Belated first impressions

[j7n]

I have acquired a barebones recycled computer and have my first experience with Windows 10 Enterprise 22H2, which so far I didn't need to use. But since it is here, I can learn something about it.

The computer has an Intel motherboard with an Ivy Bridge core i3 and 8 gigs of RAM with nice shiny heatspreaders. The system is installed on a laptop harddisk. There was also a working SSD with a game. After a boot it keeps thrashing the disk for a couple minutes, and the system is not responsive. Activity is on various services, such as Cryptographic Services. There are about 120 processes running. My current computer with a lot of applications has 55. On first successful bootup it proceeded to install cumulative updates that were apparently downloaded some time ago in 2023. That took more than an hour. Windows Defender qurantined a few files on my diagnostic flash drive, which I think meant that they were deleted, but could be restored. Thank you. Amazing. The system is not activated because I didn't connect it to a network and it can't reach a KMS.

I used DefenderRemover and Sledgehammer to remove Defender and Windows Update. Boot is still slow. Classic Shell and 7+ Taskbar Tweaker were installed. I couldn't find how to give taskbar buttons labels like on Windows 2000, or make a quick launch toolbar. The Start menu is a shade of its former self: still takes up the whole screen and displays little. Most other UI elements are too big and spread out. They have ripped out even more pages of the Control Panel applets. Classic Shell is really a must.

The previous owner must have been misguided installing Windows 10 on this computer, when Windows 7 would have been a better match. I wonder if it is at all possible to strip Windows 10 down to the level of Windows 2008 R2, where it wouldn't have so much load on the hard disk, and which would be the best basis: an older build, LTSC or Server 2022.

The PC has an Intel Visual BIOS, where UEFI boot can be unselected. As long as it is ticked, the PC proceeds to boot into Windows 10 seemingly ignoring the menu where CD-ROM and USB are higher up.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

Learn how to create your OWN!  Start here.

Edited October 28, 2024 by Tripredacus
removed warez quote

[j7n]

Yes, I usually prefer to go over and disable services according to my needs. Are there any mature free tools similar to nLite for removing parts of modern Windows?

Turns out it won't let me customize the taskbar because Windows is not activated. That's an odd punishment, considering that the number of tweaking options is very limited.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

On 10/26/2024 at 8:36 PM, j7n said:

Boot is still slow.

I installed Tiny10 23h2 over the weekend.  Boot is sooo slowww that I exited the VM twice thinking it locked up!

On the third launch, I just let it sit there "forever" and the desktop icons EVENTUALLY appeared.  Did not time it, but it took FOREVER!

Hard disk space is comparable to my own personal WINREDUCER-EX'd Win10s (LTSB 2016 and 22h2, I do not use 22h2 on a daily basis as I HIGHLY PREFER LTSB 2016).

Task Manager reports OVER TWICE AS MANY "processes, threads, and handles" as my WinReducerEx's Win10s.

I had to hunt down methods to KILL COMPLETELY the d@mn "security center", "defender", and "firewall" CRAP and even then I only got down to 57 processes as reported by Task Manager.

My daily driver Win10 only has 28 processes at startup.

Even with only 57 processes, the boot time from launch to when icons appear on the desktop was WAY  WAAYYY  WWWAAAYYY  TOOO  LOONNGGG!

[j7n]

Is WinReducerEx similar nLite? Do you have to pay for it? The marketing language is quite lengthy on WinReducer.net and it's not clear what it actually does (use an IDE to build plugins, sounds like it adds your  own app to Windows).

What I have is a year 2022 edition. Would you say that 23H2 is slower than earlier versions?

Edited October 28, 2024 by j7n

[NotHereToPlayGames]

WinReducerEx is way more powerful than nLite.

Being more powerful, it's not as easy to learn as nLite.

If you are serious about customizing your own Windows Experience, then WinReducerEx is a MUST-HAVE.

I use the FREE version!  But I also do a THREE-PASS process to get Win10 to my liking.  First pass is WinReducerEx, second pass is NTLite (not nLite, but NTLite, there's a difference), third and final pass is another WinReducerEx.

