27.11.2009, Fri, 15:11, Moscow time
Deploying an OS in an organization very often involves the use of customized assemblies that include pre-created settings, necessary drivers and system libraries required to work with Windows. To create them, there are special tools, united under the general name Windows Automated Installation Kit (AIK). In Windows 7, this product has already reached its second version and provides more flexible options for creating installation images of the system. How can you use it to create an image of Windows 7 for installation in a company?To create installation images of Windows 7, the second version of Windows AIK has now been released. In the previous (Windows AIK 1.1) version of this package of tools designed for creating installation images Windows Vista/2008 Server, the composition of the software components responsible for the integration of drivers and service packs into the final distribution and operation settings was determined Windows installer, running additional commands after installation. Here, for the first time, WIM files were used - a special format for representing operating system images, which is independent of hardware, and which can be edited to include modified OS distributions. Thus, for example, an IT specialist has the right to create a WIM file for installing several OS editions from the same media. Accordingly, with using Windows AIK can pre-determine the progress of all three parts of the Windows installation - the initial copying of files to disk, the creation and saving of a configuration depending on the detected hardware, and, finally, the actual installation of the operating system. Thus, you can implement a scenario for mass installation of the OS on devices with the same hardware configuration, for example, on a batch of laptops (if we are talking about an OEM installation of Windows) or on the same type office computers(for example, in the case of system deployment in the heterogeneous IT infrastructure of one company).
Let's start preparing
To work with Windows AIK 2.0, you will need to download the ISO image of the tool package itself, which must either be burned to a DVD or mounted to a virtual drive.
Window Windows autorun AIK contains all the necessary tools
During installation, the user will see an autorun window containing several items. At this step, you can download additional software components - Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) to check compatibility installed programs with Windows 7; Microsoft Assessment and Planning (MAP), which allows you to analyze the possibility of installing Windows 7 in the conditions of the company's existing IT infrastructure, as well as Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT) - a set of special tools that automate the system installation process. Windows AIK 2.0 can run on Windows XP SP3 and higher; it must be installed on the system to work correctly. NET Framework 3.5 SP1.
First stage. Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit
The first stage of preparing an image for installing Windows 7 begins with launching the Microsoft Assessment and Planning Toolkit (MAP). This tool is designed to inventory hardware and provides the ability to analyze the feasibility of installing the system on existing configurations of workstations and servers. Windows AIK 2.0 uses the fourth version of MAP, which includes more visual tools for analyzing the readiness of computer hardware for the implementation of Windows 7/Server 2008 R2. These include a system of reports, including advice on upgrading equipment, reassigning server roles that determine computers on which the hypervisor can be installed, the ability to use NAP in local network organizations and so on. Such data is illustrated by preliminary calculations of savings from migration to a new system.
Data collection is carried out using standard methods– the user launches a special wizard, sequentially specifying access settings for computers, importing a list of machines from Active Directory and so on. Upon completion of the work, the wizard will display a report on the prospects for implementing the new OS.
Second phase. Windows AIK and DSIM
Microsoft provides IT specialists as part of the Windows AIK with a special DSIM tool that allows you to add drivers for peripheral and internal devices (both 32- and 64-bit), additional language packs, change the composition and number of OS components and its updates. Let's consider the basic principles of operation of the DSIM system.
In addition to DSIM, enabling or disabling Windows components (for example, those included in some versions of games or additional network services) can be carried out using command line OSSetup. It works with CBS and MSI files that have associated native EXE installers. With its help, you can define server roles in case of customizing the distribution for Windows Server 2008 R2.
It can be used to manage components included in the Windows 7 / Server 2008 R2 distribution image by running from the command line with certain parameters. For example, using /Add-Driver you can add a driver INF file, including an unsigned one (if you specify the /ForceUnsigned command). In addition, DSIM allows you to include or exclude packages from the finished Windows image that include system components or standalone installation files for OS updates. To do this, the user, through the commands /Get-PackageInfo and /Get-Features (of a specific package), can obtain information about all functionality certain CAB or MSU files and decide to include/remove a particular component (or components) from Windows 7. In a similar way, you can configure regional system settings (interface translation, connecting keyboard layouts, time zones) and applications installed through Windows Installer.
