so that Windows cannot install any updates in the background even if they get downloaded. Once you hide your required updates, you can enable Update Orchestrator service again to check and install other updates of choice.
IMPORTANT: First thing to do after installation is to HIDE KB4023057 from Windows Update Hide Tool or WU Manager. Do this so that Microslop's "Update Health Tools" malware does not hijack your machine again to unload all the bloatware and crapware back.

Known issue in v2004 gutted: If the setup gets stuck for more than 2 minutes at the blue spinner screen then simply reboot the computer via hard reset and setup will resume as per normal. This happens rarely but is fixed upon reboot.

Key: You have to buy your own Windows 10 Pro key.



Basic Redistributable package (Contains ALL DirectX updates to date + all VC redistributables):
Download link for archive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12scg09_torNZxzzcpyzcog58TYHD0T0W/view?usp=sharing





Note: There have been no "Additions" made to these builds in case someone is expecting some sort of piracy. These are stock builds which have been repackaged with a customized group policy settings pack and modification to services start/stop section in addition to bloatware removal. You will have to buy a license yourself in both cases. I have shared them as some of my respected senior friends in the forum liked the performance bump they observed, which might be of interest to all you gamers out there.


All my work is available for free. If it helps you out by improving your gaming/daily usage experience then consider making a donation.

 

Thanks, bro. The LTSC mod is working well.

 

I'm giving this a shot on one of my machines as an alternative to the bloated version of Windows 10 Pro. If it's a workstation, needs to be efficient with whatever runs in the background every time.

 

Thanks for your work. As from my testing I get better Wprime 32/1024M results from Pro over LTSC with the old test machine. But still can't compete with the old 1511/1709 or Win 7 And it would be nice if you could add in .net 3.5 into the mod ISO's Keep up the nice work. Reps added.

As a reminder. KB4566782 is implemented. Maybe use another patch. Also Flash player should be removed.

Adobe Flash Player End of Life
Windows 10 KB4565351 and KB4566782 are causing...

 

If you have a suggested basic ISO to work from, you can share that. I will trim it down accordingly and release limit it so Windows Updates can't ruin it in terms of performance beyond a certain point. Suggestions like this one are also welcome. I personally kept it very minimal in terms of mods and stuff because there is a weird bug in Windows where if you make too many changes into the base image, it miraculously transforms itself from PRO to ENTERPRISE and there is no way you can revert it back to PRO. I still couldn't figure out exactly what single change in the ISO caused this jump but it's there. Sounds silly but hey, nothing surprises me when it comes to Windows.

 

Would be nice if you could try this one. Remember add in .net 3.5
https://software-download.microsoft...1615185199&h=995ef0d48034b1a67a72ea7cc88b5c6d

I will try beat this one... I may need Win XP or an unlocked bios to take 1th. But 2nd is within reach
https://hwbot.org/submission/4694979_papusan_wprime___32m_core_i5_2430m_17sec_198ms


Thanks

Edit. Too much changes and much will break in Win 10. You risk even worse performance. Win 10 is a huge piece of trash.

 

What I have now done is, I have taken a 1709 clean base image, debloated it along with all the usual privacy and driver update mods, and put a controlling registry key in registry which will basically give control to the user about what build they want Windows Updates to take them to. E.g., this PRO ISO is on build 1709 by default. As long as the user does not make changes in the script and merges it into registry, Windows Updates will NOT move away from build 1709! So what that means is, now it's in your hands to decide what build version do you want to jump on to next, if any. I have tested the ISO on multiple machines and it is working as desired. The key is to change the registry accordingly in case you want to jump on to another build which is different from 1709 and then restart your machine followed by Windows Updates. Also, added .NET 3.5 support. Updating the first post accordingly now.


Edit: I have locked the versions in the above provided PRO iso files because for obvious reasons, Windows does NOT honor registry and group policy settings while upgrading to a newer build version and downloads all the default garbage bloatware again as you move onto the new build. This makes it kind of pointless to debloat as you have to do it all over again. A more feasible solution seems like having individual version ISO files available that are all version locked i.e., Windows cannot push a major build upgrade on your machine unless you allow it to. Adding more version ISOs in the thread. Already added v2004 and will shortly add v1511. My suggestion is, download the one that you want and then stick to that build via the provided script. If you change the target build number, chances are that Windows Updates will ruin your clean machine once again with bloatware.

 

Main post updated. Windows 10 Pro ISOs based on v1709 and v2004 are now available for download. Enjoy folks!

 

Here's the results from 1709. Still not good enough to beat my best score as my post below. But closer


The custom 1709 is a lot better than this mess below with 1909. I mean this Win 10 version is one of the worst from Microsoft for this old laptop.

 

I can put out a 1909 build too once I am done with 1511. 1511 is functional but the only catch is that it does not honor any registry or group policy restrictions when it comes to drivers and restricting other release versions via windows updates. MS was REALLY sneaky back then. What a shame that they provide user control mechanisms via group policy and registry and still do not honor them.