I would likely only require ONE pass if I paid for WinReducerEx.  All I really know is that my process "works" and if it ain't broke, don't fix it, lol.

I use an OLDER version of WinReducerEx.  So perhaps even a newer version would get everything to my liking in ONE pass.

I've not experimented with 22h2 versus 23h2.  Mainly because I get older versions from work and I've not bumped into anything requiring anything "newer" than LTSB 2016.

The non-LTSB/LTSC versions of Win10 (ie, the ##h# versions) require much more work to tidy up, but it is not that difficult.

But there is a learning curve and YOU WIN IN THE END

[D.Draker]

12 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

nLite

I think you meant NTLite. Yes, I agree 100% with you. I had the most terrible experiences with NTlite, including my further damaged eyes with pitiful UI and fonts.

12 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

I've not bumped into anything requiring anything "newer" than LTSB 2016.

 

If he's a gamer, no. It's too old. 2018 is the bare minimum.

[NotHereToPlayGames]

1 hour ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

(not nLite, but NTLite, there's a difference)

 

15 minutes ago, D.Draker said:

I think you meant NTLite.

 

I already cited NTLite.  But anywhooo...

[NotHereToPlayGames]

17 minutes ago, D.Draker said:

If he's a gamer, no. It's too old. 2018 is the bare minimum.

"Not my problem", lol.  I am not a gamer.  I grew up a long time ago.  I'm not 34 and under so I'll have to take your word for it.  

To each their own, of course.  I have a gamer-neighbor in this 18-34 bracket that cannot hold a job for more than two months at a time, interferes too much with his "game time".

Hades, we have to REPORT HIM TO THE CITY just to get him to CUT HIS GRASS !!!    But I digress...  I have to "assume" that not all "gamers" are as WORTHLESS.  

 

[D.Draker]

13 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

 

 

I already cited NTLite.  But anywhooo...

It seems I missed, sorry.

[D.Draker]

13 hours ago, NotHereToPlayGames said:

"Not my problem", lol.  I am not a gamer.  I grew up a long time ago.  I'm not 34 and under so I'll have to take your word for it.  

To each their own, of course.  I have a gamer-neighbor in this 18-34 bracket that cannot hold a job for more than two months at a time, interferes too much with his "game time".

Hades, we have to REPORT HIM TO THE CITY just to get him to CUT HIS GRASS !!!    But I digress...  I have to "assume" that not all "gamers" are as WORTHLESS.  

 

I saw @j7n was a gamer.

[j7n]

No, I only play sometimes what my computer allows. Gamers continuously spend to get NASA performance.

[Tripredacus]

I don't agree with that stereotype. There are certainly gearhead equivalents to computing users, but you don't need to have the latest and greatest to play games, even the modern ones.

[j7n]

I think the word "gamer" implies a significant enthusiasm and investment into the hobby. One can play computer games and not be a gamer. Similarly, not everyone who listens to music is an "audiophile" in the typical sense of the word. I might describe a flashy styled PC component with LEDs "gamer's" or "gaming" (the latter seems more about what is directly touched to manipulate the game).

One of the main culprits of the sluggishness of Windows 10 turned out to be the service SysMain. Of course, I knew about the Prefetcher, but had forgotten the service's technical name, which gives the impression that the service is central to functioning of the system. The disk activity is down after disabling it. I stumbled upon passionate articles in defense of the superfetch service (and other aspects of Windows). Their authors seem to think that Microsoft can do no wrong, and experts who disagree are without merit. Upgrade the PC and then it will work fine (and won't be needed anymore).

[Karla Sleutel]

On 10/29/2024 at 6:57 AM, Tripredacus said:

I don't agree with that stereotype. There are certainly gearhead equivalents to computing users, but you don't need to have the latest and greatest to play games, even the modern ones.

I don't agree, too. I game on a very old rig with GTX 780 Ti, it was made in 2013, very low 3GB VRAM, but is usable if I gimp down the texture quality.