Third stage. Microsoft Deployment Toolkit (MDT)
At this stage, the user directly creates an OS image, including drivers, service packs, additional application programs and so on. These processes take place in the Deployment WorkBench. To do this, you will need to create a special directory (repository) called Deployment Share using a convenient and simple wizard. It will contain everyone necessary files, which will be required for further work. The next step is to launch another wizard, this time offering to download the files themselves for installation. They can be copied as from an existing installation Windows disk, and from a separate folder on your computer, from a separate WIM file. After copying them to Deployment Share, you can add additional drivers, hotfixes and applications.
A special wizard is responsible for creating Deployment Share
To automate the process of installing the system from the selected media, the user can use the Task sequence wizard (it provides several templates or the ability to create a new template, including pre-created settings and parameters for the installer - for example, automatic entry of the user name, organization name, serial number Windows 7, administrator login and password account). In this case, the choice is to use the Standard Client Task Sequence template.
Images for installation are created based on existing distributions or WIM files
At the end of this operation, files with a customized pre-installation version of Windows (LiteTouch Windows PE) should be created in the Deployment Share folder. To do this, you need to run the update command for this repository (Update Deployment Share), which will create the necessary images - ISO and WIM files.
More subtle settings of the Microsoft Deployment Toolkit are specified in two configuration files - BootStrap.ini (path to the repository, administrator login, domain, password, keyboard layout before entering Windows Deployment) and CustomSettings.ini (detailed list of settings regarding automatic completion and selection of parameters during installation).
The resulting images (ISO and WIM) can be used to create a custom distribution by burning the image to a DVD, or using a WIM file to further install the distribution (in this case, you must re-run the Task sequence wizard, specifying Sysprep and Capture as the template).
IT professionals to create custom distributions of Windows 7, as in Windows case Vista, can use a convenient and intuitive set Windows tools AIK. In his new version updated components have appeared that simplify routine operations.
We remind you that attempts to repeat the author’s actions may lead to loss of warranty on the equipment and even to its failure. The material is provided for informational purposes only. If you are going to reproduce the steps described below, we strongly advise you to carefully read the article to the end at least once. The editors of 3DNews do not bear any responsibility for any possible consequences.
Ten years ago, a new Windows XP OS emerged from the depths of Microsoft, and with it another WinPE environment, the Windows Preinstallation Environment, was released - in fact, a completely stripped-down Windows OS, in which utilities were launched to install the system itself on a computer. Based on this environment, it was already possible to create your own Live builds of XP without much effort - almost complete systems, which loaded from a CD on any (well, almost any) PC and served for relatively narrow tasks such as system recovery, anti-virus scanning, data retrieval, or even simply for super-fast organization of the workplace. With the advent of BartPE, creating your own Live CD has become very simple. Alas, this product has not been updated for a very long time, and it is not suitable for working with Windows Vista or 7. It was replaced by WinBuilder, which we will get acquainted with solely for educational purposes in this material.
All is ready? Great, now you can proceed directly to creating a test build. Launch WinBuilder and begin configuration. First of all, click the Source button on the right side of the window, where in the Source Directory section we indicate the path to our folder with the Windows 7 installation files. Then go to the Drivers → Driver Package Installer section. In the desired section (x86 or x64), click on the Explore button. A folder will open where we will need to copy the 7z archives with the driver sets that we downloaded earlier. If you need drivers for any specific devices, you will also need to copy them here. (Just don’t copy installer files downloaded from the manufacturer’s websites - we only need *.inf, *.sys, *.dll or *.exe sets.) In VirtualTest, check the Best Emulation item. That's all, actually - everything is ready for a test assembly. Click Play and wait until all the scripts are executed - the speed of their execution depends on the power of your PC, but you are unlikely to have to wait more than half an hour.
