Upgrading from Windows 7 to Windows 10 - advice needed

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

MrMarvelous

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Hi guys, planning on eventually nuking my PC and doing a fresh install to Windows 10. I've currently got my Windows 7 configured just the way I like it - absolute bare minimum running, just the bare essentials.

When I boot I only have 26 processes running, i'd like to configure Windows 10 the same if at all possible. Essentially what i'm after is the following:
  • Crapware/bloatware uninstalled
  • As many background processes disabled
  • Any other tweaks to minimize RAM/CPU usage
I've heard that Windows 10 comes with a fair bit of bloat, are there any guides or software out there that will guide me in in the right direction?
 
MrMarvelous said:
Can't find much on it, could you link me to what you use?

What wrong with a bog-standard installation that basically everyone uses?
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It's probably safe to say you can ignore him. Tin foil was getting low in the shops during lockdown.

LTSC is basically the longest supported channel of Windows 10 Enterprise. That is normally the second release version of the year ie, v1809 or v1909, being September 2018 and September 2019 respectively. MS now use H1 and H2 (Half 1 and Half 2) for their public naming convention but you'll still see xx09 in version numbers.

In March/April (but now more likely May) you'd see 1803 or 1903, being March 2018 or March 2019, and more recently, 2004 (April 20). These are essentially consumer releases. Whilst they are available in all versions (Home, Pro, Enterprise), they are targeted towards home/power users to essentially iron out any bugs before the later H2 release in the year. The largest new features appear in the H1 releases with H2 being more of a cumulative update for reliability. It's why you so often seen spring updates borking Win10 installs. In any case, the upgrade path from H1 to H2 is minimal and Enterprise are encouraged to stick to the H2 releases.

H2 releases such as 1809 or 1909 then become LTSC. That's just a term though, any Home 1909, Pro 1909 or Enterprise 1909 is stable, and not one of them differs in privacy or performance. With some exceptions, you can lock down all the editions (Home, Pro, Ent), but the reporting, MAPS and diagnostic levels are configurable on all the editions, which makes very random matt even more random.
 
Quick update, tried both and my God LTSC is superior in basically every single way. Normal 10 is an total bloatfest, LTSC is the polar opposite. Thanks to the guy who reccomended it, without you I woudl have never even heard of this version!
 
Sadly getting hold of LTSC via any legal means is a pain - but it is far far superior if you want a long term stable OS. With the normal editions any tweaks you do to remove bloat have a high chance of being reverted come any of the larger updates and/or you will need to do new tweaks, etc. far more frequently.

Some of the feature updates and/or support for new drivers, etc. for gaming purposes can be useful however.

One day MS might get back to making an OS for the end user rather than built principally around their agenda :(
 
Rroff said:
Sadly getting hold of LTSC via any legal means is a pain - but it is far far superior if you want a long term stable OS. With the normal editions any tweaks you do to remove bloat have a high chance of being reverted come any of the larger updates and/or you will need to do new tweaks, etc. far more frequently.

Some of the feature updates and/or support for new drivers, etc. for gaming purposes can be useful however.

One day MS might get back to making an OS for the end user rather than built principally around their agenda :(
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Gaaaahhhh LTSC differs in no way to any version of Windows 10. It's not some Uber edition. It's simply the longest supported version. Get any Win10 Pro or Enterprise edition, v1809 and set the feature update to defer for however long you want, via local policy. You'll end up with LTSC. Its not some magic download...

As I've repeatedly said, until I'm literally blue in the face, the same "bloatware" exists on LTSC because it's exactly the same OS. If you want bloatware gone, and by that I'm assuming we're talking about some, not all, of the built in Win10 apps, you MUST remove them with DISM or PowerShell from an offline WIM. That is the only way. Period.

Edit, for those who really need a hand.
1. Create offline WIM with the apps removed that you don't want.
2. Create a full local admin, renamed, and not your day to day account
3. Apply the MSSB for the version of Windows 10 you're using, not the edition
4. Apply the NCSC security delta for the version you're using.
5. Use a normal user account and elevate as required
6. Sit back, relax and break open a Fanta whilst you are safe in the knowledge your PC is virtually unhackable...
 
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Django x2 said:
Get any Win10 Pro or Enterprise edition, v1809 and set the feature update to defer for however long you want, via local policy. You'll end up with LTSC. Its not some magic download...
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In my experience it doesn't work quite as simply as that :( they've a few times fudged with updates and policy settings in updates, etc. (which really should not happen). Not sure if it is still the same but if MS considers an update "essential" it will (or would) ignore metering or even policy restrictions (or try to) in some cases. There were a few articles about it a year or two back when it made a mess on some business setups.
 
Rroff said:
In my experience it doesn't work quite as simply as that :( they've a few times fudged with updates and policy settings in updates, etc. (which really should not happen). Not sure if it is still the same but if MS considers an update "essential" it will (or would) ignore metering or even policy restrictions (or try to) in some cases. There were a few articles about it a year or two back when it made a mess on some business setups.
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This is where the dream falls down. H1 or early xx03 (xx04) releases are for consumers, the home users that are not critical and can reinstall, rebuild, whatever, to report bugs, or just reboot, leave it a day or two or wait for a patch. The H2 or xx09 releases are what enterprise and business should be using as it's given MS 6 months to iron out the bugs reported by all the home users from H1. That's the design principle and it works really well. The thing is, you get some SMB and enterprises going omg latest version and wondering why things break and get bricked. Review any of the support time frames for versions and you'll see the xx09 H2 has 30 months of support whilst the xx03 H1 has only 18 months. The spring feature updates are larger compared to the fall releases. As a normal user at home, stick to an H2 release and you'll be absolutely fine.

With the exception of Home, which requires more effort, you can defer any feature update and quality updates for a year. Security updates you should still get daily but they won't impact the system. They are effectively Defender definitions....
 
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