Windows ISOs keep growing as Microsoft adds more apps, even though not all apps are useful for everyone. For users who don’t want all the additional apps, they can download a Lite or Tiny version of Windows. In this article, we’ll share how to make your own lightweight Windows ISO.
As software gets larger over the years with added features and functionality, you can see the difference in size requirements. When Windows 10 was first released, it required only 20 GB of storage. With Windows 11, you now need a minimum of 64GB. The average size of a Windows installation file currently exceeds 4 GB and can go up to 8 GB, whereas it used to be stored within 4 GB.
To make the installation file lighter, several tools and developers have shared Lite versions of Windows 11 or Windows 10. You may have heard of Windows 10 Tiny and Windows 11 Lite. XDA Developer Jenneh has shared a tool to make your own Lite version of Windows 11 or Windows 10. From today on, we’ll be sharing Windows 11 Lite along with every update package. Let’s take a closer look.
Pre-requisites:
- Download the Windows 11 ISO package from here or from the Microsoft website.
- Download Modwin from Github.
To create your own Windows ISO Lite or Windows ISO Tiny:
- Extract the Modwin file to C:\MODWIN.
- Open the Windows ISO file and extract it to C:\MODWIN\ISO.
- Run modwin.bat as an administrator to open it on the Windows Command Line.
- You’ll have two options: remove all unnecessary apps, packages, and features, or remove apps based on your preferences. Choose which apps you want to remove.
- It will ask you to choose either a WIM or ESD file (WIM is a standard format for Windows installation images, while ESD is a compressed image file). Use File Explorer to check for installation. WIM or install. ESD in C:\MODWIN\ISO\sources.
- In the Command Prompt, enter the corresponding number for the file format you see in your package (WIM or ESD).
- It will ask you to select which Windows edition you want from a list of all editions. Enter the number of the edition you want and hit enter.
- The program will start extracting the file. Once the process finishes, you’ll receive a success message. Hit enter to continue, and then enter 3 to select Mount WIM, and hit enter.
- Wait for it to finish, and then follow the instructions.
To remove apps and features from the ISO:
- Once you’ve finished creating the WIM, it’s time to modify it to build the ISO package. From the MODWIN menu, choose option 4: Apps, Packages, and Features.
- You’ll have a few options to remove or modify packages, app packages, and features. This includes apps from the Microsoft Store like Weather, Box, Phone Link, and others. It also includes basic drivers for essential functionality and features like Hyper-V.
- To view which apps you can remove, press 1 and hit enter. This will show all the packages to be deleted from the Windows installation. These apps will appear as package names like microsoft.windowscommunicationsapps. Cross-check by searching for the package name on the internet.
- If you want to remove an app, press 1 and enter to continue. Alternatively, you can copy the package name and paste it to remove individual apps from the Windows ISO. Repeat the process one by one until you’ve removed all the selected apps.
- To go back to the main menu, enter 2 or enter 1 to remove all apps. Remove any apps you don’t want.
- Once you’ve made all the necessary changes, press enter to go back to the main menu.
To export a light version of Windows to ISO:
- From the main menu, choose option 7: Unmount WIM and Build ISO.
- Select option 1 to save changes, clean the TEMP files, and start building the ISO. It will start saving and unmounting the WIM files.
- If you want to compress it, enter 1. If you want a standard WIM file, select option 2.
- Wait for it to finish. Your ISO package will be saved to C:\MODWIN\MOD.
Your lighter version of Windows ISO will be much smaller compared to the original package. You can use it to install Windows on your computer. However, make sure your computer isn’t connected to the internet during