If everything went smoothly, WinBuilder will launch a virtual machine with a freshly created live image of the system. Otherwise, the program will show an error, write its details to a log file and offer a solution to the problem. After launching it in a virtual machine, it becomes obvious that Windows 7 is really stripped down to the bare minimum - neither Aero, nor standard utilities, nor anything else. You can only launch the PENetwork icon from the desktop and configure a network connection. In general, it’s boring and has absolutely zero practical meaning. Well, let's start customizing the distribution for ourselves.
We go through all sections and change or add the necessary settings. In the main configuration, you can safely change the default screen resolution and select a theme for the bootloader - it is not recommended to touch the rest. In Shell, you can choose to include various extensions for standard Windows Explorer. In Components you can enable/disable standard Windows utilities 7. Here in the Additional Files subsection you can add your own files to the assembly. Just not programs, but documents, media files or anything else. Click Directory Example and look at an example of what folders can be used. Then click Open Source Directory and copy the files we need according to the example. In the Tweaks section you can change, for example, the wallpaper on your desktop or enable the coveted Aero interface and add sidebar with gadgets. Just keep in mind that the more features you select (scripts, components, files), the longer the build process will take.
Applications are also added to the assembly using scripts, which are sometimes also called plugins. A large set of ready-made scripts can be found. There, on the developers forum, there are various additions to WinBuilder. The downloaded script must be placed in the C:\WinBuilder\Projects\Win7PE_SE\Apps folder, in one of the available subdirectories, or you can create separate directories yourself for convenience. After this, we restart WinBuilder, include new utilities in the assembly and, if necessary, change their settings. Please note that for some applications you will have to download their installer (usually this happens automatically) or perform some other steps. All this should be described in the ReadMe of the script.
If ready-made scripts for the applications you need are not available, you will have to create them yourself. For this we need the MakeScript utility. Download the archive with the standalone version and unpack it, for example, into C:\MakeScript. The best option- this is the use of portable versions required applications or pre-installing them on your PC. In the second case, you need to be more careful, since most programs have long been writing a mountain of data to the registry, shoving their files into different folders on the computer and doing a lot of other things during installation. However, a ready-made script may not be available due to licensing restrictions, although there are no problems with the application itself.
Let's take Skype conversion as an example. Download its portable version and install it in C:\SkypePortable. Launch MakeSript, select the desired folder and exe file, change the name of the future script if necessary. Let's move on to the Customize section, where you can set some parameters for the future application - import branches from the registry, set file associations, change the description and name, and so on. For small programs, it makes sense to pack them directly into a script (Encode files in script) or compress them in 7z. Finally, at the last stage, click on the big Make It button and wait until the script is created. By default, finished assemblies are saved to C:\MakeScript\Script. For enthusiasts who are eager to manually write their own script, we can recommend this instruction, as well as the WinBuilder wiki.
The finished ISO image of the system is saved by default in a folder with the same name in the root of WinBuilder. In its minimal configuration it will just fit onto a standard CD disc. We are interested in creating a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7 PE. To do this, in the WriteMedia section, check the Copy to USB-Device checkbox and select the drive letter of our flash drive. When we enable the script (Copy to USB), we will be prompted to format the drive using the HP USB Format Tool in the NTFS or FAT32 file system. Then you will need to install the Grub4Dos bootloader. Select the Disk item and find our flash drive in the drop-down list - you need to search by storage capacity. Be careful not to confuse anything! In the Part list you need to select Whole disk (MBR), and in the options check the Don’t search floppy box. All you have to do is click Install, Quit and wait until everything you need is copied to the USB drive. All, bootable flash drive ready!
Now you can try to boot from the flash drive and see how everything works and if there are any errors. Before recording to a flash drive, it is still recommended to run the system in a virtual machine. The system requirements for our build are approximately the same as for regular Windows 7. Don’t get carried away with excessively adding functionality - the more complex the system, the higher its hardware requirements and the greater the likelihood of errors. Don't forget to also regularly update WinBuilder, all scripts and your distribution. We can probably end here. Good luck!
Instructions
Download the desired operating system image from the official Windows website or third party resources, providing a licensed copy of the OS. Also place in a separate folder the drivers and programs necessary for inclusion in the assembly in the form of installation executable files.exe. Then extract the downloaded XP image using any archiver program (for example, WinRAR). To do this, right-click on the image file and select “Extract to”, then specify the folder to place the system installation files.
Download and install the nLite utility, which will allow you to add saved software packages to the system image. The installation is carried out in accordance with the instructions that will appear on the screen after running the installation file.
Launch the installed nLite on your computer using the shortcut that appeared during the system installation process. When you start, you will see a program window in which you will be asked to select the interface language. After selecting the “Russian” option in the drop-down list, click “Next”.
Select the directory in which you have the unpacked operating system image and click “Next”. In the list of tasks proposed for modifying the system, select those that you want to perform while working with the image. You can enable or disable the required options. For example, if you do not have the Service Pack installation file on your system or it is already included in your image, click on the corresponding item to deactivate it.
Follow the on-screen instructions to add the directories that store application and driver files on your computer. After completing the procedure, click “Next” and import the remaining files that you specified to add in the section for selecting tasks for the program.
In the Components window, select the system options that you would like to remove from your XP installation. Each of the editable parameters can be in accordance with the comments that will be provided opposite each item on the right side of the program window. After selecting the required data, click “Next” again.
In the Automation section, select settings to make the installation process more convenient. Here you can enter your activation key, select the name of the future user and specify the network settings. You can also import theme packs and other components not included in the previous sections. Click "Next" and, if necessary, make the necessary registry settings and deactivate services that you do not need. After completing the settings, click “Yes” to confirm the creation of the modified distribution.
After the operation is completed, click on the “Create ISO” button to generate an image for recording on a storage medium. The creation of the assembly in Windows XP is completed and you can begin installing and configuring the new system.
But even if such a question did not come to mind, then probably many, after installing a problematic assembly, had the desire to tell its would-be installer what they thought about it, and where he needed to go. So-called lightweight builds - distributions with cut out or disabled functionality, designed for low-power computers, optimized for games or other specific tasks; in terms of performance, they rarely differ significantly from regular distributions. But such assemblies will definitely cause problems when missing ones are needed Windows features. As they say, if you want everything to be fine, do it yourself. Below we will look at how modified system assemblies are created with some functionality removed and some added. And let's try to build our Windows distribution using NTLite programs.
Why create your own Windows builds
In principle, there is nothing wrong with it. But only on the condition that the truly unnecessary part of the distribution is cut out, and the system remains operational in terms of interaction with the hardware and providing access to the main functionality. Naturally, for a large audience it will not be possible to guess 100% what needs to be cut out and what to leave in the system. But do it for yourself, for the two or three people in the house computer devices Can. To do this, you need to know exactly which system functionality will never be useful. And, therefore, it is necessary to at least superficially understand it - what components and services are needed for what, what certain Windows settings solve. But this is if you cut out the functionality.
You can take your first steps in the field of creating modified builds of Windows without cutting out the functionality of the system. And, on the contrary, with the expansion of its capabilities - with the addition of drivers for components (and even peripherals), with the installation of useful programs. Actually, there is special software like NTLite for these purposes.
About NTLite
NTLite is a tool for creating modified builds of Windows. It will allow you to cut certain functionality from the distribution, disable system services, set certain system settings, implement drivers, updates, registry tweaks, third party programs. It is not a way to create assemblies with pre-installed third-party software, such as preparing Windows for deployment in audit mode. But NTLite is a powerful distribution tweaker with the ability to use the Post-Install tool to automatically start the installation process of third-party programs added to such a distribution.
NTLite- paid program, before purchasing a license, you can try its trial version on the website
https://www.ntlite.com
Well, now let's proceed directly to creating the assembly. Using this program, we will unpack the Windows installation image, configure it, and then pack it again into a format suitable for installation.
Unpacking the source
First of all, let's prepare the initial ISO image with the installation process of Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. Or mount the ISO file to display in Explorer.
And then copy all the contents installation disk to a separate working folder.
Or we extract the ISO contents using an archiver. Whichever is more convenient for you.
Adding source
Launch the NTLite program. In its window, click “Add” and indicate the path to the working folder where we copied (or unpacked) the contents of the ISO source at the previous stage.
Let's see the structure of the components of this ISO, including editions of one or another Windows versions. We need to choose one of them. All settings made in the future will now affect only the selected edition, and only this edition will be contained in the modified distribution, which we will receive as a result of the work done. We select the editorial office, call it context menu, click “Download”. If we are working with the Windows 8.1 and 10 distribution, we also need to additionally confirm the operation of converting the image from the WIM format to ESD.
NTLite performs operations with WIM images - install.wim files, which contain setup files Windows. And ESD images - compressed install.esd files in which the distribution kit of system versions 8.1 and 10 is stored - the program will convert into WIM format during the download process. Converting images from ESD to WIM is not a quick procedure, you will have to wait. WITH Windows images 7 are much simpler in this regard, since they initially exist in WIM format. So, friends, it’s better to start getting acquainted with the capabilities of NTLite by creating modified assemblies of the “Seven”. In this case, you will not have to convert the image either initially from WIM to ESD, or vice versa after completing the preparation of the assembly for its packaging in ISO.
- Note : in the process of converting an image from ESD to WIM, the processor may be loaded on weak and average computers. In this case, you can temporarily disable real-time protection Windows Defender or third-party antivirus.
When the WIM or ESD image is loaded into the NTLite program window, we will see a message about this next to the selected edition. We will also find that in the panel on the left, in addition to the current vertical “Source” tab, a lot of other tabs have appeared. Let's explore them one by one. Go to the “Components” tab.
Windows components, features, and services
In the “Components” tab, you can disable, respectively, certain system components by unchecking them. What can I turn off here? Hardware support for individual peripheral devices such as modems, IR and Bluetooth modules, smart cards, etc., as well as drivers for components that will definitely not be connected to the PC or laptop for which the assembly is being prepared. You can also disable components such as:
Languages and keyboard layouts;
DVD player and optical disc burner;
Utilities “Scissors”, “Notes”, “Dictaphone”, “Recording actions”;
Speech recognition, on-screen keyboard;
Standard Skype;
Network components;
Mobility Center;
Windows Defender;
If the task is to reduce the weight of the distribution itself, you can focus on the weight of the components displayed in the last column of the table. Windows components are the functionality that is cut out, not disabled. Not all components cut from the distribution can then be easily downloaded on the Internet and implemented into the system. So, when making settings in the “Components” tab, you need to be very careful when unchecking the boxes.
The “Features” tab below contains Windows features that are not cut, but they may be disabled by default in the distribution. Or, conversely, they are enabled, whereas in the official image from Microsoft they are disabled. Like NET Framework 3.5 or Internet Information Services. Among the preset functions you can disable if you do not use:
Windows 7 Gadgets;
Standard office games (“Klondike”, “Spider”, “Solitaire”, etc.);
Windows Media Center, Windows player Media, DVD studio, tablet PC components;
Linux subsystem;
XPS Services and PDF Printer;
Indexing and intra-system search;
- Note: NTLite may even suggest turning off Internet Explorer, however, you should not do this. Disabling Internet Explorer may cause other applications on the system to malfunction.
To disable a particular function, you need to uncheck its box. To enable it, you need to check the box.
The Services tab allows you to disable unused Windows services. Or, conversely, enable those that are disabled by default. For the selected service, you must select the desired value from the drop-down list at the end of the line, for example, “Disabled.”
Windows services are another important stage in setting up a distribution, where you need to not overdo it with disabling. Without autorun certain Windows services It may simply not start. Here we also need to clearly understand what and why we are turning off.
Settings
In the " Local computer» collected some system settings such as setting parameters for the paging file, UAC, Update Center, etc. Settings are specified either by setting the “Enabled/Disabled” position, or by specifying specific data, as is the case with the paging file.
The “Users” tab is something of a light tweaker for fine-tuning the usability of the system.
Updates, drivers, registry tweaks
In the “Updates” tab we can view the list of updates already integrated into the source distribution, as well as add new update packages.
The “Drivers” tab is used to add drivers, respectively. By clicking the “Add” button, we can specify the NTLite program a folder with a selection of drivers for specific device. Or, for example, integrate it into the Windows 7 installation process universal drivers USB 3.0.
It’s interesting that when working in the same version of the system and on the same computer for which the assembly is being prepared, you don’t have to look for disks with drivers or download them from official sites, but import them from the current system. To do this, you need to click the “Import current OS” button, and when the drivers are loaded, click the “Exclude unused” button.
If we have any tweaks system registry- REG files with certain settings, we can include them in the distribution. And these tweaks will be applied at the system preliminary setup stage along with driver installation. In our case, for example, a REG file was added to change the Windows 10 scaling method to the one that was in version 8.1.
Personification
In the “Automatic” tab, if the assembly is done for yourself, you can set some personal settings like this:
Language, time zone;
Computer name, activation key;
Network settings;
And then these installation steps will take place automatically. These settings are specified by selecting the desired value in the drop-down list or by setting the “True/False” position.
Installing third party programs
The “After Installation” tab is a setting for the Post-Install function, a series of automatically running processes for installing third-party software. Implementation of software in Windows assembly be it in the form of already installed programs, or even in the form of Post-Install - a controversial improvement if we are talking about the computers of ordinary users. Program versions quickly become outdated, and such modifications naturally increase the weight of the distribution. However, several regular programs such as a browser, an archiver, file manager can be implemented. The Post-Install function, implemented by NTLite, is launched at the final stage of Windows pre-configuration. And at this stage - without a system interface, without the activity of unnecessary services and drivers - installation of programs is very fast.
- Note: friends, if due to implementation third party software The ISO image of the Windows installation will be more than 4 GB; the WinSetupFromUSB utility will help you write it to a flash drive for computers with BIOS UEFI, which must be formatted in FAT32. It provides a mechanism to bypass FAT32 restrictions.
Using the “Add” button, we add program installers for Post-Install. In the “Parameters” column, if desired, for programs that do not provide for the incidental installation of any junk, you can specify their silent installation keys.
When all the settings have been made, we can click “Apply” at the bottom.
Packaging a modified assembly into an image
So, the modified distribution is configured, but not ready yet. All operations are just planned for now. They need to be applied, and the distribution itself must be packaged into an image.
But even if such a question did not come to mind, then surely many, after installing a problematic assembly, had the desire to tell its would-be installer what they thought about it, and where he needed to go. So-called lightweight builds - distributions with cut out or disabled functionality, designed for low-power computers, optimized for games or other specific tasks; in terms of performance, they rarely differ significantly from regular distributions. But such assemblies will definitely cause problems when missing Windows functions are needed. As they say, if you want everything to be fine, do it yourself. Below we will look at how modified system assemblies are created with some functionality removed and some added. And we’ll try to build our own Windows distribution using the NTLite program.
Why create your own Windows builds
In principle, there is nothing wrong with it. But only on the condition that the truly unnecessary part of the distribution is cut out, and the system remains operational in terms of interaction with the hardware and providing access to the main functionality. Naturally, for a large audience it will not be possible to guess 100% what needs to be cut out and what to leave in the system. But you can do this for yourself, for a couple of computer devices in the house. To do this, you need to know exactly which system functionality will never be useful. And, therefore, it is necessary to at least superficially understand it - what components and services are needed for what, what certain Windows settings solve. But this is if you cut out the functionality.
You can take your first steps in the field of creating modified builds of Windows without cutting out the functionality of the system. And, on the contrary, with the expansion of its capabilities - with the addition of drivers for components (and even peripherals), with the installation of useful programs. Actually, there is special software like NTLite for these purposes.
About NTLite
NTLite is a tool for creating modified builds of Windows. It will allow you to cut out certain functionality from the distribution, disable system services, set certain system settings, implement drivers, updates, registry tweaks, and third-party programs. It is not a way to create assemblies with pre-installed third-party software, such as preparing Windows for deployment in audit mode. But NTLite is a powerful distribution tweaker with the ability to use the Post-Install tool to automatically start the installation process of third-party programs added to such a distribution.
NTLite is a paid program; before purchasing a license, you can try its trial version on the website
https://www.ntlite.com
Well, now let's proceed directly to creating the assembly. Using this program, we will unpack the Windows installation image, configure it, and then pack it again into a format suitable for installation.
Unpacking the source
First of all, let's prepare the initial ISO image with the installation process of Windows 7, 8.1 or 10. Or mount the ISO file to display in Explorer.
And then we copy the entire contents of the installation disk into a separate working folder.
Or we extract the ISO contents using an archiver. Whichever is more convenient for you.
Adding source
Launch the NTLite program. In its window, click “Add” and indicate the path to the working folder where we copied (or unpacked) the contents of the ISO source at the previous stage.
Let's see the structure of the components of this ISO, which will include editions of one or another version of Windows. We need to choose one of them. All settings made in the future will now affect only the selected edition, and only this edition will be contained in the modified distribution, which we will receive as a result of the work done. Select the edition, call up the context menu on it, and click “Download.” If we are working with the Windows 8.1 and 10 distribution, we also need to additionally confirm the operation of converting the image from the WIM format to ESD.
NTLite performs operations with WIM images - install.wim files, which contain installation Windows files. And ESD images - compressed install.esd files in which the distribution kit of system versions 8.1 and 10 is stored - the program will convert into WIM format during the download process. Converting images from ESD to WIM is not a quick procedure, you will have to wait. With Windows 7 images it is much easier in this regard, since they initially exist in WIM format. So, friends, it’s better to start getting acquainted with the capabilities of NTLite by creating modified assemblies of the “Seven”. In this case, you will not have to convert the image either initially from WIM to ESD, or vice versa after completing the preparation of the assembly for its packaging in ISO.
- Note : in the process of converting an image from ESD to WIM, the processor may be loaded on weak and average computers. In this case, you can temporarily disable the real-time protection of Windows Defender or third-party antivirus.
When the WIM or ESD image is loaded into the NTLite program window, we will see a message about this next to the selected edition. We will also find that in the panel on the left, in addition to the current vertical “Source” tab, a lot of other tabs have appeared. Let's explore them one by one. Go to the “Components” tab.
Windows components, features, and services
In the “Components” tab, you can disable, respectively, certain system components by unchecking them. What can I turn off here? Hardware support for individual peripheral devices such as modems, IR and Bluetooth modules, smart cards, etc., as well as drivers for components that will definitely not be connected to the PC or laptop for which the assembly is being prepared. You can also disable components such as:
Languages and keyboard layouts;
DVD player and optical disc burner;
Utilities “Scissors”, “Notes”, “Dictaphone”, “Recording actions”;
Speech recognition, on-screen keyboard;
Standard Skype;
Network components;
Mobility Center;
Windows Defender;
If the task is to reduce the weight of the distribution itself, you can focus on the weight of the components displayed in the last column of the table. Windows components are the functionality that is cut out, not disabled. Not all components cut from the distribution can then be easily downloaded on the Internet and implemented into the system. So, when making settings in the “Components” tab, you need to be very careful when unchecking the boxes.
The “Features” tab below contains Windows features that are not cut, but they may be disabled by default in the distribution. Or, conversely, they are enabled, whereas in the official image from Microsoft they are disabled. Like, for example, NET Framework 3.5 or Internet Information Services. Among the preset functions you can disable if you do not use:
Windows 7 Gadgets;
Standard office games (“Klondike”, “Spider”, “Solitaire”, etc.);
Windows Media Center, Windows Media Player, DVD Studio, Tablet PC Components;
Linux subsystem;
XPS Services and PDF Printer;
Indexing and intra-system search;
- Note: NTLite may even suggest disabling Internet Explorer, but you should not do this. Disabling Internet Explorer may cause other applications on the system to malfunction.
To disable a particular function, you need to uncheck its box. To enable it, you need to check the box.
The Services tab allows you to disable unused Windows services. Or, conversely, enable those that are disabled by default. For the selected service, you must select the desired value from the drop-down list at the end of the line, for example, “Disabled.”
Windows services are another important stage in setting up a distribution, where you need to not overdo it with disabling. Without autostarting certain services, Windows may simply not start. Here we also need to clearly understand what and why we are turning off.
Settings
The “Local Computer” tab contains some system settings such as setting parameters for the paging file, UAC, Update Center, etc. Settings are specified either by setting the “Enabled/Disabled” position, or by specifying specific data, as is the case with the paging file.
The “Users” tab is something of a light tweaker for fine-tuning the usability of the system.
Updates, drivers, registry tweaks
In the “Updates” tab we can view the list of updates already integrated into the source distribution, as well as add new update packages.
The “Drivers” tab is used to add drivers, respectively. By clicking the “Add” button, we can indicate to the NTLite program a folder with a selection of drivers for a specific device. Or, for example, integrate universal USB 3.0 drivers into the Windows 7 installation process.
It’s interesting that when working in the same version of the system and on the same computer for which the assembly is being prepared, you don’t have to look for disks with drivers or download them from official sites, but import them from the current system. To do this, you need to click the “Import current OS” button, and when the drivers are loaded, click the “Exclude unused” button.
If we have some tweaks to the system registry - REG files with certain settings, we can add them to the distribution. And these tweaks will be applied at the system preliminary setup stage along with driver installation. In our case, for example, a REG file was added to change the Windows 10 scaling method to the one that was in version 8.1.
Personification
In the “Automatic” tab, if the assembly is done for yourself, you can set some personal settings like this:
Language, time zone;
Computer name, activation key;
Network settings;
And then these installation steps will take place automatically. These settings are specified by selecting the desired value in the drop-down list or by setting the “True/False” position.
Installing third party programs
The “After Installation” tab is a setting for the Post-Install function, a series of automatically running processes for installing third-party software. The introduction of software into the Windows build, either in the form of already installed programs or in the form of Post-Install, is a controversial improvement if we are talking about the computers of ordinary users. Program versions quickly become outdated, and such modifications naturally increase the weight of the distribution. Nevertheless, several regular programs such as a browser, archiver, and file manager can be implemented. The Post-Install function, implemented by NTLite, is launched at the final stage of Windows pre-configuration. And at this stage - without a system interface, without the activity of unnecessary services and drivers - installation of programs is very fast.
- Note: friends, if, due to the introduction of third-party software, the ISO image of the Windows installation ends up being more than 4 GB, the WinSetupFromUSB utility will help you write it to a flash drive for computers with BIOS UEFI, which must be formatted in FAT32. It provides a mechanism to bypass FAT32 restrictions.
Using the “Add” button, we add program installers for Post-Install. In the “Parameters” column, if desired, for programs that do not provide for the incidental installation of any junk, you can specify their silent installation keys.
When all the settings have been made, we can click “Apply” at the bottom.
Packaging a modified assembly into an image
So, the modified distribution is configured, but not ready yet. All operations are just planned for now. They need to be applied, and the distribution itself must be packaged into an image.